Archaeologists discover rare Bronze Age finds in Sweden
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Archaeologists in Bygdeå, Sweden, excavated a 3500-year-old Bronze Age grave and uncovered unusual artifacts.
Tone Hellsten and a team of five people spent a week dismantling the long cairn, a stone mound measuring eight by twenty meters, before construction of the Norrbotniabanan railway began. The grave contained a double button, a dress pin, and part of a pair of tweezers, all made of bronze.
The archaeologists found the remains of a person buried in a three-meter-long stone chest at the northern end of the grave, covered by a layer of sand and small stones. While the grave had been looted in the past, the recent discoveries were remarkable because the acidic soil typically destroys organic materials and artifacts. Hellsten described the finds as unique to northern Sweden and called it “the best day at work” each time a new item was discovered.
The artifacts will now be sent for examination and preservation, with plans to eventually display them at the Västerbottens museum. The Bronze Age in this region lasted from 1700 BC to 500 BC, and saw a shift in burial practices from inhumation to cremation during the younger period.
