The spring of 1975 a group of secondary school students found a silver treasure from 900 A.D., on a pasture nearby the bay of Bandelunda in Burs pastoral. According to the legend a powerful Viking chief "Stavar the Great" were to have lived here on this place called Stavgard. During the Viking era Stavgard had a large harbour. Excavations from the 1950's and 80's show evidence of intense trade in this well hidden harbour.
Many silver artefacts, house foundations, boat rivets, and a "shell house," which functioned as boat house for Viking ships, have been found. The area still remains largely not excavated.
In 1976 the non-profit association of Stavgard was founded. A piece of land was bought to create an Iron Age camp site, situated between Stavars House and the harbour. Since the beginning of 1980 the association runs a two-day time travel for school classes, during spring and fall. Stavgard strives to promote an understanding of Iron Age living, crafts and techniques. The Stavgard association is solely financed by private funding. In the summertime Stavgard provide guided tours for visitors and is also open for various activities such as craft-courses and reenactments.
During the years since its founding, the organization has built a complete village, consisting of archaeological house reconstructions from the Migration period, Viking Age and the Early Medieval period in Sweden. The longhouse Vallhagar acts as accommodation for groups who are at camp. On Gotland there are many foundations of houses from this period, so-called giant’s graves.
The Baking house Vallhagar is used for baking and smoking meat. The two houses from Vallhagar are from the Migration Period, and originally were those with a settlement with 24 houses. Vallhagar is located in Fröjel parish on the west side of the island. Ullhuset Fjaler is a small wattle and daub house with sedge which has become a camp school workshop for wool hand-working. It is built in the early 80's, along with students from the middle school.
The Bandelundahuset Burs was built in wattle and daub wall technique in 1996 - 1999. It is from the late Viking Age and is an attempt to recreate the house that has been down at the port of Bandelunda Bay. A commercial centre from 900's. Today it functions as accommodation and shop for wood.
In 2004 two houses were built in the log cabin-technology, one of them a boat shed. The technique has been used since the Viking period until the present.
