{"id":22028,"date":"2024-05-06T14:08:09","date_gmt":"2024-05-06T18:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=22028"},"modified":"2024-05-14T09:12:55","modified_gmt":"2024-05-14T13:12:55","slug":"ancient-buried-treasure-found-in-christian-grave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2024\/05\/ancient-buried-treasure-found-in-christian-grave","title":{"rendered":"Ancient Buried Treasure Found in Christian Grave"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Jo\u0308nko\u0308ping County Museum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An ancient grave site bore more than the ancient remains archaeologists were expecting. Swedish archaeologists were excavating a 12th<\/sup> century grave when they discovered around 170 silver coins buried in the grave. The excavation occurred near the site of an old church in the Swedish island of Visings\u00f6. The grave is believed to have belonged to a man between 20 and 25 years of age, with the coins dating from 1150 to 1180 AD. Project manager Anna \u00d6d\u00e9en described what led to the discovery in a statement<\/a>. \u201cMy colleague Kristina Jansson and I found two skeletons in the shaft where the wires were to be laid. We cleaned out the bones from the buried to get an idea of \u200b\u200bwhat the graves looked like.\u201d The pair quickly found there was more to the discovery. \u201cAll of a sudden three silver coins appeared! We soon realized that many more were lying close to the buried person\u2019s left foot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The coins are known as \u201cbracteates,\u201d jewelry made from thin metal in the shape of a coin. The find is unusual as it was an uncommon practice for Christians to be buried with worldly belongings. \u201cIt is rare that finds are made in Christian graves, that custom belongs to prehistoric times and that makes the Visings\u00f6 find special,\u201d said the J\u00f6nk\u00f6ping County Museum after announcing the find. \u201cThe find is very special, partly because there are few similar finds from the time period, partly because some of the coins are completely unknown from before.\u201d \u201cIt is a completely sensational find that will change the early medieval coin history in G\u00f6taland and shed light on a period that is largely completely unknown,\u201d said Eeva Jonsson of the Royal Coin Cabinet.<\/p>\n

Aside from the coins, the excavation also uncovered 24 graves and 20 hearths. 20 graves were found outside the churchyard, making them \u201cunhallowed,\u201d meaning that those individuals were those buried without an \u201chonorable burial.\u201d \u201cDuring parts of our history, someone who committed suicide could not be given what the church called \u2018an honorable burial\u2019 and the same was true for unbaptized children and serious criminals\u2026However, it turned out that it was not just one grave, but many more. All lay in the same direction, well aligned with each other, and at the same depth. It was therefore an organized burial site, where they should also have had a marking above ground,\u201d said \u00d6d\u00e9en at a press release.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An ancient grave site bore more than the ancient remains archaeologists were expecting. Swedish archaeologists were excavating a 12th century grave when they discovered around 170 silver coins buried in the grave. The excavation occurred near the site of an old church in the Swedish island of Visings\u00f6. The grave is believed to have belonged…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":22295,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAncient Buried Treasure Found in Christian Grave<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The excavation occurred near the site of an old church in the Swedish island of Visings\u00f6.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2024\/05\/ancient-buried-treasure-found-in-christian-grave\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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