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Ark of Secrets - Neolithic spirit alive in the Middle Ages

Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe, Scarre

Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe, Scarre

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<< Our Photo Pages >> Kanaljorden - Ancient Village or Settlement in Sweden in Östergötland

Submitted by davidmorgan on Tuesday, 22 November 2011  Page Views: 6243

DigsSite Name: Kanaljorden
Country: Sweden
NOTE: This site is 3.108 km away from the location you searched for.

Landskap: Östergötland Type: Ancient Village or Settlement
Nearest Town: Motala
Latitude: 58.533513N  Longitude: 15.048240E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
1 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
no data Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
no data Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
2

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Kanaljorden
Kanaljorden submitted by Andy B : Tove Björk gently lifts up one of the skulls. Photo credit: Fredrik Hallgren. Site in Östergötland Sweden (Vote or comment on this photo)
Recent archaeological excavations at the site of Kanaljorden in the town of Motala, Östergötland in Central Sweden have unearthed a complex Mesolithic site with ceremonial depositions of human crania in a small lake. The skulls have been been handled through a complex ceremony that involved the displaying of skulls on stakes, and the deposition of skulls in water.

The rituals were conducted on a massive (14 x 14 m) stone-packing constructed on the bottom of a shallow lake.

The site of Kanaljorden is a complex ancient monument that contain both settlement remains and ritual deposits from the Mesolithic. The settlement have traces of several phases of occupation preliminary dated to the Early Mesolithic (9651-8769 cal BC), the Middle Mesolithic (7030-6505 cal BC), and possibly also the Late Mesolithic although there are no 14C-datings from the latter period yet. The deposits of ritual character in the adjacent wetland date from the late Middle Mesolithic (6212-5675 cal BC).

More at the head of excavation Fredrik Hallgren's website.

Note: Dig reveals human skulls mounted on stakes
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Kanaljorden
Kanaljorden submitted by Andy B : The bones were found on and in a massive stone packing at the bottom of an ancient lake that now is a wetland. So far, no whole human bodies have been were found, so it appears that people selected specific bones of dead relatives to be deposited as part of ceremonies connected with the shallow lake. Photo credit: Fredrik Hallgren. Site in Östergötland Sweden (Vote or comment on this photo)

Kanaljorden
Kanaljorden submitted by Andy B : Most of the human bones dug up have been skulls. In addition, femur, tibia, ribs, and a human lower jaw have been unearthed. Some of the bones are very well preserved and are likely to allow osteological and chemical analysis to learn more about how the people buried here lived their lives. Photo credit: Fredrik Hallgren. Site in Östergötland Sweden (Vote or comment on this photo)

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"Kanaljorden" | Login/Create an Account | 4 News and Comments
  
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Re: Dig reveals human skulls mounted on stakes by Andy B on Saturday, 24 March 2012
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The dig's web site with a comprehensive weekly dig diary (in Swedish)
http://www.kmmd.se/Kanaljorden-Motala/

and appoximate auto-translation
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kmmd.se%2FKanaljorden-Motala%2F
[ Reply to This ]

Skulls on stakes in Sweden date to the Mesolithic by davidmorgan on Saturday, 24 March 2012
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Archaeological excavations in 2009–2011 at Kanaljorden in the town of Motala, Östergötland in central Sweden unearthed a unique Mesolithic site with ceremonial depositions of human crania in a former lake.

The human skulls have been part of a complex ceremony that involved their display on stakes and deposition in water.

The skulls have now been C14 dated to 6212-5717 cal BC and two dates on worked wood have also been obtained (5972-5675 cal BC), making them 7-8000 year old.

The rituals were conducted on a massive (14 x 14 m) stone-built construction on the bottom of a shallow lake (nowadays a peat fen). Some human crania were found as more or less intact “skulls” while others were found as isolated fragments, for example a frontal lobe or a temporal bone. Based on the more intact skulls eleven individuals have been identified, both men and women, ranging in age between infants and middle age. Two of the skulls had wooden stakes inserted into the cranium. In both cases the stakes were inserted from the base to the top of the skull. As well as this a temporal bone of a women was found placed inside the skull of another woman.

