2024-07-12 02:20:06
These burials, each marked by carefully placed stone circles, were discovered last year by a team from the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History near Fredrikstad, about 80 km south of Oslo, close to the Swedish border.
Guro Fossum, an archaeologist at the museum, says that 41 tombs decorated with stone circles have been discovered.
Stone circles up to 2 meters in diameter were placed next to each other. Further investigations showed that beneath those stones were burnt bones and pottery shards.
Now, new analysis shows that almost all of the graves contained children who died between 800 and 200 AD. Ave. me Many of the children were infants, and others were between 3 and 6 years old.
“The dating shows that the burial site was in use for a long time, so they couldn’t all have died in the same natural disaster, disease or epidemic outbreak,” Fossum said.
This arrangement of ancient children’s graves is unique in Europe, the museum says, and the area surrounding the burial site is rich in rock carvings depicting travel and sun worship.
Experts noted that infant mortality was probably high at the time, but they have no other explanation for the child graves.
Accidental discovery
Archaeologists discovered the tomb after exploring a nearby Stone Age settlement.
According to G. Fossum, in the Bronze and Iron Ages of the Nordic countries, it was customary to cremate the dead on pyres, and the remaining bones were either buried or scattered. Back then, a flat layer of stones, arranged in a spiral or circle, was often placed over the cremation site, she said.
But the cemetery in Fredrikstad is unusual.
“The graves are very close together,” Fossum said. “The bonfires around the site suggest that gatherings and rituals were held together with the funerals.”
Also, the graves were very carefully marked. “Each stone was taken from a different location and carefully placed in the formation,” said Fossum. “We wondered who put in so much effort.”
The answer came after it was revealed that most of the dead were children. “These were the graves of little children,” she said.
Parengta pagal „Live Science“.
2024-07-12 02:20:06