The Vikings' ancestors were even more terrifying new gory discoveries suggest

[Judi Lynn]

Recently discovered remains give valuable insight to life in Mesolithic Europe.

Evidence shows the hunter-gatherers suffered repeated blunt force trauma to head.

Neil Murphy By Neil Murphy
February 13, 2018 18:57 GMT

Vikings have a reputation for extreme violence but their pre-historic Scandinavian ancestors may have been even worse, archaeological evidence suggests.

Researchers examining a grave found beneath a Swedish lake have given us a glimpse into the brutal reality of life in Mesolithic Europe. Remains of smashed skulls found at that site show evidence of repeated blunt force trauma, including two that appear to have been mounted on wooden stakes.

The study - recently published in Antiquity by archaeologists Sara Gummesson, FredrikHallgren and Anna Kjellström - examined the skulls of nine adults and one infant discovered on a tightly-packed bed of rocks in Kanaljordan, southeastern Sweden.

The rocks appear to form the base of a human-made structure, likely used as a burial plot or site for rituals, left remarkably untouched by typical erosive forces.

More:
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/vikings-ancestors-were-even-more-terrifying-new-gory-discoveries-suggest-1661072

[Judi Lynn]

1. Photos: Stone Age Skulls Found on Wooden Stakes

By Laura Geggel, Senior Writer | February 13, 2018 07:05am ET

https://www.livescience.com/61733-photos-stone-age-skull-stakes.html

[Judi Lynn]

2. Archaeologists make hellish discovery of human skulls mounted on stakes in Sweden

Mike Wehner @MikeWehner
February 13th, 2018 at 3:03 PM

The image of a decapitated human head mounted on a stake is something you’d probably associate with Game of Thrones, or gritty medieval tales of intimidation and slaughter, but a new discovery in Sweden is challenging that notion. At a burial site thought to be around 8,000 years old, researchers uncovered clear evidence of human skulls mounted on crude wooden posts, suggesting that the practice began, at least in part, long before the iron age and the many wars and conquests that filled the centuries that followed.

Discovered by a research team made up of scientists from Stockholm University and the Cultural Heritage Foundation, the burial site was used by hunter-gatherers. That’s significant because, as far as we know, those very early groups didn’t make a habit of engaging in practices like corpse mutilation for the sake of intimidation. The research was published in Antiquity.


The remains of ten individuals were found at the site, all but one of which were adults. Each of the adults suffered serious head trauma, with clear evidence of blunt force impacts on the skulls. It’s unknown whether the damage contributed to the death of each of the individuals or had been inflicted postmortem.

The researchers were able to say with certainty that three of the male skulls had been pierced with stakes after their deaths. Two surprisingly intact wooden stakes were found in two of the skulls, and the team believes that they had been mounted as to be easily visible. However, it’s unclear exactly why the decapitated heads were mounted in such a way, and the team is careful not to jump to any conclusions.

More:
http://bgr.com/2018/02/13/skull-takes-archaeology-sweden-discovery/