WAWA, CANADA—For the past seven years, archaeologist Ryan Primrose, director of the Ontario Centre for Archaeological Education, has studied mysterious symbols carved into the bedrock deep in an Ontario forest. The rock, which features 255 strange markings as well as the image of a boat, was unlike anything that had ever been found before in the region. CBC reports that he has finally solved the riddle with help from Swedish researcher Henrik Williams. The pair determined that the bizarre symbols were actually Nordic runes that spell out a 1611 version of The Lord’s Prayer in Swedish. Their research revealed that during the nineteenth century, Canada’s Hudson Bay Company sometimes hired Swedish workers to man wilderness trading posts, including the Michipicoten post, which was not too far from where the carvings were discovered. It is likely that the site was used for Swedish religious gatherings, but the researchers still don’t know exactly why someone would have created the time-consuming and labor-intensive inscription. “Anybody has to start wondering 'Why on Earth did they carve it here and why did they choose that text?' And there's no answers,” said Primrose. “But mysteries, they do tend to attract people and this one will certainly do that.” To read more about Ontario's archaeological heritage, go to "Mussel Mass in Lake Ontario."
