Swedish 5th-century fortress was the scene of a mysterious bloody massacre
It is no secret that life during the Middle Ages was not very easy and that things could be quite violent. However, excavations at a 5th-century Swedish fortress have left even the archaeologists in charge of the work impressed - by the bloodthirsty massacre they believe rolled over. It is not known exactly what happened, but the venue appears to have been the scene of a "Game of Thrones" style kill.
According to George Dvorsky of Gizmodo, the site of the massacre is on Öland, an island off Sweden's southeastern coast, and is called Sandby Borg - “borg” means “fortress” in Swedish. During the Middle Ages, this piece of land, which has a total area of just over 1, 300 square kilometers and now has an estimated population of less than 25, 000, was already relatively agitated as it was home to at least 15 fortresses and almost a thousand houses made of stone.
Currently, only ruins remain of the ancient fortress that had fortified walls close to 5 meters high. But after spending three years conducting on-site analysis, the archaeologist team found that something horrifying happened at Sandby Borg about 1, 500 years ago.
Massacre
The researchers found at least 26 skeletons of people living in the fortress - including the elderly and children - and the arrangement in which the bodies were discovered and the injuries identified in the bones indicate that Sandby Borg's inhabitants were killed during a violent attack and abandoned. just as they fell. According to George, archaeologists have concluded that some of the victims died on the spot, while others took a little longer to die, and that the killing happened suddenly and unexpectedly.
This is because, during the work, the skeletons were discovered in what would be the interiors of their homes, and among the artifacts found, archaeologists came across food being prepared and unfinished meals. Still regarding the bodies, in one of the excavated residences - identified as number 40 - the team found the skeletons of nine victims, among them one of an individual aged between 12 and 15 years and who was partially found on another body.
Ominous scenery
Archaeologists believe that from the position in which the bones were found, this person tripped over another victim's body before falling flat on his back - and the arrangement of the skeleton suggests that this person was unconscious before reaching the ground. Still in this house, of the nine individuals who were identified, two were partially burned, giving the impression that those responsible for the attack tried to burn the house after killing everyone, but the fire eventually died out.
Equally macabre scenes were found in other houses, and it seems that the inhabitants of Sandby Borg were completely taken aback by anyone who perpetrated the bloody massacre, since the researchers found no defensive wounds on the skeletons, and many skulls. they had signs of trauma and strike marks focused on the backs of the bodies.
According to Maev Kennedy of The Guardian portal, another finding that puzzled archaeologists was that the attack did not appear to have been motivated by theft or to plunder the fortress, as numerous valuables - such as silver jewelry, noticeable ornaments. imported from other regions of Europe and even a Roman gold coin - were left behind.
And most baffling is that, as soon as the massacre was over, the corpses were abandoned, the fortress closed, and all left to decay over the centuries. Not even the inhabitants of neighboring fortresses came to see what had happened, so much so that, along with the skeletons, archaeologists found the bones of countless animals - which must have starved to death.
What could have happened?
As mentioned earlier, the researchers found skeletons of at least 26 people living in the fortress, but only 10% of the site has been excavated so far, meaning there may be many more bodies out there to be discovered. Incidentally, when work began, the team was warned of local legends that Sandby Borg was a damn place and should not be disturbed.
What happened there was undeniably brutal and very strange, and archaeologists do not know what motivated the attack. But of course they came up with some theories ... The team believes the massacre may have something to do with the fall of the Western Roman Empire around 475. The collapse led to economic imbalances, political changes and reorganization of the power in different parts of Europe, including Sweden.
Also with the end of the Empire, Swedish mercenaries serving the Roman armies returned to their homes - which would explain the discovery of the Roman coin - and it may be that these soldiers had something to do with the attack. One possibility is that the reorganization of power in Öland resulted in the massacre, and Sandby Borg's fortress was attacked and left to rot by itself as an example to other islanders. But those are just possibilities ...
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