5 November 2024 The Future is the Product of the Past

Unusual Iron Age Female Grave Found in Pryssgården, Sweden

In an Iron Age cemetery in Sweden, archaeologists found a woman’s grave buried with a small needle and an iron folding knife directly into her burial.

One of the country’s largest archaeological excavations has been underway for a year and a half at Pryssgården outside Norrköping. The area is close to Motala ström and people have lived here for 6,000 years, but now it is to become industrial land instead.

The area has been investigated in the past, but during the new excavations, archaeologists have rediscovered a burial ground from the early Iron Age. The burial ground, with around 50 graves, was known in the 17th century but was forgotten when it became arable land. Among the finds is a female skeleton.

Although there are at least 50 burials in the cemetery dating from 500 BC to 400 AD, this woman’s grave is particularly unusual. Archaeologists have discovered an ancient iron pocketknife jabbed into the burial of this Iron Age woman.

The people who buried the woman centuries ago “stuck the knife in; we don’t know why, but it is clear that it is meant for the woman,” Moa Gillberg, an archaeologist at Sweden’s National Historical Museums, said in a statement.

Some of the graves were covered with tiny, symmetrically laid stones, but the majority were pits where cremated remains were placed, a common burial practice during the Iron Age.

Archaeologist Moa Gillberg in the process of excavating one of the graves. Photo: Henrik Pihl, Archaeologerna
Archaeologist Moa Gillberg in the process of excavating one of the graves. Photo: Henrik Pihl, Archaeologerna

Two graves close to each other were investigated at the same time. One contained no grave goods, was less sooty, and also contained some animal bones.

– The other grave was extremely sooty and had a thick layer of fire. When we dug down, we saw that an iron curved knife had been inserted straight into the ground with its edge. It was probably used for preparing hides. They had collected everything from the fire and then stuck the knife in the ground, we don’t know why but it is clear that it was meant for the woman. It is also very well preserved and may have been on the pyre before it was stuck down,’ says Moa Gillberg:

– ‘There is a woman buried here and she also has a small needle with her. Part of a toe bone showed that she probably had osteoarthritis in her big toe. Similar female graves have been found at the Fiskeby burial ground, where the dead were also given needles and knives of the same type.

In total, the archaeologists believe that there are around 50 graves in the area, but there may be more or turn out to be fewer.

Using metal detectors, archaeologists from the National Historical Museums discovered some jewelry during their initial investigations this past spring. In addition to dozens of graves, they discovered a storehouse, a well, and ancient dwellings during the excavation process.

Arkeologerna

Cover Photo: Henrik Pihl, Arkeologerna

Related Articles

The Bronze Sacred Sanxingdui Tree Number 3 is Being Restored

9 April 2021

9 April 2021

According to the announcement of the Sanxingdui Museum, archaeologists have begun to assemble and restore the No. 3 bronze sacred...

An Ancient Large Clay Vessel “Hum” 1.75 Meters High Unearthed in Kyrgyzstan

9 March 2024

9 March 2024

During recent archaeological excavations in the town of Uzgen in the Osh province of Kyrgyzstan, a 1.75-meter-high clay vessel known...

Rare 400-year-old Bronze Trumpets Discovered on a shipwreck in Croatia

12 July 2024

12 July 2024

Croatian underwater archaeologists have made an extraordinary discovery off the southern coast of Istria near Cape Kamenjak. They have unearthed...

Archaeologists discovered floor mosaics with early Christian designs in Roman town of Marcianopolis, in Bulgaria

16 January 2024

16 January 2024

Archaeologists discovered floor mosaics with early Christian designs and nearly 800 artifacts in the archaeological reserve of Marcianopolis in Devnya,...

An olive workshop dating back to the 6th century was found in the ancient city of Dara

16 February 2022

16 February 2022

An olive workshop dating back to the 6th century was unearthed in the ancient city of Dara, one of the...

Torrential Rain Reveal 2500-Year-old Small Bull Statue

19 March 2021

19 March 2021

After heavy rains near the ancient Olympia site, a bronze bull statue of a bull believed to be at least...

Saxon ‘London’ was Bigger Than Previously Believed

23 February 2024

23 February 2024

Archaeologists digging at the northern end of Trafalgar Square found evidence that Saxon London’s center was bigger and extended further...

Researchers reveal the 4,500-year-old network of funerary avenues in Arabian Peninsula

15 January 2022

15 January 2022

Archaeologists from the University of Western Australia (UWA) have determined that people living in ancient northwest Arabia built long-distance “funerary...

Origin of Ivory Rings Found in Elite Anglo-Saxon Burials

2 July 2023

2 July 2023

An elite class of ancient Anglo-Saxon women were buried with hundreds of ivory rings, and the origin of these ivory...

Experts believe the 7,000-year-old circular stone structures were once houses, complete with doorways and roofs in Saudi Arabia

16 July 2024

16 July 2024

Archaeologists have excavated eight ancient “standing stone circles” in Saudi Arabia that they say were used as houses. Eight of...

1000-Year-Old Tomb Found in Perre Ancient City in southeast Turkey

1 July 2021

1 July 2021

A 1,000-year-old tomb was unearthed in the ancient city of Perre in Adiyaman province. Perre is one of the five...

Mummy of Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep ‘unwrapped’ for the first time in 3,500 years!

30 December 2021

30 December 2021

Egyptian scientists have digitally unwrapped the 3,500-year-old mummy of pharaoh Amenhotep I. For the first time, a team in Egypt...

700 Years After Dante’s Death, His Handwritten Notes Are Discovered

11 July 2021

11 July 2021

Dante Alighieri, an Italian poet, and scholar are best known for his masterwork La Commedia (also known as The Divine...

Hebrew University Archaeologists have Unveiled 7,000-year-old Seal İmpressions

10 June 2021

10 June 2021

Israeli archaeologists unveiled a 7,000-year-old clay seal impression used for commerce and protection of property, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem...

At Ostrowite, archaeologists have discovered a high-status burial dating back almost a thousand years

2 January 2022

2 January 2022

Archaeologists have discovered a burial chamber in Ostrowite, in Poland’s Pomeranian Voivodeship, containing several high-status grave goods from the 11th...

Comments
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *