Ancient World Review

Medieval Warrior Woman Found In Viking Grave Was No Viking

"When archaeologists discovered the remains of a woman in a Viking graveyard in Denmark, an axe near her skeleton told them that she may have been a fighter. But closer examination of both the weapon and her burial revealed something unexpected: She was no Viking." Source: Live Science.

"Rather, the woman was Slavic, and likely came from a region in Eastern Europe that is now Poland, representatives of Poland's Ministry of Science and Higher Education said in a statement."

Note: About thirty 9th - 10th century women's graves which contain weapons have been discovered in Scandinavia. According to Science In Poland, these graves "are most often equipped with axes, less frequently arrowheads or spears. In addition to real weapons, in numerous women's graves there are also miniatures of weapons in the form of, for example, small shields, axes or swords. It is a mystery for researchers whether it means that those women were warriors. The old Icelandic texts, especially the so-called legendary sagas, in addition to the warlike and beautiful Valkyries, also mention dragons, trolls and... flying carpets."

The Sprove Dolmen & Kong Asgers Hoj Burial Chambers

Note: A dolmen is a megalithic passage tomb. I haven't been able to find much of anything in English about a Sprove Dolmen, but I think it's more commonly referred to as Sprovedyssen or Sprove Runddysse. According to a site called Hunebed Nieuwscafe, "the passage grave of Sprovedyssen lies very close to the famous tomb of Kong Asgers Høj on the island of Mon in Denmark. The tomb was built by the Funnel Beaker Culture [4300 - 2800 BC] during the New Stone Age and is surrounded by a circle of 35 stones (ring stones)."

Kong Asgers Hoj in Denmark.

The Kong Asgers Hoj tomb, also dating back to the Beaker Funnel Culture, "consists of a chamber (10 m long by 2 m wide) with a long passage (7.5 m long). This type of grave is found primarily in Denmark, Germany and Scandinavia, and occasionally in France and the Netherlands." (Wikipedia) The tomb was used for secondary burials during the later Corded Ware Culture period (2900 - 2350 BC).

Nordic Bronze Age Trade Routes

"2000-1700 BC marks the earliest Nordic Bronze Age, when the use and availability of metal -- specifically tin and copper, which when alloyed together creates bronze -- increased drastically in Scandinavia. The authors performed isotope and trace-element analyses on 210 Bronze Age artifact samples, predominantly axeheads, originally collected in Denmark and representing almost 50% of all known existing Danish metal objects from this period." Source: Science Daily.

"The results of these analyses reveal the trading networks established to import raw metals as well as crafted weapons into Scandinavia via two major maritime trade routes: one leading down across the Baltic Sea towards the Ún?tice (a Bronze Age civilization in what is now eastern Germany and Bohemia), and another leading to the British Isles."

The Nordic Stone Age: First Settlers

"The Nordic Stone Age refers to the Stone Age of Scandinavia. During the Weichselian glaciation, almost all of Scandinavia was buried beneath a thick permanent ice cover and the Stone Age came rather late to this region. As the climate slowly warmed up at the end of the ice age, nomadic hunters from central Europe sporadically visited the region, but it was not until around 12,000 BCE before permanent, but nomadic, habitation took root." (Wikipedia)

"As the ice receded, reindeer grazed the emerging tundra plains of Denmark and southernmost Sweden. This was the era of the Hamburg culture, tribes who hunted over territories 100,000 km² vast and lived as nomads in teepees, following the reindeer seasonal migrations across the barren tundra. On this land there was little plant cover, except for occasional arctic white birch and rowan. Slowly a taiga forest appeared. "

"Around 11,400 BCE, the Bromme culture emerged in Southern Scandinavia. This was a more rapidly warming era providing opportunity for other substantial hunting game animals than the ubiquitous reindeer. As former hunter-gather cultures, the Bromme culture was still largely dependent on reindeer and lived a nomadic life, but their camps diversified significantly and they were the first people to settle Southern Scandinavia (and the Southern Baltic area) on a permanent, yet still nomadic, basis.

"Local climate changes around 10,500 BCE, initiated both cultural changes and the first settling of the northern parts of Scandinavia. Initially, a thousand year long climate cooldown replaced the taiga with the former tundra and the local culture reverted to former times focus on the reindeer hunt. This culture is now referred to as the Ahrensburg culture. Around 9,500 BCE, the local climate warmed yet again, as the pre-Boreal era emerged, and this triggered the Ahrensburg to settle the emerging tundra of northern Scandinavia. For the next two thousand years, the climatic phase known as the Boreal reigned in the Scandinavian region."

