Ancient Swedish massacre hints at chaos after the fall of Rome

New Scientist

Image: Daniel Lindskog

An ancient Swedish fort is beginning to relinquish a dark secret it has held for 1500 years – that its walls bore witness to a brutal massacre. Although it’s unclear exactly what motivated the apparently merciless attack, it was probably linked to the chaos that swept across northern Europe following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.

Sandby borg on the island of Öland was an impressive ringfort in the late 5^th century. Its walls stood 5 metres tall and enclosed a 5000-square-metre area that contained about 50 dwellings. Archaeological work began in 2010, but the ringfort is so rich in ancient finds that to date only about 6 per cent of the site has been excavated. Read more on newscientist.com…