of the limestone bedrock, which action created the nearly flat alvar formation. It was the end of the last ice age which led to uplift, creating the landform that is now the island of Öland. The village of Alby, as well as the precursor civilizations from Stone Age to medieval time, is primarily developed on a narrow ridge running north/south parallel to the Baltic coast. This ridge is the only place (except for beach sands) along the eastern coast that soil extends more than the two centimeter maximum of the Stora Alvaret. The ridge was formed by wave action during the post-Ice Age uplift. Therefore, this thicker soil layer provided the only hospitable place for building foundations, burial grounds and agriculture. Earliest history The earliest settlers built early Stone Age wooden huts at the fringe of a prehistoric lagoon at the northwest of the present Alby. Archaeological excavations conducted over a period of years in the latter 20th century have revealed evidence of bear, marten, seal and porpoise, but also elucidate mesolithic hunting and gathering technologies through discovery of bone spears, moose antler harpoons and flint. These earliest inhabitants would have crossed the Kalmar Strait from the mainland toward the end of the last ice age, before the glacial cap had fully melted, and thus provided an ice bridge. The settlers at Alby are referred to as the Alby People in the archaeological literature, and the Alby mesolithic village is one of the key resources that led to the UNESCO designation of the Stora Alvaret as a World Heritage Site. Bronze Age to Viking era The principal evidence of life in the Alby area from 1000 BC to 1000 AD is derived from the Hulterstad district grave fields slightly south of Alby. The Hulterstad Gravfeld is situated to the east of the coast highway and contains undulating barrows comprising over 170 individual burials, making it one of the largest gravefields on Öland. These burials span the late Bronze Age, Iron Age and Viking periods. The wavy terrain is characteristic of Iron Age barrows, and there are numerous standing stones present. Numerous artefacts have been recovered from this gravefield, including bronze chains and a bone needle case. Viking graves have also been found at the Hulterstad Gravefield (Hulterstads gravfält) as well as the extensive Strandvalle Gravfeld a few kilometers further south. These findings imply that Alby was a link within a