Swedish Archaeologists Uncover 2 Rare 2,500-Year-Old Bronze Neck Rings in Grave Monument
Updated
Updated · Fox News · May 29
Swedish Archaeologists Uncover 2 Rare 2,500-Year-Old Bronze Neck Rings in Grave Monument
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 29
Two wendel rings dating to the final phase of the Bronze Age were found together inside an ancient grave monument near Norrköping, a context excavation leader Alf Ericsson called extremely unusual and possibly unique.
The discovery came during a dig in Marby ahead of planned housing development, within a larger Late Bronze Age landscape that includes graves, settlement remains and rock carvings.
Ericsson said one better-preserved ring had been broken in half in antiquity, likely as part of a ritual process, and several deposits of cremated human bones from the monument are now being analyzed.
Wendel rings are relatively rare bronze ornaments more often found in hoards in wetlands such as bogs or marshes, making this burial-context find the first documented in a modern archaeological context in Sweden.
The find adds to a recent run of major Swedish archaeological discoveries, including a medieval coin-filled cauldron in Stockholm County and a forgotten 16th-century city beneath Gothenburg.
What secrets do these 2,500-year-old Swedish rings hold about ancient European trade and power?
Why would a Bronze Age society ritually break its most valuable treasures before burial?
When ancient graves halt modern construction, what is the true cost of unearthing the past?