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Archaeologists unearth warrior skeletons in Jutland
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December 4th, 2014
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The men are believed to have perished during a Danish civil war in the 1530s
Archaeologists in Aalborg have found the remains of about 15 killed warriors who they believe were part of a battle that took place during Grevens Fejde (the Count's War), a Danish civil war from 1534-1536.
The find – which consisted of between 10 and 15 adult male skeletons intertwined together – took place a few days ago in the centre of Aalborg on Algade where a new sewer system is being installed as part of new youth housing.
"Because these were all men, we have a hypothesis that the graves are connected to a wartime action,” Stig Bergmann Møller, the museum inspector at the Historical Museum of Northern Jutland, told Nordjyske.dk. ”Had it been an epidemic, there would also be skeletons of women and children.”
READ MORE: Archaeologists unearth ancient flint axe near Rødbyhavn
Storming of Aalborg
The archaeologists – who have been monitoring the sewer system instalment since November – believe that the men were killed in connection with General Johan Rantzau storming Aalborg in December 1534.
Aside from the skeletons, the archaeologists also found the remains of a Middle Ages church St Peders Kirke and its graveyard, where about 30 graves have been excavated.
Before the skeletons can be confirmed as soldiers, further anthropological tests are required.
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