Medieval Longsword Found in Nobleman's Grave in Sweden

News January 10, 2024

Sweden Grave Sword
(Cultural Environment Halland)
SHARE:
Sweden Grave Sword

HALMSTED, SWEDEN—According to a Live Science report, the remains of a man who stood about six feet, three inches tall, and an iron sword measuring more than four feet long, have been uncovered within the boundaries of a church at a medieval friary in southwestern Sweden. Archaeologist Johan Klange of Cultural Environment Halland said that the weapon is a late medieval longsword with an iron blade inlaid with small Christian crosses made from another metal. The blade was snapped at the hilt, perhaps during roadwork at the site in the 1930s. Klange thinks the man may have been a nobleman at the turn of the sixteenth century who supported the Kalmar Union, an agreement in which Sweden, Denmark, and Norway were ruled by a single king between about 1397 and 1523. “We hypothesize that he was part of the high nobility of the Kalmar Union, and may have owned property in both Sweden and Denmark,” Klange said. “These people became very, very powerful.” The Kalmar Union ended in 1520 when Sweden’s King Christian II executed nearly 100 of his enemies. DNA analysis of two burials found near the tall man’s grave may reveal if the three were related. To read about sword hilts that were found protruding from the earth in a Viking cemetery in southern Sweden, go to "Standing Swords."

  • Features November/December 2023

    Assyrian Women of Letters

    4,000-year-old cuneiform tablets illuminate the personal lives of Mesopotamian businesswomen

    Read Article
    (Attraction Art/Adobe Stock)
  • Letter from El Salvador November/December 2023

    Uneasy Allies

    Archaeologists discover a long-forgotten capital where Indigenous peoples and Spanish colonists arrived at a fraught coexistence

    Read Article
  • Artifacts November/December 2023

    Sculpture of a Fist

    Read Article
    (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/Bridgeman Art Library)
  • Digs & Discoveries November/December 2023

    The Benin Bronzes’ Secret Ingredient

    Read Article