Video from 2016. Closed-captions helpful.

A Brief History Of Scandinavia From The Ice Age To The Viking Age

Note: "Since prehistoric times, the Sami people of Arctic Europe have lived and worked in an area that stretches over the northern parts of the regions now known as Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Russian Kola Peninsula. They have inhabited the northern arctic and sub-arctic regions of Fenno-Scandinavia and Russia for at least 5,000 years. The Sami are counted among the Arctic peoples and are members of circumpolar groups such as the Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples' Secretariat." (Wikipedia)

"Petroglyphs and archeological findings such as settlements dating from about 10,000 B.C. can be found in the traditional lands of the Sami. These hunters and gatherers of the late Paleolithic and early Mesolithic were named Komsa by the researchers as what they identified themselves as is unknown."

Swedish Politician Suggests Banning "Nazi" Runes (UPDATE)

Evil Nazi runes!

Back in May, 2019, Russia Today reported that the Swedish government was "looking into the possibility of forbidding the use of Norse runes ... amid concerns that the ancient symbols have been misappropriated by neo-Nazi groups." According to RT, Justice Minister Morgan Johansson was "investigating whether or not runes should be banned in Sweden as a way to deter hate groups ..."

This proposed ban was absurd, of course, but it was a particularly dumb idea because banning runes would be impossible. Runic inscriptions can be found all over Scandinavia and Europe, for one thing, but even if you destroyed every runestone and medieval artifact in the West, you still couldn't get rid of these "racist" symbols. This ancient writing system is not only the subject of scholarly research, but "runic alphabets were added to the Unicode Standard in September, 1999 with the release of version 3.0." (Wikipedia) Hundreds of rune-related books and merchandise can be found on Amazon and rune tattoos are very popular (see next video). You'd have to be crazy, not to mention unbelievably arrogant, to think you could actually "forbid" runes.

That's not what this proposal was about, of course. The Swedish government would just use a ban as a legal tool to persecute political groups they don't approve of. This kind of thing is SOP for the modern left. Attacks on national symbols have been taking place all over Europe and the US. For example, the Union Jack is now considered to be "racist" in Britain. So is the Betsy Ross flag in the United States.

Also see: Sweden Investigating Criminalizing Runes, Thor's Hammer & Other Norse Symbols.

Evil Nazi girl gets rune tattoos, including the notorious Tyr rune (2017).

The proposed criminalization of runes was typical of the current Swedish government. Malicious little creatures like Justice Minister Johansson are actively hostile to the culture and heritage of their own country, and they'll end up destroying Sweden completely if they aren't driven out of office. But even if these idiots were all purged tomorrow, it may be too late to turn the situation around. Sweden is dying. The level of violence there is soaring and the country is rapidly becoming Islamified thanks to its self-destructive immigration policies. The truly insane thing about all of this is that Sweden's "feminist government" has been bending over backwards to import an alien culture which treats women like chattel, but that's typical of the clown world we live in today.

Sweden is a classic example of cultural decay. It's hard to believe that its people are descended from the Vikings.

Video from 2015.

UPDATE: Surprisingly, the idiotic Swedish government decided not to ban runes. According to The Local (May 30, 2019), "an inquiry in Sweden has recommended against bringing in a ban on racist symbols such as the Tyr or Tiwaz rune used by the neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement ... The inquiry, led by Charlotte Brokelind, President of the Göta Court of Appeal, found in its conclusions that existing ethnic hate laws were sufficient, and did not need to be supplemented by additional bans on specific symbols."

The Local is a left-wing rag. Note the ridiculous assertion that the Tyr or Tiwaz rune is a "racist symbol."

"In Germanic mythology, Týr (Old Norse), Tíw (Old English), and Ziu (Old High German) is a god. Stemming from the Proto-Germanic deity *Tīwaz and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European deity *Dyeus, little information about the god survives beyond Old Norse sources. Due to the etymology of the god's name and the shadowy presence of the god in the extant Germanic corpus, some scholars propose that Týr may have once held a more central place among the deities of early Germanic mythology" (Wikipedia)

The Tyr rune is a symbol of national identity. That's why the Nordic Resistance Front adopted it. If they had used a Nordic Cross instead, the Swedish government would probably hold an inquiry into banning the Swedish flag.

