What the stones hide

Excavations have shown that dozens of these circles are actually children’s graves from the Bronze and Iron Ages. They are located 80 kilometres south of Oslo, not far from the Swedish border. They were found last year by a team from the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History.

They lay here as a secret until we found them. We dug them up one by one and eventually found 41 round stone formations.
– says museum archaeologist Guro Fossum.

The stone circles, up to 2 meters wide, were placed together like street paving stones but buried a few centimeters below the surface. Several circles of smaller stones were placed surrounding a larger one in the center.

Archaeologists dig ancient tomb / Photo by Museum of Cultural History/University of Oslo

More research revealed below burnt bones and pottery shardsThe analysis shows that almost all of the burials belong to children and were made between 800 and 200 BC. Most of those buried here were infants, while others were between 3 and 6 years old.

The dating suggests that the burial site was in use over a long period of time, so it is unlikely that they were all destroyed by a single natural disaster, disease outbreak or epidemic.
– says Fossum.

A unique discovery

The museum said in a statement that the concentration of ancient children’s graves was unique in Europe. The area around the cemetery is dotted with rock paintings depicting travel and sun worship.

Experts noted that Infant mortality rates were probably high at the time.Therefore, the people living in this region may have thought of a separate cemetery for children.

After collecting and carefully photographing important samples from the site, archaeologists stopped working and took the site into conservation. One of the stone formations will soon be featured in an exhibition called “In Memory of Children” at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo.

Excavation process / Photo Cultural History Museum/University of Oslo

Archaeologists also plan to analyze artifacts from the site. what could be pottery shards and a metal brooch.

Analysis of the pottery pieces can tell us a lot. Not all the vessels appear to have been used to hold burnt bones. Some were placed among the graves and we are very curious about what was inside them.
– Adds Guro Fossum.

According to the archaeologist, this cemetery was discovered after investigating a Stone Age settlement located nearby.

In the Scandinavian Bronze and Iron Ages It was customary to burn the dead on pyres, and the remaining bones were either buried or scattered.A flat layer of stones was usually built over the cremation area in a spiral or wheel shape.

Archaeologists dig ancient tomb / Photo by Museum of Cultural History/University of Oslo

But the burial site in Norway is unusual: “The graves are very close together. They must have been in an open area, there were roads nearby, so everyone knew about them. Cooking pits and hearths around the site suggest that gatherings and ceremonies were held there, related to burials.”

The graves were also meticulously processed: “Each stone was taken from a different place and placed delicately in the formation. We asked ourselves, ‘Who did so much work?'” says the scientist. The answer came when it was revealed that most of the deceased were children. Therefore, everything was done with great care.