![]() ![]() The burial field in Valsgärde was found to contain more than 90 graves from the Iron Age, of which 15 were boat-burials with 'well-equipped' warriors from the Late Iron Age (AD 570–1030). The cemetery at Valsgärde was excavated in the 20th century, starting in 1928 by today’s Uppsala University Museum. 'It's conceivable that the owl's head was cut off to prevent it from coming back,' said Professor Berglund. Valsgärde was found and excavated by archaeologists in the 1920s. The burial field in Valsgärde outside Uppsala in central Sweden contains more than 90 graves from the Iron Age. Swords found in tombs from Viking times were sometimes intentionally bent before being laid in the tomb, likely to prevent the deceased from using the weapon if he returned from the dead. ![]() The keeping of predatory birds, like the Eagle Owl, has also long been a status symbol, according to the researchers. Wealthy Greeks and Romans used down for their bedding a few hundred years earlier, but down probably wasn't used more widely by wealthy people in Europe until the Middle Ages, Berglund said.Īs for the beheaded owl, Professor Berglund said: 'We believe the beheading had a ritual significance in connection with the burial.' 'Down' – or soft feathers – in the graves at Valsgärde is the oldest known from Scandinavia and indicates that the two buried men belonged to the top strata of society. 'In some Scandinavian areas, goose feathers were considered best to enable the soul to be released from the body.' 'For example, people believed that using feathers from domestic chickens, owls and other birds of prey, pigeons, crows and squirrels would prolong the death struggle,' Professor Berglund said.
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