Ancient archaeological discoveries can be confusing, exciting, intriguing, educational and sometimes a little creepy, as new excavations of a 2,500-year-old cemetery in Norway prove.
What’s even more disturbing is that detailed examination of the bone fragments that survived cremation revealed that the main grave complex, containing 39 bodies, all belonged to children under the age of six.
There were two other graves containing adult remains, but these were separate from the main grave.
But it’s unclear whether anything sinister had occurred, and the question remains as to why there were separate graves rather than a common one at a time when infant mortality was relatively high.
“There was something special about the whole site,” says excavation leader Gro Fossum, an archaeologist at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo. Said Mette Estep Science Norway.
“Kitchen areas and fireplaces around the site suggest that burial-related gatherings and rituals took place there.”
The tombs cover a long period of history. Bronze Age And that Iron Age.
Excavations Østfold County Initially, when excavation began to clear the land for the expansion of a local quarry, archaeologists expected to find Stone Age artefacts rather than a 2,000-year-old grave.
Most of the burials took place between 800 and 200 BCE, the researchers say, and were located near major thoroughfares, so would have been known by the whole area. These were not secret burials.
“Plus, all of the headstones were so beautiful and well made,” Fossum says. Said Science Norway“Each stone was taken from a different location and placed with such precision. It makes you wonder who put in all that effort.”
The tombs were circular or oval in shape, with diameters of up to 2 metres (6.5 feet). Some had a central paving stone with a kerb around it, something that had never been seen before in Europe, the archaeologists said.
We may never know exactly what happened here, but excavations of the tomb are currently underway. Part of the exhibition At the Cultural History Museum in Oslo Remembering the childrenThe exhibition will run until September 29, 2024 and will also include a reconstruction of one of the stone tombs.
“Why were the children buried somewhere else? Why here? And how did they continue this tradition for hundreds of years?” read Introduction to the exhibition.
Ongoing analysis of pottery shards found at the same site – possibly vessels that contained the burnt bones examined earlier – may reveal more about these people and their lives.
In the meantime, we can add it to the list of fascinating burial sites that have been excavated over the years.
