(ORDO NEWS) — Bioarchaeologists and anthropologists have studied human remains found in Gotland during the excavation of a Viking-era chapel.
Among them were two adult men with numerous acute near-death injuries, as well as an elderly woman aged 73–90.
Scholars have suggested that she may be the Ormica mentioned in the sagas, who was baptized by Olaf the Saint.
In medieval Scandinavia, one of the most striking manifestations of the Christian faith was the spread of the cult of St. Olaf, the first Christian king of Norway, who during his lifetime was known as Olaf the Fat.
He was born around 995 and went from a stern Viking to a pious sovereign who ruled Norway in 1015-1028 and died in the Battle of Stiklastadir in the summer of 1030 (read more in the material “Olaf the Saint and Olaf the Fat”).
It is assumed that the body of Olaf was buried in Nidaros (modern Trondheim), where numerous pilgrims from all over Europe subsequently flocked.
In addition, churches consecrated in his honor appeared in many cities. So, one of these temples was built by Gotland merchants on the Trade side of Veliky Novgorod.
Another church associated with Olaf, but not dedicated to him, was on the island of Gotland. It was built next to the harbor where, according to the sagas, the king once moored.
According to one version, the chapel (and later the church) was erected on the spot where a man named Ormica converted to Christianity at the instigation of Olaf.
Archaeological excavations in Gotland in 2013-2014 revealed the remains of a 14 × 10 meter structure that could have been a chapel erected in the 11th century.
Subsequently (about 1100) a larger building of 30 × 13 meters was built on this site.
In addition to the remains of buildings, scientists have found the remains of six people who have become the subject of study Jonny Geber (Jonny Geber) from the University of Edinburgh and his colleagues from the UK and Sweden.
Archaeologists believe that the discovered burials date back to approximately the same time. According to radiocarbon dating, these people were buried between 980 and 1270 AD.
In four individuals, most of the bones were fairly well preserved. At the same time, in one burial there were several separate bones belonging to two young people.
Four of the five burials were found not far from one of the walls of the chapel, while the fifth was found inside the building itself.
The latter contained the remains of an elderly woman who died at the age of 73–90. On her bones and teeth, anthropologists found degenerative changes characteristic of this age.
On the bones of two adult men aged 27–44 and 35–52 years, scientists noticed numerous near-death injuries inflicted with sharp objects.
So, in one individual, the vault of the skull, the bones of the facial region and the lower jaw were dissected. Another has a series of acute injuries to the bones of his arms and legs.
In addition, an iron tip was stuck in one of the man’s thoracic vertebrae. Perhaps another individual also died a violent death, which was indirectly indicated by traces of fire.
The isotopic composition of strontium and oxygen in the bones of the dead showed that all of them could have grown on Gotland, although the researchers did not rule out a different origin.
The only exception was the elderly woman already mentioned. Perhaps she spent her childhood in the south of Norway or Sweden, in Denmark, Great Britain or Rus’.
Analysis of stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen indicated that the diet of most of the people studied was based on the consumption of cereals, dairy products and meat from terrestrial animals.
At the same time, the elderly woman probably ate a significant amount of seafood.
In discussing this work, scientists decided to draw parallels between the results obtained and the legendary information known from the sagas and other sources.
In one of the past studies, it was hypothesized that the mentioned person named Ormica could be a woman. Given the burial place of the elderly woman, they put forward a cautious assumption that she is Ormica.
However, they emphasized that bioarchaeological data cannot serve as evidence in favor of this hypothesis. In addition, they noted that the apparent evidence of murder also finds parallels in the legendary accounts.
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