Long before there was anything called Sweden, long before the first humans set foot in Scandinavia, a geological process was under way that would come to change the history of Europe. Nearly two billion years ago, the copper deposit in Falun was formed.

Fire beneath the sea

It began with volcanism. In what is today Dalarna, there was once an active volcanic zone, probably beneath a primordial ocean. Hot, mineral-rich fluids were forced up through the earth's crust, depositing metal compounds in the bedrock. Copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver were concentrated in what geologists call a massive sulphide ore.

The process took millions of years. Layer upon layer of minerals were compressed under enormous pressure and heat. The result was one of the richest copper deposits in Europe, hidden deep beneath the soil of Dalarna.

The discovery no one remembers

Exactly when people first discovered the copper in Falun, no one knows for certain. According to the most widely told legend, a goat came home one day with red horns, having rooted in the soil and struck the red ore. The story is most likely just a tale, but the kernel of truth is there: the copper ore could be found close to the surface.

The oldest traces of mining in the area date to the 9th or 10th century. Already then, people had realised that the red stone in the ground could be turned into valuable metal.

The geology behind the empire

What makes the Falun deposit unique is not just its size but its accessibility. The ore lay relatively close to the surface and could be mined without the advanced technology that other deposits required. This made large-scale mining possible as early as the Middle Ages.

Without the volcanic activity of two billion years ago, no copper. Without copper, perhaps no Swedish great power era. Sometimes history is decided by forces far older than humanity itself.