Archaeologists Uncover Ancient Massacre Like 'Swedish Pompeii

Archaeologists uncovered the scene of a mysterious massacre where bodies were so well preserved in their action that researchers are likening it to a "Swedish Pompeii."

Discovered by archaeologists at Lund University and the Kalmar County museum, the massacre took place about 1,600 years ago at a fort on the island of Oland.

“Something terrible happened and everything just stopped. It’s a day in life of the Migration Period, and that’s completely unique. We have nothing to compare it to," Dr. Helena Victor with the museum said in a statement.

Bodies have been uncovered at an island fort, leading researchers to call it the Swedish Pompeii. (Image source: YouTube video screenshot)

Researchers are particularly interested in this case because most bodies from this time period in this area were cremated.

“There are so many bodies, it must have been a very violent and well organized raid”, Helene Wilhelmson, a PhD student the at university, said in a statement.

What's confusing the team though is why some valuable items they've found were not taken if the town was pillaged.

Precious metals like these were recovered from the site. (Image source: YouTube video screenshot)

In addition to traditional excavation measures, the team will also be creating a 3D-model t0 conduct a crime scene-like investigation.

“Using 3D-modeling gives us the unprecedented opportunity to see all the bodies simultaneously, even though the skeletons were removed (by archaeologists) one by one,” Nicolo Dell’Unto, said in a statement.

Watch this video with comments from the researchers regarding the discovery and footage of the site:

(H/T: Daily Mail)

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