This week, the important ancient site Anundshög was subjected to extensive looting – apparently with the help of a metal detector.
– First you get angry, and then you just feel empty. It’s actually hard to find the words, says the disheartened archaeologist Sara Wisén Saveca.
Someone, or several people, under the cover of darkness, dug over 50 holes of varying sizes in the ground at the Viking-era heritage site outside Västerås.
The incident has caused dismay among both experts and the public. Although archaeologists believe that historical objects once buried there are now gone, it remains unclear what treasures the looters actually made off with.
– Some likely used a metal detector and dug into the ground where they got a signal. They have removed things that we would want to excavate archaeologically in order to gain knowledge about the Viking Age, says Nina Eklöf, director of Västerås Museums.
“Been here for thousands of years”
She’s keeping her fingers crossed that the thieves were unlucky and only found modern, lost objects, such as iron nails and horseshoes – but points out that they could just as easily be artifacts from the Bronze Age or other historical eras now lost to science.
– Since this place is still one of the sites in Sweden that holds a wealth of knowledge, they may also have taken important information with them that could help us understand this Viking-era site.
– It’s impossible to explain the feeling of how something can so quickly destroy something that has been here for thousands of years, she continues.
“Vandalism against our shared cultural heritage”
A report has been filed with the police, who say they have visited nearby residents in the hope that someone may have observed the thieves.
Minister of Culture Parisa Liljestrand (M) is one of many who have drawn attention to the crime and says that the incident makes her “furious“.
“This is not just theft – this is a purely indecent act of vandalism against our shared cultural heritage”, she noted on social media.
A historically important site
Anundshög is Sweden's largest burial mound and is located in Badelunda, about five kilometers east of Västerås in Västmanland. The burial mound measures about nine meters in height and has a diameter of 64 to 68 meters. It was built during the Late Iron Age, sometime between 500 and 1050 AD, and is believed to have been a central place for the exercise of power and events during this period. During the Middle Ages, the area was also used as a courthouse.
The area around Anundshög is rich in archaeological remains, including several shipwrecks, smaller burial mounds, stone circles, a labyrinth and a remarkable rune stone – Vs 13 – which is over three meters high. The rune inscription reads: ”Folkvid erected all these stones after his son Heden, Anund's brother. Vred cut the runes. ”
According to tradition, the medieval Eriksgatan, the historical route that newly elected kings traveled along to be recognized by the provinces, passed Anundshög, as marked by erected stones along the way. Today, Anundshög is a well-visited cultural heritage site with guided tours, information signs and regular events such as Archaeology Day.
