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At first glance, archaeologists believed that
this was a family tomb, but when they got a
look at the coffins and dug out the skeletons
inside they came away with a completely
different story.
The middle coffin contained more detail
than the other two. In it lay the remains of a
25-year-old man who appeared to have had
a painful death.
"He had actually been autopsied, his skull
was clearly sawn through, "says Svestad.
The skull showed signs of a tumour, and
three round calcifications were found in the
area where the stomach once was. Svestad's
collaborator, a human osteologist at the
University of Copenhagen, discovered that
these calcifications were due to an infection
from a parasite, and that this infection had
probably spread to the man's brain, and was
likely the cause of his death. This now rare
parasite could have been caught from a wolf
or a reindeer.
"In view of the problems that predators
posed in earlier times, perhaps it was a wolf
hunt that led to the young man's infection?
In any event, these findings and analysis
provide a unique insight into diseases
and the earliest public health service in
Finnmark," Svestad says.
Problematic reburials
Research on Sami graves can be problema-
tic. Between 1830 and 1940, many skeletons
were exhumed to use for physical anthro-
pology and research on the Sami as a race.
In many cases, these skeletons were remo-
ved despite protests from the local popu-
lation. The conclusions from this research
were quite negative about the Sami people,
who were described as very underdevelo-
ped. Today's research is obviously of a very
different character than before, but the old
practices and findings continue to haunt us,
says Svestad.
"This has left a deep psychological scar in
the Sami population, and also makes it
difficult to initiate research to learn more
about the Sami past. We know very little
about some aspects of Sami history, and a
grave potentially contains a great deal of
information," he adds.
"When we want to dig up graves, people
are likely to object. That's why we always
inform the local population where we plan
to do our excavations. And that's why we
also rebury remains after we are done with
our research," Svestad says.
Nevertheless, this is a solution that is far
from optimal from a research standpoint,
he says. Remains of old Norse skeletons are
not reburied, for example.
"When we study graves and human
remains, the potential for new knowledge
is quite substantial, and we can learn even
more as we develop newmethods. So rebu-
rials can be problematic. Much of the past
history of the Sami people has not been
written down, so excavating graves is a very
important source of information that can
tell us these stories. These stories may even
contradict written sources. Graves are a
unique source for understanding the past,"
says Svestad.
Source:
A. Svestad (2010).
De døde skjuler mange ting –
Arkelogiske undersøkelser på Gullholmen kirkegård. (The
dead hide many things - Archaeological investigations at
Gullholmen Cemetery). Tana-årboka/Deanu jahkegirji,
p. 77
Controversy over mass graves in Neiden
University of Tromsø –
Labyrint E/11
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25
There is a lot of information about our past that is buried with our ancestors' remains. Foto: Asgeir Svestad.