 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 Gettlinge, as well as the precursor civilizations from Stone Age to medieval time, is primarily developed on a narrow low-lying ridge running north/south parallel to the Baltic coast.This ridge is the only place (except for beach sands) along the southwestern coast that soil extends more than the two centimeter maximum of the Stora Alvaret.