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.