For the History and Archaeology nerds out there. Here’s my view.

I know the human attention span nowadays hardly is sufficient for reading something this long before knowing what it’s about.

If you only want to know my prediction on what an archeological analysis of the Swedish people in the 21 century could look like, 3500 years from now, scroll to the headline; Analysis of archaeological finds in the north corner; conclusions and discussion on what life was like in what was former referred to as the land of the Swēon or the Suiones, during the 21th century.

If you, after reading my prediction, find yourself wondering what the heck I’m rambling about, and want to find out what lays behind those strange conclusions, you are welcome to start over and read from here.

If you haven’t jumped, but instead have just kept reading, I want to say: Thank you. Love to you!

Now, let’s start!

I love history and archaeology.

History and archaeology (alongside other disciplines, such as linguistics, ethnology, ecology, biology, geology, genetics and sociology to name a few) make it possible for us to get an understanding for the lives of our ancestors, and the world they lived in, as well as of our own time.

To me it’s like these scientific fields, figuratively speaking, are creating small peepholes through time, and I find these peepholes borderline magical. The more peepholes you look through, the more colorful and vivid the images you’re greeted with becomes. The more you learn, the more you actually see.

That is…as long as you don’t forget the pitfalls that learning and new knowledge also entail.

What’s in your minds focus influence what you see…and also what you don’t see.

For example, never in my life have I seen more Toyotas than when I just bought one.

Or let’s say my special interest is geology, and that I’ve therefore become an extremely competent geologist. Wherever I go in nature, I can shout out the correct name within seconds. If my only focus is to identify the rock species though, there’s a risk I won’t realize that the rock I’m holding is also part of an ancient stone setting.

I respect and admire many historians and archaeologists, but the ones I undoubtedly hold in the highest regard is the ones that doesn’t claim to have exclusive right on the truth.

Some seem to forget that before any groundbreaking discovery that alters our view of the past, there was another discovery which our truth was based upon. And there will most certainly be new ones.

The Antikytheramekanism for example. Before this object was found no one thought people who lived before the year 0 were capable of making something even remotely close to this technological marvel. This amazing planet tracking device is over 2000 years old, and I couldn’t do this artifact justice even if I wanted to. I encourage you to look it up yourself, because it is something to marvel at.

Another example is Doggerland, this huge mass that once connected the British Isles, with mainland Europe as well as Denmark. A land mass where people lived for millennia, but which after its disappearance disappeared from the human knowledge bank. In fact real knowledge about it did not re-emerge until modern times. Geologist Clement Reid‘s book Submerged Forests from 1913 is considered the first scientific attempt to identify Doggerland as a land mass. I’m not an expert on this either but I encourage you to look it up.

Or let’s take something I know a little more about. The Nordic Bronze Age, for example, was long considered to have been a relatively peaceful time. In 1996 however, an amateur archaeologist found a human humerus with an inserted flint arrowhead, in the valley of the Tollense river, dating to around 3,250 years ago.

A number of excavations have subsequently been carried out at the site. In 2015, the remains of at least 125 individuals, mostly young men, had been found, and several bore traces of battle injuries. Furthermore, analyzes showed that many didn’t originally come from the immediate area and weapon finds indicated standardized weapons. That, along with findings of previously healed injuries, indicates the presence of professional warriors. Based on an estimated death toll, the total number of combatants was estimated from 1,500 to 4,000, and the place started to be referred to as ‘Europe’s oldest battle’.

As research of the site, and its findings, continued however researchers started to see a possible different scenario. Its now believed that what at first was thought of as the battlefield of Tollense Valley may actually have been a brutal MASSACRE of up to 1,400 Bronze Age merchants that were ambushed by local tribes.

Whatever the case, the existence of professional warriors is a strong indication of a society where such were needed. Hence, hardly a peaceful society. New conclusion; The Nordic Bronze Age was probably not that peaceful.

Every time I hear someone claim to know the absolute truth about what our ancient world looked like, I become skeptical. If, on top of that, they call people who have other theories idiots, I lose all respect for both the individual and many times also his research.

Let’s say that most of what we know about our history, from the 9th century until the year 2024, for some reason would disappear. Let’s imagine that some type of cataclysmic event occur, that wipes out all written sources, including the internet, and makes the land inhabitable for a long period of time. It wouldn’t be the first time a civilization was wiped out.

