The Nordic countries - Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe and Aland Islands - are not only snow and natural resources, but also a storehouse of valuable historical information. Here are 10 archaeological finds that tell about amazing events that took place in the northern countries.
Viking traveler's sword discovered by contemporary traveler
Goran Olsen, during a tourist walk through one of the picturesque places in Norway, decided to take a break and discovered a curious find more than a thousand years old. Despite the lack of a handle, the sword is quite well preserved, representing both a rare and valuable artifact. Iron swords during the Viking Age were not easy to make, so it is assumed that the 76 cm sword, dating from about 750 AD, belonged to a noble Viking. Nothing is known about the fate of the latter, but according to the main version, he could have died trying to overcome the mountain pass.
Tomb of the saint viking
Olaf Haraldson was born in 995 in Norway and was an exemplary Viking warrior until he converted to Christianity in 1013 - and then he began to fight on the side of the exiled English king against the Danes. Returning to Norway in 1015, he was proclaimed king. In 1018, Olaf was supposed to marry the daughter of the King of Sweden, Ingigerde, but the bride's father suddenly changed his mind, giving his daughter to Prince Yaroslav the Wise. Fate brought Olaf to the failed bride 10 years later: after being defeated in the war against Denmark, Olaf was forced to flee to Sweden and further to Novgorod. Olaf's throne in Norway was taken by Knud II, King of England. Olaf Haraldsson died in battle in 1030 fighting for the Norwegian crown and was buried in Trondheim. During the year, the inhabitants of the city told that the late king works miracles, and soon Olaf was canonized. In 2016, they started talking about Olaf again: archaeologists claim to have found his resting place. According to scholars, the stone foundation, sacred well and rectangular stone platform could have been the site of an altar built over the grave of St. Olaf.
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Tomb of Ulf of Galician
Are you surprised that the Danish Viking could have had a middle name associated with Spanish territory? The Viking Ulf, the great-grandfather of the Danish king Valdemar I the Great, received such a nickname for his numerous and destructive raids on the lands of northern Spain. In 2009, archaeologists said they had found the alleged burial site of Ulf of Galician. The grave itself was discovered back in the 50s of the last century, but new research allows us to make assumptions about who was buried there. So, the burial is located on the land that belonged to King Valdemar I, and the fragments of the sword found next to the remains testify to the high title of the deceased and date back to the 11th century. This allows us to conclude that the grave contains the remains of the noble ancestor of King Valdemar - for example, Ulf of Galician.
Mysterious footprints
During excavations in the Norwegian commune of Skjerdal in 2010, archaeologists discovered a mound. It would seem that it was an ordinary burial, but scientists noticed that the burial mound was higher than it was customary to do. And having excavated the upper layer of the burial, archaeologists saw images of eight human tracks and five depressions carved into the stone. Presumably, the drawings have ritual significance, and the burial ground itself dates back to the Bronze Age (1800-500 BC). Later, similar images were found in other regions of Norway.
Mysterious guests of the Faroe Islands
It is believed that the first settlers in the Faroe Islands, located between Iceland and Norway, were the Vikings. However, recent archaeological evidence suggests that the Scandinavian warriors and sailors were ahead of someone by 300, or even 500 years. Whoever these mysterious pioneers were, they lived on the islands for a long time, while they preferred not to settle en masse, like the Vikings. In the ashes, which were found on one of the islands, the remains of barley grain were found. First, these barley tracks date back to the pre-Viking age. And secondly, barley did not grow in these territories and, therefore, was brought here by people. These findings open up new questions in the study of the history of the Nordic countries: who and when traveled across the North Atlantic before the Vikings?
A huge labyrinth was discovered by archaeologists in Denmark in 2017, near the Stevns commune
Built in the Stone Age, it covers an area of 18 thousand square meters. Perhaps the labyrinth served as an ancient temple of the sun. Similar labyrinths can be found on the Danish islands and in Sweden. The most mysterious of these was discovered in 1988 on the island of Bornholm: this labyrinth is older than that found in Stevns, and definitely had a religious purpose.
The oldest ship in Denmark was found by representatives of an energy company who laid an underwater communication
The remains of the ship rested near the island of Asko. The boat about 6-7 m long was in operation about 6.5 thousand years ago. Think about it: this ship is two millennia older than the ancient Egyptian pyramids! The ancient ship pointed to another, no less valuable, find: a submerged Neolithic settlement was discovered near it.
Sverrir saga
One of the Icelandic so-called "royal sagas" tells the story of King Sverrir of Norway, spanning 1177-1202. Among the episodes - the capture of Sverresborg Castle by the rival of King Sverrir. Having captured the fortress, the enemy burned to ashes all the buildings on the territory of the castle and, throwing the body of one of the defenders to the bottom of the well, covered it with stones, thereby depriving people of drinking water. In 2016, while clearing an ancient well of stones near Trondheim, archaeologists discovered human bones at the bottom. The analysis showed that the deceased lived in the XII century, and this, in turn, confirms the reliability of one of the legends of the famous saga.
Massacre on the island of Oland. An ancient sandy fort on a picturesque Swedish island was once inhabited by residents - until a terrible tragedy occurred
A real massacre took place about 1,500 years ago. The enemy did not spare anyone: not only adults, but also children were brutally killed. Some residents tried to escape by abandoning their homes with valuable gold items. At the moment, only a small part of the fort has been excavated, but it already illustrates the wild scale of what happened.
Blekinge
In 2017, the ship Blekinge was discovered off the coast of Karlskrona, which could become a competitor to the famous Vase. Like the Vaza, the Blekinge was 45 meters long, but surpassed the Vaza in the number of guns. Blekinge was the first ship built at the Karlskrona shipyard. Launched in 1682, after 30 years of service, the ship sank in 1713 near the native shores of Karlskrona. According to one version, it could have been deliberately flooded. After the Battle of Poltava, having lost the war to Russia, King Charles XII of Sweden fled to Turkey. In Karlskrona, they feared a Russian invasion and, according to archaeologists, the Blekinge could be flooded to be used as a cannon platform.
Natalya Polytsya