Norwegian scientists reveal disturbing details about an 800-year-old corpse

Researchers have made new discoveries about a mysterious, centuries-old corpse that was dumped in a Norwegian castle well.

Most of what is known about Norway’s early history comes from the Sver Saga, works that recount the reign of King Sverre Sigurdsson through the civil wars of the 12th and 13th centuries.

Believed to have been written by a close associate of the king, it details battles, including one in 1197 when Bugler fought Sverre’s enemy, the Roman Catholic Church, and attacked the castle where he was staying in central Norway.

The saga says that the Buglers, who came from the south, “took the dead man and threw him into the well, and then covered him with stones,” potentially contaminating the king’s water source.

He was believed to be one of the king’s men, but little was known about the identity of the “well man” until a partial excavation of the well at Sverresborg Castle—in the modern city of Trondheim—unearthed the remains in 1938.

Further excavations in 2014 and 2016 led by Anna Petersen, an archaeologist from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research, revealed additional remains, including his left arm and skull.

But scientists recently discovered that the man came from southern Norway, disproving the belief that he was one of King Sèvres’ men, according to research published in iScience Journal on friday

“Maybe the Buglers threw one of their dead into the well,” the researchers write.

According to the paper, the paper’s lead author, Martin Ellegaard, also of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, used the tooth samples for genome sequencing, which revealed Well-man’s gender and indicated that he likely had medium skin. tone, blue eyes and fair or blond hair.

The findings also showed that the man had a sore back and was probably doing heavy physical work.

“He was a nobody,” Petersen told the paper. “But now he has become someone. He had a life.”

Research confirms ancient texts and sheds light on how people traveled across the country in the Middle Ages.

“Only the discovery of the remains shows that (these stories) are not made up,” Martin told NPR ancient texts. “They may be detailed and exaggerated, but they are based on facts.”

The researchers say this is the oldest genome of a specific person from the Old Norse saga that can be sequenced, and that it provides insight into the long isolation and genetic differentiation of southern Norwegians even before that time.