Once, A Long Time Ago....

Once, a long, long time ago, around the year 480, something very strange happened on the Swedish island of Oland.  Why it happened is still a mystery, but even today, 1,518 years later, the native-born in the area speak of evil and curses surrounding the area, as well as ghosts haunting the local cemetery.  Archaeologists began excavating the ancient ring fort at Sandby in 2010, after reports of fortune hunters with metal detectors were reported digging in areas outside, but near the old borg.  The Swedish government does not fund archaeological work unless the site is considered to be in imminent danger of destruction, so funding for this dig has been small and somewhat piecemeal.
   In 383, Magnus Maximus withdrew all Roman troops from Great Britain, except for a few scattered auxiliary forts.  (These forts were closed in 410.)  The reason was a massive push of Germanic peoples against the Roman forces in Europe.  The Germanic tribes had gained the upper hand completely by 455, and ruled the entire northwest European lands.  It is uncertain whether the island of Oland was under the rule of the Germanic tribes, or a local island leader, or if they were under the rule of Sweden.  What is definitely known is that Scandinavian mercenaries were in the employ of Rome - men from Norway, Sweden and Denmark all were recipients of gold Roman coins for their work in the Roman Legions.  From the recoveries of treasure troves - but more importantly, grave goods - it is apparent that Scandinavian warriors hired themselves out well before the Viking era.
  Oland is just over 85 miles long, and not quite 10 miles wide at the broadest place.  In 480, it is believed that 15 or 16 borgs were in existence.  The island people fled to them for safety from sea-borne raiders.  This was well before the Scandinavians were known to go a-viking - and earned themselves the name of Vikings. It is believed that most of these raids came from mainland based Germanic tribes and Danes.  Most of the people of Oland farmed a little - the ground was very rock strewn in the south - fished a lot, and about half of them had a goat, sheep, a pig or two, or cattle.  Horses were luxuries. 
   Around 400, the people of southern Oland began building Eketorp Borg.  Eketorp is the only one of the 19 known prehistoric fortifications on Oland that has been completely excavated, yielding over 24,000 individual artifacts. The Eketorp fortification is often referred to as Eketorp Castle, and is a huge tourist attraction for the island.  The entirety of southern Oland has been designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
   Sandby's ring fort is more oval than round in construction.  There is a small earthen berm, and then a rock wall of 13 to 16 feet was built upon it.  There were three, probably four, gates that were open except when the people were threatened.  In fact, the archaeologists believe that Sandby Borg itself was only occupied for a total of four months or less, due to the small amounts of trash and midden heaps. There were 52 buildings inside the borg, most built against the walls, with a few in the center with a surrounding street.  Food stores for entire families were kept inside the borg in case of trouble. The borg is quite close to the shore of the Baltic Sea.  I was amazed at how close the shore-line is today, but I don't know if the shore has washed away, or filled in since 480.
   After the archaeologists received reports of treasure diggers outside the walls of Sandby, they hired professional users of metal detectors, and had them check out the interior of the fort.  They found five "treasure caches" inside five different houses, each placed under the floor to the left of the door. The caches include gold, silver and bronze brooches, silver bells, gold rings, amber beads, glass mille fiore beads, and even cowrie shells from the Mediterranean.  Also found were Roman solidi, gold coins commonly issued as pay in the late Roman empire. The solidi found on the island are distinctive, and matching dies have been found in Rome.  A lot of the coins are very fresh, in mint condition, without the characteristic wear of coins that have been passed from had to hand in trade.  Through these coins, there is a direct link to Rome, and later to Milan and Arles.
  Apparently, the warriors brought their pay home to Oland - and 36% of the Roman solidi found on Oland were found within a one mile radius of Sandby Borg.  However, with the Romans losing their empire in the northwest, the warriors of Oland would have to travel almost all the way to Constantinople for employment with the Eastern Roman emperor.  Seemingly, this was not acceptable to the men of Oland.  Soon, there were a lot of unemployed men, trained to war, in somewhat closer quarters than they were used to. 
   But what triggered the seemingly unexplainable massacre at Sandby Borg, where bodies were never buried or cremated, where easy loot was never touched, and where livestock - including precious horses - were left to die of starvation, and not taken by neighbors or family, after the massacre occurred?  Why was everything left untouched?  Why did awful tales grow about evil and curses and hauntings?  Why do local people still shun this place 1,518 years later? 
  More tomorrow....