Besides human skulls the find material also includes a small number of post-cranial human bones and bones from animals, as well as artefacts of stone, wood, bone and antler.

The skull depositions at Kanaljorden are clearly ritual in character. The next step is to find out if the human bones are relics from dearly departed that were handled in a complex secondary burial ritual, or perhaps trophies of defeated enemies. The archaeologists hope that the ongoing laboratory analysis will give clues to whether the bones are remains of locals or people from further afield and if they represent a family group.

The excavations were conducted by Stiftelsen Kulturmiljövård in advance of the construction of a new railway. The investigations of the wetland are scheduled to resume in 2012 or 2013.
More (with photos) at http://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/03/2012/skulls-on-stakes-in-sweden-date-to-the-mesolithic

Submitted by coldrum.
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Re: Dig reveals human skulls mounted on stakes (pics here) by Andy B on Tuesday, 22 November 2011
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Thanks for locating this site Martin. There are images of the skulls and a further report at Aardvarchaeology
http://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/2011/09/ancient_swedish_fishers_put_hu.php
[ Reply to This ]

Dig reveals human skulls mounted on stakes by davidmorgan on Tuesday, 22 November 2011
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Several human skulls found mounted on wooden stakes have been uncovered from a Stone Age lake bed in central Sweden in what is believed to be the first discovery of its kind anywhere in the world.

“We found two skulls that still had wooden stakes sticking out of them through a whole at the base of the skull,” archeologist Fredrik Hallgren, head of excavation with the Stiftelsen Kulturmiljövård Mälardalen (‘Cultural Preservation Society of Mälardalen’) told The Local.

The skulls and other artifacts, including bones of wild animals, were recovered at the Kanaljorden excavation site in the town of Motala in central Sweden.

According to results from carbon-14 dating techniques, the skulls and other items are estimated to be about 8,000-years-old.

“As far as we know, this discovery is unique in the world. Nothing has been found like this that is so old,” said Hallgren.

The mounted skulls were found with the stakes inserted the full length from the base to the top of the skull.

In another case a temporal bone of one individual identified as a female was found placed inside the skull of another woman.

Altogether Hallgren and his colleagues have identified skulls or skull fragments from 11 individuals, including both men and women and ranging in age from infants to middle-age.

The bones were found in what was a shallow lake during the early Stone Age which appears to have served as a ceremonial burial site.

“Clearly this lake was some sort of holy place for the people who lived here at the time,” said Hallgren.

Archaeologists are exploring two theories to explain why the human skulls were mounted on wooden stakes before being placed in the lake bed

“One thought is that it was part of some sort of secondary burial ritual where the skulls were removed from dead bodies that had initially been placed elsewhere,” said Hallgren.

“After the soft tissue had rotted away, the skulls were removed and placed on the stakes before being placed in the shallow lake.”

Another theory is that the mounted skulls are trophies brought back from battles with other settlers in the area.

“It may have been a way to prove one's success on the battlefield,” Hallgren explained.

Further analysis is currently underway to determine if the bones are remains of locals or people with a distant geographic origin. Using DNA and other laboratory techniques, archaeologists will also try to find out if the remains found at the site belong to a single family group or persons unrelated to one another.

Hallgren said that, as far as he knew, the discovery of human skulls mounted on stakes from this period of history was unprecedented.

“There are other examples of human heads being mounted on stakes, but most of the finds are from the colonial period,” he said.

The Kanaljorden settlement excavation site has been ongoing since 2009 and is located about 500 metres from Motala’s central train station. The site dates from a part of the Stone Age known as the Mesolithic period, at which time the area around Motala was deemed an almost perfect place to live.

There was no agriculture in the area, however, with settlers instead surviving by fishing, hunting, and gathering.

Another dig site nearby in Motala gained worldwide attention in 2010 when archaeologists uncovered what was believed to be a Stone Age dildo.

The object, which measured 10-11 centimetres (4 inches) long and 2 centimetres in diameter, had been fashioned from a stag’s antler.

http://www.thelocal.se/36226/20110919/

Submitted by coldrum.
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