Published On: Tue, Oct 22nd, 2024

Archaeology breakthrough as 1,200-year-old mass grave found | World | News


Archaeologists in Sweden have made a staggering discovery after stumbling upon a massive burial ground that dates back to the Viking Age. 

They were due to investigate a settlement from the Stone Age outside Varberg when they found the remains of 139 graves containing human and animal bones, jewellery, clay pots, bonfires, and even shipwrecks. 

The bones of birds, dogs, cattle, and pigs were uncovered as it was common to burn dead people at the stake before putting them in a grave with animals on top as sacrifices.

Despite the already fascinating finds, project manager Petra Nordin said the team had only exexcavated about six percent of the burial grounds. 

Nordin realised the scale of the operation once they began unearthing remains of Viking Age burials. The Viking Age refers to a period of the Middle Ages from 793-1050 when Vikings were raiding and colonising Europe and North America.

She said: “We had found five graves with bone remains and fire layers. The bones were from dogs and humans. Then we realised that here was a large Viking burial ground that we had to focus on.”

The burial ground was discovered between two important transport links – an old country road running across it, and the river Tvååkersån in the east.

Nordin said the origins of the town still remain a mystery, but there may have been a trading post in the area or near the harbour. However, further analysis is needed to come to a conclusion.

She added the team uncovered an area believed to be “the place where a person has dug down and built a fire” but it has proved difficult to identify exactly what was hiding beneath the ground.

The project manager added: “The problem is that the ground has been ploughed down and levelled to cultivate and create pastures, so all the superstructures have disappeared and the graves have been ploughed to pieces.

“We have had to interpret everything from below because it was so torn apart. But we have investigated where the bonfires are and, among other things, found what we interpreted as a 50-metre-long shipwreck up on the ridge.

“We often found dogs in small round campfires and people in oblong campfires. The dog was a companion and accompanied the human on the pyre.”

Nordin added: “In another location, we found a square burial with three large fire pits and a shard packing. In the grave were 17 downed vessels, human and animal bones as well as woven weights and iron arrowheads.”

The archaeologists also found buckles for clothing, ceramics, and a piece of an Arab silver coin dated between 795 and 806 – coinciding with the oldest graves at the site. 



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