The swamp that surrounds the municipality of Egedal, north of the island of Zealand (present-day Denmark), was a place where the ancient Danes habitually performed sacrifices. Objects, animals and even people served as offerings to appease the gods thousands of years ago.
Archaeologists have found everything from ceramic remains to tools, as well as human evidence. In early autumn, for example, researchers from the Roskilde Museum (ROMU) who were excavating an area north of the Egedal town hall came across the femur of an individual.
“A colleague dug further down, and when he came across the mandible, we were left in no doubt that we had found a human skeleton,” explains archaeologist Christian Dedenroth-Schou. Once the entire area had been combed, practically all the bones of both legs, a pelvis and a jaw were obtained.
Experts agree that these remains probably ended up in the swamp as part of a ceremonial act. “About a meter away we found a Stone Age flint axe, and at 10-15 meters we found a concentration of animal bones and pottery. Taken together, an image emerges that something has probably occurred that, for lack of a better word, can be called a ritual,” Dedenroth-Schou added in a statement.
One of the first discoveries in the area was in 1947, when the skull of a child was found during an excavation in the peat bog at Stenløse, a small town in the municipality of Egedal that served as the main route through the valley in ancient times. river of Værebro Ådal, a place full of life that consists of a mountainous area and a swampy area.
“This land has always been a good transportation corridor, and along it there have been spaces that have been good for settlement in the past. Those people dedicated an important part of their lives to making sacrifices. This has been done throughout antiquity, and therefore it is highly probable that the recently found bones are part of a ritual of this type,” says Emil Winther Struve, also a ROMU archaeologist.
The skeletal remains are now being cleaned and prepared for further examination in the laboratory. This analysis would allow us to know when this person lived, in addition to knowing his gender and his age. The excavated area north of the Egedal town hall is planned to become a sustainable district and the first houses should be ready in 2025.
“Sometimes you wonder if these individuals would be happy to be found, or if they would rather have rested in peace. After all, we don’t know much about his religion. Perhaps we are altering part of the beyond of their culture. But at the same time, we have the important task of ensuring that human remains are not dug up with a bulldozer and end up in a big pile of dirt,” concludes Dedenroth-Schou.
