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Archaeologists in central Sweden have unearthed a 5,500 - year - old stone sleeping room contain several burial from the Early Neolithic full stop — but many of the large finger cymbals , include skull , seem to have been removed around the time the bushed were range there .
" This disagree from what we usually see in megalithic graves,“Karl - Göran Sjögren , an archaeologist at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden and first source of a young subject field about the breakthrough , said in astatement . " Usually , the bones that are missing are smaller bone from foot and hand . "
The stone-lined burial chamber was found during excavations of a Neolithic dolmen tomb. Archaeologists think it dates to 3500 B.C. and is one of the oldest tombs in Sweden.
The researcher hint the missing bones may have ties with the tradition of the time and place , but they ca n’t be certain . " We do n’t know whether that has to do with burial rituals , or what ’s behind it , " Sjögren say .
The Isidor Feinstein Stone chamber was rule in the summer of 2023 in the village of Tiarp near the town of Falköping , about 70 mi ( 114 kilometre ) north-east of Gothenburg , according to the study , which was published Dec. 22 , 2023 in theJournal of Neolithic Archaeology .
archeologist discovered the chamber while excavating a dolman jacket — a prehistoric grave made from several large Isidor Feinstein Stone .
The excavation of the Neolithic tomb last summer was carried out by archaeologists from Sweden’s University of Gothenburg and Lund University, and Kiel University in Germany.
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grand of such social organization have been found throughout Europe , as well as some in other parts of the world , including theWestern SaharaandKorea . Many seem to date from the Late Neolithic period , roughly 5,000 geezerhood ago — the last phase of the Stone Age , before the great unwashed started smelt fuzz , bronze and other metals but after they had adopt early agricultural and beast tameness proficiency .
The archaeologists say the dolmen at Tiarp was build in about 3500 B.C. and is one of the other in the country , although there is grounds of even earlier burials in Sweden , including one thatmay be up to 8,000 years old .
The tomb is one of the oldest ever found in Sweden. Several skulls and large bones have been removed, which the archaeologists suggest may have been because of burial rituals.
Ancient bones
Inside the burial chamber , research worker unearthed hired hand and feet bone , fragments of ribs and teeth from at least 12 people , admit baby and the elderly — but very few skull and large bones , such as second joint and limb bones .
The archaeologists say the grave has been untouched since the Stone Age , and so the miss bone seem to have been removed when the people were buried there or shortly afterwards . While the squad ca n’t yet determine how these Neolithic hoi polloi snuff it , the interred bones bear no signs of force .
" We have n’t seen any combat injury on the people bury , so we do n’t cerebrate violence is demand , " Sjögren said . " But we are continue to hit the books their DNA and that will show whether they had any diseases . "
desoxyribonucleic acid studies should also show if the hoi polloi buried in the grave were related .
" The preliminary deoxyribonucleic acid results show that the DNA in the bones is well - preserve , " he said . " This means we will be able to reconstruct the family human relationship between the people in the grave and we are influence on that now . "
The Falköping region is famed for its many Neolithic musical passage tombs , which have stone burial chamber get at by minute handing over . But the new hollow dolmen is older than these .
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" It ’s about 200 to 150 years old than the transition grave , making it one of the oldest I. F. Stone burial bedroom in Sweden and across the whole of Scandinavia , " Sjögren enunciate .
Early farming techniques reached the neighborhood about 500 years before the tomb at Tiarp was build , and so it ’s probable that the people bury there were farmers . A chemical analytic thinking of the bones also indicates these soul lived in a eccentric of agricultural gild .
" They be by growing grain and keeping animals , and they consumed dairy products , " Sjögren say .
