23 replies to this topic

[ThePhantomFlanFlinger]

Quote

The remains of hundreds of warriors have resurfaced from a Danish bog, suggesting that a violent event took place at the site about 2,000 years ago.
Discovered in the Alken Enge wetlands near Lake Mossø in East Jutland, Denmark, the skeletal remains tell the story of an entire army's apparent sacrifice.

Following work done in 2009, archaeologists have so far unearthed the hacked bones of more than 200 individuals.
Skeletal remains include a fractured skull and a sliced thighbone. An abundance of well preserved axes, spears, clubs and shields have been also unearthed.

http://news.discover...bog-120816.html

[Mnemonix]

Don't you just hate it when that happens?

[spud the mackem]

Someone has been watching "Lord of the Rings" pt2 "The Two Towers" !

[Coffey]

OK I admit the actual story is not what first went through my mind...

[ThePhantomFlanFlinger]

Coffey, on 16 August 2012 - 04:07 PM, said:

OK I admit the actual story is not what first went through my mind...

Yes..if I'm thinking the same as what you thought it was,id agree..would have been far funnier...

[Kasey2601]

Damn! They found where I buried all the bodies. *sigh* I guess I need to find somewhere new.

[Darkwind]

How do they know they were a sacrifice?  Could it not just be a type burial of people who had died in battle. How can they say what the intent was?

[King Fluffs]

Interesting.

[poetofsheba]

@Darkwind the finds are dated to the iron-age where cremation was the common and accepted way to bury the dead. To find about 200 warriors who where all submerged in a lake is extraordinary - there have been many finds of weapons or items being placed in lakes or bogs as sacrifices during the bronze and iron-age both in Denmark and northern Europe in general, so the suggestion of sacrifice isn't completely unfounded.
I study archeology (in Denmark) and I don't know of any other examples where dead warriors have been submerged - so it's highly unlikely that it was a common practice. Also the bodies that we DO find in bogs (former lakes) are usually social outcasts or criminals, no Iron-age person would want their heroic warriors buried like that.

Of course they can't know for sure as we have no written accounts from that periode, but I'd say that the fact that they were placed in the lake, with their weapons, many being wounded in a recent battle suggest sacrifice or at least some kind of ritualistic Killing/burial of enemy soldiers.

It's not a common, honorable burial. They are buried like sacrifices, criminals or outcasts - so it's unlikely they where on the winning side as well.

But a really awesome find - hope I get the chance to visit the dig site, it's not that far from here :)

[Darkwind]

Hail and Welcome to Um Poetofsheba.  Thank you so much for your insight. Do you know of a better link than Discovery News. Their science is, well to be nice, lacking. I'm reading a book on the Celts and this part of the time line is really interesting.

[poetofsheba]

Thank you
Alken Enge as the area is called is part of Skanderborg Museum's area (they are excavating with the aid of people from Moesgaard Museum and Aarhus university where I studied archaeology) and their homepage have some English translations and press releases on the dig:
http://www.skanderbo...rsion-1070.aspx
http://www.skanderbo...eases-1085.aspx

It's the most updated info you'll be able to find until all of the data and finds have been processed - and that will take months of work. Everything they have now is preliminary theories - so There'll probably be some surprises in the future, there always are

[Likely Guy]

Welcome to the forums PoS!

I wonder why they were left with their weapons.

[poetofsheba]

Thank you
There's many examples of gold bracelets, rings, necklaces, axes, knives and swords being placed in lakes - presumably as an offering to the local gods. So if the warriors are sacrifices it would make sense to sacrifice their weapons along side them.
On might think that metal was too valuable and that they would have kept it - but most of the weapons found in lakes or bogs are of a very high quality, like fit for a chieftain, so when it came to the gods nothing was too good or to rare

Edit:

There are several examples in Denmark of foreign warriors or other tribes attacking a village - and if the village won they sacrificed most if not all of the enemies equipment to the gods as a thanks for the victory. (sacrificing the warriors as well is less common )



finds from Illerup Ådal - warriors from all areas of modern day Sweden and Norway sailed to Denmark and were beaten by the locals, who deposited the items taken from the beaten enemies in the lake.


another lake sacrifice found in Denmark - so they definitely didn't care how valuable something was, it was very important to give the gods what they were owed.

Edited by poetofsheba, 17 August 2012 - 05:08 PM.

[Simbi Laveau]

I read this article yesterday,so I knew what it was about,but the title made me imagine the end of Bedknobs and Broomsticks .

[Harlequin Dreamer]

poetofsheba, on 17 August 2012 - 04:45 PM, said:

finds from Illerup Ådal - warriors from all areas of modern day Sweden and Norway sailed to Denmark and were beaten by the locals, who deposited the items taken from the beaten enemies in the lake.

Thats a very celtic tradition