Singing Sheep

Out driving on the countryside this summer, with my wife and her family, we went to many of the famous places on northern Gotland. After a quick stop at the bakery in Rute, we continued out to the limestone island of Furillen. There we walked upon this sheep, singing to the ladys butts.

Walking beside the dead

Apparently the archaeological investigations, of 2009, at Mästerby are soon coming to an end. The project has located several important artefacts of Medieval date consisting of, among other things, weapons and a spur. According to the homepage of the project about 90 artefacts have been uncovered so far. Probably it represents physical remains of the conflict between the Danish army lead by Valdemar Atterdag and the Gotlandic inhabitants, in the year of 1361. It will be interesting to follow the proceedings of this project. Living only a couple of hundred meters from the famous site of Korsbetningen in Visby, I am reminded of the evils of this war, or any war for that part, during everyday walks to the local shops down by Östercentrum. Close to the high cross raised next to the Solberga nunnery some years after battle at Visby, several of the famous mass graves of Korsbetningen were excavated at the beginning of the 20th century. Some of the individuals had massive injuries, appearing in the skeletal remains in obvious ways, such as traces from several arrowheads through the skull or a pierced pelvis. The popular view presented by many historians is that of a peasant army put in front of a professional and up to date Danish army, outside the Southern Gate of Visby. We do not know much about the battle in detail. In the manuscripts of the Visby Franciscans, we find some information about this incident and the amounts killed (1800 according to that source). The picture below show the high cross at Korsbetningen. For further reading, I recommend you to start with this paper: http://fornvannen.se/pdf/1920talet/1926_027.pdf

Foto: Korsbetningen, 23/5-2009.

Why Geta?

Geta (189-212 AD) was one of the two sons of the great Roman emperor Septimius Severus, who ruled between 193-211 AD. Geta and his brother Bassianus (Caracalla) was appointed co-emperors to succeed Septimius at his death, but this had an abrupt end with the murder of Geta in 212 AD by the very same brother. According to Historia Augusta, Bassianus was insulted in the curia when Helvius Pertinax proclaimed that Geticus Maximus could be put to the rest of his titles (he had concured some of the tribes of the gothic people called the "getes", which in the circumstance also fitted well with the namne of his brother). Geta is said to have had good looks in his youth. His brother did try to erase the memory of him by the act of damnatio memoriae (destroying images of him). Bassianus himself was killed by his own guards, at a "pee break", between Carrhae and Edessa in 217 AD. Many pictures of Geta may have been destroyed in the process of damnatio memoriae, but by naming this blog after him, I simply want to commemorate this not so well known Roman Emperor (Source: Historia Augusta).