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Stone Age boy in Sweden was buried in deerskin and a woodpecker headdress, archaeologists discover
Live Science ^ | February 27, 2026 | Kristina Killgrove

Posted on 03/03/2026 3:44:25 PM PST by SunkenCiv

A new method of studying the contents of soil samples has revealed Stone Age people in Sweden were buried in decorated fur-and-feather clothing.

More than seven millennia ago, Stone Age mourners in what is now Sweden buried a boy with a crown of woodpecker feathers and, in another grave, interred a woman with multicolored fur-and-feather footwear, a new study finds.

These details were unearthed thanks to a newly developed technique that can identify traces of hair and feathers in soil taken from ancient graves, the researchers said...

In the study, published Feb. 20 in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, Kirkinen and colleagues detailed the evidence of perishable materials that they found in 35 burials at Skateholm, a Late Mesolithic archaeological site in southern Sweden near the Baltic Sea coast that hunter-gatherer groups used as a cemetery from 5200 to 4800 B.C...

Mammalian hairs were recovered from 20 graves, but only 25% of them could be matched to a type of animal, including otters, deer and cows. In one grave, however, the researchers found evidence of hairs from a lagomorph (mountain hare), a mustelid (weasel or stout), a bat and an owl, all recovered from the head area of a young adult male burial. Beads made from red-deer teeth that were also recovered from the head area suggest the young man was buried with decorative headgear.

(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: godsgravesglyphs; mesolithic

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An artist's impression of the Skateholm burial island. In the foreground is a boy whose grave contained deer hair and possibly a fragment of a woodpecker feather.
Image credit: Tom Björklund
Image credit: Tom Björklund

1 posted on 03/03/2026 3:44:25 PM PST by SunkenCiv
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To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; 31R1O; ...

2 posted on 03/03/2026 3:44:52 PM PST by SunkenCiv (The Demagogic Party is just a collection of violent, rival street gangs.)
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To: SunkenCiv
Mountain hares terrorizing a small Arizona town in 1972.
3 posted on 03/03/2026 3:54:32 PM PST by fruser1
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To: SunkenCiv

Look like Laplanders.


4 posted on 03/03/2026 3:56:00 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: fruser1
These details were unearthed thanks to a newly developed technique that can identify traces of hair and feathers

Don't tell the archeologists on Oak Island or we'll never get to the bottom of it.

5 posted on 03/03/2026 3:58:25 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is opinion or satire. Or both.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Stone Age kids were.... furries??


6 posted on 03/03/2026 4:02:27 PM PST by dayglored (This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalms 118:24)
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To: dayglored
No, they just wore fur.

Because freezing is not a nice thing.

7 posted on 03/03/2026 4:04:44 PM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear (The tree accused of killed Sonny Bono was planted.)
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To: BenLurkin

“””Don’t tell the archeologists on Oak Island or we’ll never get to the bottom of it. “”””

Watching that show is like watching cars rust. Just as exciting.


8 posted on 03/03/2026 4:07:29 PM PST by shelterguy
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To: shelterguy

Advertising is the treasure:)


9 posted on 03/03/2026 4:13:52 PM PST by Cold Heart
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To: fruser1

LOL great movie!


10 posted on 03/03/2026 4:18:20 PM PST by Bob434 (NYWAYS)
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To: BenLurkin

LOL_ Sheeesh- 20 years of “Could it be?” LOL


11 posted on 03/03/2026 4:18:56 PM PST by Bob434 (NYWAYS)
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To: BenLurkin

They most likely were early Laplanders. The Germanic tribes didn’t arrive in Sweden until much later.


12 posted on 03/03/2026 4:19:04 PM PST by miliantnutcase
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To: SunkenCiv

They look pretty much like the indigenous people encountered by Europeans when they reached North America the 16th and 17th centuries.... Imagine encountering people from 5200 to 4800 B.C. in the 16th century and vice versa.

Stone aged... Meets middle aged.

It must have been astounding.


13 posted on 03/03/2026 5:20:51 PM PST by jerod (Nazis were essentially Socialist in Hugo Boss uniforms... Get over it!)
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To: SunkenCiv

Walter Lantz’s many multi great grandfather.


14 posted on 03/03/2026 5:28:24 PM PST by higgmeister (In the Shadow of The Big Chicken! )
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To: SunkenCiv

That is beautiful art. They have the look of the extinct European mesolithic people who were dark skinned and (often) blue eyed. I noticed the hanging carcasses in the trees. That was something the later Germanic tribes did as sacrifices ( including hanging human bodies in trees) I wonder if there is a find that shows this practice predates the Germans.


15 posted on 03/03/2026 5:32:41 PM PST by Varda
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To: SunkenCiv

That’s a pretty creepy looking kid.


16 posted on 03/03/2026 6:03:13 PM PST by roving
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