Editing Helgö (section)

==Excavations at Helgö==
[[File:Helgö Buddha 18194.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Colour photograph of the Helgö Buddha|The Helgö Buddha]]
The island is perhaps best known for a major archaeological area.  The  old trading town on Helgö began to emerge around the year 200 AD, 500 years before [[Birka]] at [[Björkö, Ekerö|Björkö]]. The first archaeological dig in 1954 uncovered the remains of the early settlement, including a workshop area which attracted international interest. The most notable finds included a small [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] statuette from [[Gupta Empire|North India]] and a christening scoop from [[Egypt]], both dating from the 6th century. The Indian Buddha statuette, the Irish [[crozier]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Holmqvist |first=Wilhelm |date=1955 |title=An Irish crozier-head found near Stockholm |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0003581500048599/type/journal_article |journal=The Antiquaries Journal |language=en |volume=35 |issue=1-2 |pages=46–51 |doi=10.1017/S0003581500048599 |issn=0003-5815}}</ref> and the Egyptian [[Copts|Coptic]] scoop which were found on Helgö, are presently on display in the [[Swedish History Museum]] in [[Stockholm]].<ref>[http://www.asianart.com/forum/takaki/dozen/Dozenns.htm ''Viking with a Buddha'' (A Dozen articles on Asian Arts)]</ref><ref>[http://beachcombing.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/the-buddha-in-viking-sweden/ ''The Buddha in Viking Sweden''] (Beachcombing)</ref>