The settlement structure on Gotland has over the years been described as unique, as there are no chambered villages on the island, as on the mainland. There are only single farms on Gotland. But if you look at the first historical maps, about 300 years old, there doesn't seem to be much difference from Uppland, for example. There are individual farms and groups of farms. You can also see the same mix of ownership as on the mainland, although not as regulated. It is not villages that are missing, but only that in the land registers (older property registers) the farms are registered by farm and not in the groups (villages). These hundreds of maps are now available digitally and can be analysed in digital map programs, known as geographic information systems (GIS). As far as the settlement of the Early Iron Age 200-550 AD is concerned, Gotland and Öland are actually unique. On these two islands, people built their houses and enclosures with cold stone walls, which are largely preserved in today's landscape. These also seem to be located a lot in villages. There are about 1800 visible in today's landscape that are registered in the digital map-based ancient monuments register. I have identified another 500 or so in old map material. My working hypothesis is that there have always been villages on Gotland and that the island actually has great similarities with the mainland. By analyzing the spatial structures in GIS and identifying these villages, and comparing them with other factors, I will explain why there are no chambered villages on Gotland in historical times.