Timeless Mystery of Norway’s Ancient Stone Circles Baffles Archaeologists—What’s Underneath?

Archaeologists in Norway were astonished to uncover the story behind the 2,500-year-old stone formations near Fredrikstad. Guro Fossum from Norway's Museum of Cultural History explained that these circles were not just cobblestones but graves of children. These infants lived between 800 and 200 BC, with most of them aged three to six years.

Fossum told Science Norway , "They've lain here as a secret until we found them. We uncovered one after another and ended up with 41 round stone formations." Fossum’s team noted that the layout of the graveyard had been unusual. She added, "Each stone was sourced from a different location and placed precisely in the formation. We wondered who put in so much effort."

Knewz.com noted that the stone circles are spread across 3 to 6 feet across. Two graves contained adult remains and were placed separately from the others. Fossum told Indy100 , "The dating shows that the burial site was used over a long period, so they couldn't all have died in the same natural disaster or outbreak of disease or epidemic."

The team collected samples, including pottery fragments and a possible metal brooch, to learn more about why children had been buried there. The Museum of Cultural History at the University of Oslo noted that the graves had been found in a culturally rich area with rock carvings about voyages and sun worship. Fossum explained, "Analyses of the pottery fragments can tell us a lot. It doesn't appear that all the vessels were containers for burnt bones; some were placed between the graves, and we are very curious about what was inside them."

Most of the bones found were very few, weighing between 0.1 and 240 grams, which made further research challenging. Additionally, the ceramic pots that had held the bones had broken over time.

Cremating the dead on pyres and either burying or scattering the remaining bones had been common in the past. After cremation, people covered the graves with a flat layer of stones arranged in a spiral or wheel pattern. Cooking pits and fireplaces around the site suggested that gatherings and ceremonies had been held in connection with the burials.

The museum in a statement wrote, "The field of children’s graves is unique in a Norwegian context and opens up many questions to which the answers are still unknown: Why were the children buried in a separate place? Why here? And how did they hold on to this tradition for several hundred years." However, there are no clear answers for the children's graves being buried so closely. Fossum hoped the artifacts would reveal more about these burials, as some vessels had not been used for burnt bones but had been placed between the graves.

The archaeologists expected to uncover more truths and were taking samples and photographs of the site. One of the stone formations would soon be displayed in an exhibit called In Memory of the Children at the Cultural History Museum in Oslo.