"Fantastically Preserved" Viking Boat Graves & Skeletons Discovered In Sweden

"Archaeologists recently unearthed two Viking burial boats in Uppsala, Sweden — one of which was exceptionally preserved and held the remains of a dog, a man and a horse." Source: Live Science.

Note: "A ship burial or boat grave is a burial in which a ship or boat is used either as a container for the dead and the grave goods, or as a part of the grave goods itself. If the ship is very small, it is called a boat grave. This style of burial was used among the Germanic peoples, particularly by Viking Age Norsemen. According to the Boxer Codex, ship burials were also practiced by the indigenous peoples of the Philippines." (Wikipedia)

"A unique eyewitness account of a 10th-century ship burial among the Volga Vikings is given by Arab traveller Ibn Fadlan. The largest Viking ship (65 foot long) grave was discovered in Norway by archeologists in 2018, and it is estimated to have been covered over 1000 years ago to be used as a boat grave for an imminent Viking king or queen."

Comment: It seems kind of odd that ship burials also took place in the Philippines, of all places. I haven't been able to verify this, however.

 

Pagan Ship Burials - Valsgarde

Closed-captions sort of helpful.

"Valsgärde or Vallsgärde is a farm on the Fyris river, about three kilometres north of Gamla Uppsala, the ancient centre of the Swedish kings and of the pagan faith in Sweden. The present farm dates from the 16th century. The farm's notability derives from the presence of a burial site from the Swedish Vendel Age (part of the Iron age (c. 550–793) and the Viking Age); it was used for more than 300 years. The first ship burial is from the 6th century and the last graves are from the 11th century." (Wikipedia)

"The Valsgarde cemetery is known primarily for its fifteen boat-graves. Less well-known are the at least 62 cremation burials and the fifteen inhumations and chamber graves. From the very beginning of the excavations in Valsgarde, focus centered on the boat-graves. This was quite understandable, since most of them were spectacular." -- "Valsgarde - Development and change of a burial ground over 1300 years", John Ljungkvist (PDF).

Some incredible Vendel Age helmets have been discovered at Valsgarde.

"In one of the boat burials from the grave field at Valsgärde a rich nobleman is buried. The grave is from the Vendel period and about 1500 years old. The undisturbed graves show us that the people who lived in the area between 550 and 800 AD were wealthy. Valsgärde was strategically placed by the Fyris river, a major traffic artery for long-distance travel to continental Europe. The men in the graves embarked on their last journey equipped with war gear, household utensils, tools and many animals. Resting in comfort on eiderdown mattresses they departed for eternity." Source: Uppsala University.

The Viking Stone Ships

"Stone ships were a burial form used in the bronze- and –iron ages and during the Viking period. They were shaped like acute oval stone circles, and might frame a grave established within the sides of the ship, but they could also function as memorials for the deceased. It is not really known why rich Vikings were buried in this way, but it is believed that the stone ship symbolizes a boat which was to carry the deceased to the kingdom of the dead." Source: Fortidens Jelling.

"Such a stone circle has existed in Jelling [Denmark], a gigantic stone ship 354 metres long. The stone ship is the oldest of the memorials in Jelling from the Viking Age."

Nordic Iron Age Grave Field & Hill Fort

Vallbyåsen, Uppland, Sweden. (2017) Close-captions useful..

Note: "Uppland ... is a historical province or landskap on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital." (Wikipedia) I'm not sure where this grave field is located exactly.

Broborg, the fort, is "a hillfort located around 10 km east of Knivsta [south-central Uppland]. It overlooks an ancient major waterway ... leading to the interior of Uppland, as well as a road. The location thus suggests that, in prehistoric times (and before too much elevation of the land), Broborg could have controlled access for trade as well as any military activities." Source: The Mystery Of The Vitrified Hillfort. (PDF)

Broborg was a vitrified fort, i.e., its stones were apparently cemented together by a kind of glass formed by subjecting stones to extreme heat. The article quoted above mentions that the vitrification process used at Broborg is being studied by modern scientists for its possible application in nuclear-waste disposal. The idea is to seal the waste inside a vitrified matrix to prevent it from escaping into the environment.

According to the description for the first video above, there is a legend about Grimsa, "a Viking queen who was burned alive in the fort," but I haven't been able to find any further information about her.

Video from 2013.