Posted on 11/09/2006 3:36:23 PM PST by blam
Graves hint at contact with Romans
Published: 8th November 2006 19:18 CET
Archaeologists excavating ancient graves in western Sweden have found shards from ceramic vessels made in the Roman Empire, in a find that could challenge assumptions about contacts between people in Sweden and the Romans.
The graves in Stenungsund, around 45 kilometres north of Gothenburg, have been dated to between the years 1 and 300 AD. The remains of burned bones from two people were found, along with the pieces of ceramic.
"There are pieces from four or five vessels in each grave, and we have never previously found so many in Sweden," said Bengt Nordqvist, who is leading the dig for the National Heritage Board (Riksantikvarieämbetet).
"They were possibly made in northern Italy or France. Over in Europe this kind of discovery is normal, but in Sweden it is very unusual."
"The discovery shows that contact between Sweden and the Roman Empire was possibly much greater than we used to believe."
The excavations have been going on for around a month. They are being carried out because of plans to use the ground for football pitches.
GGG Ping.
Possible booty from raids of Roman settlements in Gaul and Britain rather than the result of trade?
That's wild!
AFP
November 7, 2006
STOCKHOLM -- A marble frieze from the Acropolis in Athens that was taken to Sweden by a naval officer 110 years ago and remained in his family's possession until last year is to be officially returned to Greece this week, a Stockholm museum announced Monday.
The marble fragment comes from the Erechtheion temple, built around 420 BCE and known for its ornamental decoration and pillars in the form of statues of women known as Karyatides, the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities said.
Birgit Wiger-Angner, a retired gym teacher, turned the piece over to the museum after reading an article about Greece's desire to recover friezes from the main temple of the Parthenon, which were taken by Britain's Lord Elgin in the nineteenth century and that London refuses to return.
Wiger-Angner inherited the piece - measuring 20 centimeters (7.8 inches) wide and eight centimeters high - from her father, whose brother Henning Lund acquired it from the Acropolis around 1895-96 and took it to Sweden.
Until February 2005, the frieze served as a decoration in Wiger-Angner's home.
Wiger-Angner is due to hand over the piece to Greek culture minister Georgios Voulgarakis at a ceremony to be held at the Acropolis Friday, the museum said.
Suzanne Unge-Soerling, assistant head of the museum in Stockholm, said that it was of great historical interest.
"Today the Erechtheion temple is a long way from being complete ... the frieze is a piece of a puzzle ... and the small number of similar pieces that have emerged ... are mostly held by museums, for example the Metropolitan in New York," Unge-Soerling said.
The fact that the frieze was not left in the open has helped preserve the piece from the effects of pollution.
Paint that once adorned the temple has disappeared due to the twin ravages of time and pollution, whereas some traces of paint remain on the piece to be returned Friday, Unge-Soerling added.
The museum displayed the frieze since Wiger-Angner turned it over to the institution in February 2005.
After its return to Greece the piece will feature in a new Acropolis museum currently under construction in Athens.
Can we be sure HBO didn't cook this up to promote the Swedish edition of "Rome" on DVD. By the way, I love that show.
Doesn't necessarily mean that the Swedes of the time had direct contact with the Romans, just that they had contact with somebody who had contact with somebody who had contact with (add as many as you like here) the Romans.
That's how you find oddball stuff like Chinese porcelain in a Gaulish grave . . .
That is a great show isn't it? I look forward to its return early next year. Too bad the kid who played Octavian won't be back with it - he was terrific. But they needed an older actor.
btt
WC, what about this? Unruly Swedes pinching pots and acquiring amphoras? Don't they have clay in Sweden? ;)
"Possible booty from raids of Roman settlements in Gaul and Britain rather than the result of trade?"
Or a potter from Britian who made pottery the Roman way and took a summer trip to Sweden or Denmark.
The question would be, did they analyse the pottery clay used. If the clay used matches Italian terra cotta, its from Rome. If it matches Swedish or Danish clay, its from Scandinavia. Does'nt say in the story. I would assume that they did this or would not say it was Roman.
Swedes were known to travl in those days. Probably booty from a viking raid.
"football pitches"
Huh? Football? Doubt it. Pitches? Baseball? Prolly not. Most likely looks more like soccer, or some such...
They are sooooo confused!
j/k :-p
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Buddha statue from 6th c found in Viking hoard in Helgo, Sweden
Biblical Archaeology Review | March/April 2005 | "Worldwide" editor
Posted on 04/26/2005 11:26:07 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1391864/posts
Not surprised the Romans had contact with all types of people. I remember another user here saying that Europeans saw American Indian tribes had Roman and Greek coins in their possession. I would not be surprised if American Indians encountered the Romans.
Yup. See the coins at the below link.
Very interesting. I have heard Indians have legends of encountering White people way before Columbus came.
Have fun:
Ethnic Groups In Pre-Columbian America
When you get it figured out, let me know.
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