Archaeologists in Sweden found two Viking swords in nearby graves that were buried vertically, as if they were standing on points.
Whoever set the iron swords perpendicular to the surface about 1,200 years ago must have done so on purpose, as it would have taken a lot of effort—perhaps using a rock or a hammer—to wedge the weapon about 16 inches (40 centimeters). , archaeologists told Live Science.
“The arrangement of the swords depicts the action with a lot of symbolism”, Anton Seiler (opens in a new tab), Fredrik Larson (opens in a new tab) and Katarina Appelgren (opens in a new tab), archaeologists from Arkeologerna, an archeology firm in Sweden that is part of the state agency National Historical Museums, told Live Science in an email. “When you find swords in graves – which you don’t very often – they are often lying next to the buried person as a faithful companion on the journey to the afterlife.”
It is not known why the two swords were buried in an upright position, but there are various possibilities, one of which is that the standing swords served as a link to the Norse warrior god Odin and his realm of Valhalla, where the slain warriors reportedly resided under Odina, the Arkeologerna team that helped find the sword, said.
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Archaeologists excavating ahead of highway construction discovered two sword burials earlier this fall in Vestmanland county in central Sweden. The team discovered a large burial field that covers an area of just under 1 acre (60 by 60 meters) and contains at least 100 cremated burials. At the time of use, the burial field bordered two farms, archaeologists note.
Most of the burials date to the Late Iron Age (600 to 1000 AD) and are made of stone, forming graves up to 23 feet (7 m) in diameter. The two sword burials are about 16 feet (5 m) in diameter and date to the ninth or tenth centuries AD, during The Viking Age. However, both of these graves, as well as a third burial with glass beads, were placed on top of an earlier burial mound dating to the seventh or eighth centuries AD, meaning that each of these individuals was part of a “multichronological burial monument”. – told the team.
Seiler, Larsson and Appelgren noted that it was very rare in the Late Iron Age to incorporate old graves into new ones. “This suggests that the creation of the two stone sword covers was done deliberately, perhaps to create an association with a particular person, ancestor or social group.”
Viking Age swords were expensive objects, so burying these weapons in graves was a “huge investment” as it made them “unavailable for future use”, the team added. Both swords are about 35 inches (90 cm) long and broken. “They broke when they were pressed into the ground, and more than 1,000 years also contributed to the degradation,” the team explained.
Archaeologists plan to piece the fragments together “to determine the exact length and shape of the swords,” and it is possible that traces of rotting remains, such as wooden or leather scabbards, known as scabbards, or silver inlays on the hilts “will be found.” visible during preservation,” Seiler, Larson and Appelgren said.
In addition to the swords, the two burials contained cremated human and animal bones—including horses, dogs, and birds that may have been sacrificed for funerary ceremonies—as well as game pieces made of whalebone, silver knotwork , pottery vessels, iron nails and iron rivets, which may depict Viking boats or other wooden structures. The team also found bear claws, possibly from a hide that has since rotted, and grain, possibly as passage to the next world, the archaeologists said.
Why were the swords buried vertically?
It is a mystery why the swords were placed standing, but one possible explanation is that it was a way of dedicating the deceased to Odin; Swords (and in some cases spears and arrowheads) embedded in the ground were thought to have facilitated the transition to Valhalla, archaeologists say.
However, some researchers believe that the sharp objects stuck in the graves were “a way to prevent the dead from rising,” the team said. “We do not believe that this applies to these graves, as the swords were such valuable objects. Knives or arrowheads could have been used instead, which would have been much cheaper.”
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Whatever the reason, it is likely that swords also served as living reminders of the dead. Seiler, Larson, and Apelgren stated that sword pommels “lay superficially in the graves and were probably visible in the Viking Age.” “Perhaps relatives sometimes visited the graves and contacted the dead by touching the swords.”
Archaeologists plan to soon analyze the human remains in the sword burials, which will help them determine each person’s gender, age at death, and whether each grave contained one or more people. It’s tempting to think that all these graves contain men, but “we can’t be sure of that,” how viking women They said they were found buried with weapons.
While the team still has to radiocarbon date Burials, “one can suspect that the sword graves were built at the same time,” Seiler, Larson and Appelgren said. “They were next to each other, built in the same mound and with the same grave goods. Perhaps they represent two brothers/sisters in arms who died in the same battle? This is hypothetical, of course, but certainly represents a tantalizing possibility. “
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