maximus otter
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It is not unusual for archaeologists to find caches of artefacts stashed in the ground, but their owners rarely remain nearby. Excavations on the island of Öland are revealing traces of a ringfort’s violent end.
This aerial view of the Sandby borg ringfort from the west shows its location on the south-east coast of Öland island, Sweden. Stone ramparts enclose an oval area, but excavations have revealed that these defences could not protect the people living within the settlement. [Image: Sebastian Jakobsson]
It all started in the spring of 2010, when geophysical surveys were carried out in a Migration period (c. AD 400-550) ringfort on the island of Öland. During the fieldwork, suspected looting pits were discovered, which led to a decision by the local authorities to subject the entire site to a metal-detector survey. This revealed five magnificent jewellery caches, containing large gilded silver brooches, along with items such as finger-rings, beads, bells, and smaller brooches. These remarkable finds, tucked away in different houses within the central block of the fort, were the catalyst for a small excavation the following year. It was not long, though, before the glamour of these discoveries took a macabre turn, when human remains displaying traces of lethal trauma appeared in the trenches.
This fine relief brooch was found together with a finger-ring and spiral beads in one of the jewellery caches at Sandby borg in 2010. [Image: Jan-Henrik Fallgren]
As the number of skeletons increased, it became apparent that our excavations were exposing evidence for a brutal massacre in the late 5th century AD. During this episode, large numbers of people were slaughtered and their bodies left where they fell. Of the ringfort’s 53 houses, only three have so far been excavated in their entirety. A total of about 15 individuals still lay within them, while a similar number are accounted for by human bones scattered across the street outside the houses. The dead span all ages, from infants to the elderly, but the sex range seems rather more restricted. Where determinations have been possible, so far only men are known to be present. Several of the skeletons show traces of fatal injuries, mostly to the head, which were inflicted by both sharp and blunt weapons. Many of these blows seem to have been struck from above or behind, while wounds to the victims’ forearms suggesting an attempt to defend themselves are conspicuously absent. In short, the evidence points towards a massacre rather than a battle.
Skeletons of two young men
We refer to the three excavated buildings as Houses 4, 40, and 52. Within, we discovered a simultaneously varied and bleakly unambiguous picture of what transpired within the ringfort. House 40 and 52 both lie in the central block of buildings, and contained jewellery caches. House 4, by contrast, did not yield any high-status artefacts, and is located in the northern part of the fort. All three buildings contained human remains, ranging from two to nine individuals. House 40 contained six complete bodies and parts of another three, including several children, lying on the floor. In the back of this house, we found animal bones from at least eight slaughtered lambs, all of which died between the ages of three and six months, suggesting that the massacre was perpetrated sometime between late spring and early autumn.
In House 4, the skeleton of a 5- to 7-year-old child was found lying just inside the entrance, while the innermost part of the house contained the partially scattered skeleton of an older man. Close to the child and near the entrance, we encountered the remains of a young teenager who had been decapitated, as well as bones from another adult.
House 52 contained a child’s arm bone, but only a single complete body: an elderly man who was found face down across the central fireplace. He lay outstretched with his legs crossed. Fire damage to the man’s pelvic area shows that the fire was lit when he fell, meaning that he must have been unconscious or dead when he tumbled into the flames.
https://www.world-archaeology.com/features/the-sandby-borg-massacre/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandby_borg
maximus otter
This aerial view of the Sandby borg ringfort from the west shows its location on the south-east coast of Öland island, Sweden. Stone ramparts enclose an oval area, but excavations have revealed that these defences could not protect the people living within the settlement. [Image: Sebastian Jakobsson]
It all started in the spring of 2010, when geophysical surveys were carried out in a Migration period (c. AD 400-550) ringfort on the island of Öland. During the fieldwork, suspected looting pits were discovered, which led to a decision by the local authorities to subject the entire site to a metal-detector survey. This revealed five magnificent jewellery caches, containing large gilded silver brooches, along with items such as finger-rings, beads, bells, and smaller brooches. These remarkable finds, tucked away in different houses within the central block of the fort, were the catalyst for a small excavation the following year. It was not long, though, before the glamour of these discoveries took a macabre turn, when human remains displaying traces of lethal trauma appeared in the trenches.
This fine relief brooch was found together with a finger-ring and spiral beads in one of the jewellery caches at Sandby borg in 2010. [Image: Jan-Henrik Fallgren]
As the number of skeletons increased, it became apparent that our excavations were exposing evidence for a brutal massacre in the late 5th century AD. During this episode, large numbers of people were slaughtered and their bodies left where they fell. Of the ringfort’s 53 houses, only three have so far been excavated in their entirety. A total of about 15 individuals still lay within them, while a similar number are accounted for by human bones scattered across the street outside the houses. The dead span all ages, from infants to the elderly, but the sex range seems rather more restricted. Where determinations have been possible, so far only men are known to be present. Several of the skeletons show traces of fatal injuries, mostly to the head, which were inflicted by both sharp and blunt weapons. Many of these blows seem to have been struck from above or behind, while wounds to the victims’ forearms suggesting an attempt to defend themselves are conspicuously absent. In short, the evidence points towards a massacre rather than a battle.
Skeletons of two young men
We refer to the three excavated buildings as Houses 4, 40, and 52. Within, we discovered a simultaneously varied and bleakly unambiguous picture of what transpired within the ringfort. House 40 and 52 both lie in the central block of buildings, and contained jewellery caches. House 4, by contrast, did not yield any high-status artefacts, and is located in the northern part of the fort. All three buildings contained human remains, ranging from two to nine individuals. House 40 contained six complete bodies and parts of another three, including several children, lying on the floor. In the back of this house, we found animal bones from at least eight slaughtered lambs, all of which died between the ages of three and six months, suggesting that the massacre was perpetrated sometime between late spring and early autumn.
In House 4, the skeleton of a 5- to 7-year-old child was found lying just inside the entrance, while the innermost part of the house contained the partially scattered skeleton of an older man. Close to the child and near the entrance, we encountered the remains of a young teenager who had been decapitated, as well as bones from another adult.
House 52 contained a child’s arm bone, but only a single complete body: an elderly man who was found face down across the central fireplace. He lay outstretched with his legs crossed. Fire damage to the man’s pelvic area shows that the fire was lit when he fell, meaning that he must have been unconscious or dead when he tumbled into the flames.
https://www.world-archaeology.com/features/the-sandby-borg-massacre/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandby_borg
maximus otter
It was an age of technological advancement, population growth, the creation of much beauty and the expansion of cultures.
