The vikings were the first to settle down at Utö. About a hundred years ago, an excavation was made at what turned out to be a burial ground from the Viking Age. In a meadow near the Skogsbyn village there were 25 mounds and settings of stones. Human and animal bone remnants, iron and bronze rings, bronze chain, pearls and pottery were found there. At the time, it was common to leave gifts with the deceased. The amount and the value of the goods depended on which social group the dead person came from. It was important to bury the dead in the right way so that he could join the afterlife with the same social standing that he had had in life, and to avoid becoming a homeless soul that wandered eternally.

The graveyard is located in what today is a military area, fenced and marked with a small sign but quite anonymous, although it is part of Utö's oldest history. It is difficult to guess that once about fourteen hundred years ago there was a  burial place here. Today it looks like any other forest grove.