Posted on 01/21/2024 2:58:22 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Archaeologists in Sweden have discovered the medieval burial of an extremely tall man who was buried with a long sword — one that was nearly two-thirds of his height — and may have been a nobleman who supported the region's ill-fated union with Denmark and Norway.
The sword, which is over 4 feet (1.3 meters) long, seems to have been inlaid with a different metal to form small Christian crosses, excavation leader Johan Klange, an archaeologist with the Halland Cultural Environment, an agency of the local government, told Live Science.
Even taller than the sword was the man in the grave. Klange said he stood about 6 feet, 3 inches (1.9 meters) tall — an impressive height for the turn of the 16th century, when the average male height in Sweden was about 5 feet, 5 inches (1.65 m), according to experts.
An archaeological excavation site of a Franciscan friary graveyard in the center of the Swedish city of Halmsted...
The grave of the tall man was the most prominent found in excavations of the Franciscan friary at the site, which was active from 1494 until it was destroyed in 1531 during the Protestant Reformation, Klange said.
The sword buried alongside the man was the only grave good found among 49 graves at the site and may have signified that the man was a member of the high nobility. The archeologists think the man may have been a wealthy supporter of the Kalmar Union, in which a single king ruled Sweden, Denmark and Norway between roughly 1397 and 1523.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
An improved diet as Europeans explored the world and brought new foods to market was an important factor in making them (all Europeans) taller, stronger, and healthier.
Coloradan beat me to it, but improved nutrition is the answer. Medieval nobles were often relative giants because of generations of access to more, richer, food (and intermarrying with mates of similar class).
The story said he was 6 foot 3.
But I was promised that no one would ever find it!
Well then, the least they could do is give you a new one:
People do not understand how much nutrition has to do with almost everything.
Yeah, there is a floor and a ceiling but good nutrition in childhood will leave you taller, faster, stronger and smarter.
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