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"Archaeologists at Lund University have found what they describe as a moment frozen in time by a brutal massacre, leaving a fort untouched since the 5th century.
Excavation of the Iron Age Sandby borg – ringfort on Öland, an island off the southeastern coast of Sweden – has revealed a number of bodies, lying where they fell, in one case, it seems that a couple were cut down from behind as they ran through the house, another body lies in a doorway.
“There are so many bodies, it must have been a very violent and well organized raid”, says Helene Wilhelmson, a PhD student in historical osteology, who was astounded when the skeletons kept emerging from the site.
During what is termed the Migration Period in Scandinavia it was customary to cremate the dead, and it is rare to find uncremated remains. The archaeological site therefore offers important clues about the period, and although five bodies have been discovered in one house alone, human bones have been found in other parts of the fort, making it highly likely that many more bodies are yet to be uncovered.
Valuable artefacts have also been recovered, raising questions over why they were not plundered in the wake of the massacre and to ensure there is no modern day looting the team have carefully conducted a full recovery operation of the whole site to remove all precious metals."
"Archaeologists at Lund University have found what they describe as a moment frozen in time by a brutal massacre, leaving a fort untouched since the 5th century.
Excavation of the Iron Age Sandby borg – ringfort on Öland, an island off the southeastern coast of Sweden – has revealed a number of bodies, lying where they fell, in one case, it seems that a couple were cut down from behind as they ran through the house, another body lies in a doorway.
“There are so many bodies, it must have been a very violent and well organized raid”, says Helene Wilhelmson, a PhD student in historical osteology, who was astounded when the skeletons kept emerging from the site.
During what is termed the Migration Period in Scandinavia it was customary to cremate the dead, and it is rare to find uncremated remains. The archaeological site therefore offers important clues about the period, and although five bodies have been discovered in one house alone, human bones have been found in other parts of the fort, making it highly likely that many more bodies are yet to be uncovered.
Valuable artefacts have also been recovered, raising questions over why they were not plundered in the wake of the massacre and to ensure there is no modern day looting the team have carefully conducted a full recovery operation of the whole site to remove all precious metals."
