The Viking Archaeology Blog is concerned with news reports featuring Viking period archaeology. It was primarily constructed as a source for the University of Oxford Online Course in Viking Archaeology: Vikings: Raiders, Traders and Settlers. For news reports for general European archaeology, go to The Archaeology of Europe News Blog.
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Mysterious Viking-era Graves Found With Treasure
Sword at his side, the so-called Young Warrior (left) is among the thousand-year-old discoveries in a newfound cemetery in Poland, a new study says.
The burial ground holds not only a hoard of precious objects but also hints of human sacrifice—and several dozen graves of a mysterious people with links to both the Vikings and the rulers of the founding states of eastern Europe.
(Related: "'Thor's Hammer' Found in Viking Grave.")
Researchers are especially intrigued by the Young Warrior, who died a violent death in his 20s. The man's jaw is fractured, his skull laced with cut marks. The sword provides further evidence of a martial life.
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