Let’s say that people, a couple of thousand years later, once again found their way to Scandinavia and a new civilization emerged. For the fun of it, let’s imagine that all written sources and finds from before the 9th century was still some how available.

Now, imagine that archaeologists in the year 5524 were to stumble upon my Swedish residential area, buried deep under layers of earth since the middle of the 21st century. Based on the new findings, and the old knowledge available to them, the following actually could be their conclusion;

Analysis of archaeological finds in the north corner; conclusions and discussion on what life was like in what was former referred to as the land of the Swēon or the Suiones, during the 21th century.

– Based on the number of fragments of Buddha Statues found, Buddhism could have been one of the Suiones largest religions during the early 2000s. This is however a somewhat controversial theory though since there’s not a single written source to back this up. In truth, the only sources we have indicates that the peoples of the region were heathens.

– We know, from European sources, that the peoples in this region had functioning trading networks before and during the Viking age. It’s unclear if these trading networks remained up until the 21 century but it is not impossible. A few findings of Christian symbols throughout the region can be seen as an indication of ongoing trading with countries in Europe. The main belief amongst archeologists today is therefore that the Buddhas previously mentioned, is likely linked to trading rather than religion. The assumption is therefore that the people who lived in this region in the 21 century traded with both European and Asian countries.

– The large number of finds of fragments of different sizes of troll statues (in Europe referred to as gnomes) suggests that influences from the Old Norse mythical world, or folk beliefs, were still very significant in the 21st century. The trolls are mainly found right outside the dwellings, and often in connection with finds of different types of seeds, which can place these findings in a spiritual context. It’s likely that the trolls had some kind of religious, and also ritual, significance. The archeological findings, along with old written sources, strongly indicates that the Suiones of the early 21st century regularly sacrificed to the trolls. Perhaps in hope of a good harvest, better times or as protection of the family and the place of residence.

– A considerable amount of big concrete bowl like structures has also been found in connection with residential areas. As the first concrete bowls found were square shaped archeologists first saw a resemblance to the old Roman baths, but since the people of this region hardly were that advanced this theory was quickly shut down. Several finds of circular concrete bowls have since then been found.

Some thinks the concrete bowls might have been used as some kind of water storage, or perhaps played a part in the mead making process, whilst others have theorized that the bowls more likely are connected to the troll rituals. It could, in fact, even indicate that blood sacrifice were still an ongoing practice amongst these peoples, where the bowls served as a vessel for collecting the blood from the sacrificed. Whether human sacrifices were still a part of these heathens ritual practice or not is a controversial topic. Since there are still no convincing evidence neither for or against human sacrifices being a part of the religious practice at the time the authors of this article refrain from stating an opinion.

– The fact that the majority of houses found doesn’t seem to contain any sort of fire containing devices indicates one of two things. The first that the climate in the 21st century was so warm that heat sources wasn’t needed. This however contradict what environmental historical analyses tell us. All analyses shows that the average temperature was actually considerably lower in the 21 century than today. This leaves us with the second option, namely that the living conditions at this period of time were very harsh for the majority of the people who lived here. What further substantiates this is the fact that so few confirmed house remains have actually been found. The material the majority of people used for their house construction seems to have been of very low quality and is therefore unfortunately not available for posterity to see. Wealth, and warmth, was probably something only the richest could enjoy and the majority of the people probably starved or froze to death far too early. This may, in fact, be the number one reason to why sacrificial rituals seem to have been a common and important practice.

Of course we have to interpret findings, and of course we should share our beliefs on what the findings means. We can say “the findings indicate….” or “the object is likely to have been used as…”

We can also say “I believe…”

We can also answer with “In my opinion, it’s not likely…”

We should, however, be very careful with stating facts like there’s no other possible explanation, and implying others are imbeciles simply for having another opinion (yes, even if you find it hilarious). The ”I’m right, you’re wrong”- mindset neither leads to increased public interest in the subject nor makes the peepholes into our ancient times any wider. It only leads to arguments and stagnation.

Whenever I hear an argument I find borderline ridiculous I think back on myself standing in the living room back in 1998, with my new brick-sized, call only, mobile phone grunting ”Text messages? Idiotic. Why would anyone send a text message instead of just calling the person up?!”

So to sum up everything, in the words of Bob Newhart;

“Just stop it!”

Peace lilies and daffodils, people!