PRYSSGÅRDEN, SWEDEN—While investigating an Iron Age cemetery, archaeologists were surprised to find an iron knife stuck into a woman’s burial, according to a report from Live Science. The cemetery is located in the borough of Pryssgården, in southern Sweden. It dates to between 500 b.c. and a.d. 400 and contained at least 50 burials. In the grave in question, archaeologists encountered a thick, burned layer containing ashes and fragments of bone. “When we dug down, we saw that they had put an iron folding knife straight into the ground,” says Moa Gillberg, an archaeologist at Sweden's National Historical Museums. The archaeologists also discovered a small needle in the woman’s grave. According to Gillberg, the knife may have been used to prepare leather, though the researchers are unsure why it was stuck into the grave. To read about curious collections of stones in southern Sweden arranged in the shape of ships, go to “Viking Fantasy Island.”
