Swedish divers unearth Stone Age 'Atlantis' relics

"One-of-a-kind" Stone Age artefacts left by Swedish nomads 11,000 years ago have been discovered by divers in the Baltic Sea, prompting some to claim that Sweden's Atlantis had been found.

A diver exams an 11,000-year old tree trunk. Photo: Arne Sjöström

"What we have here is maybe one of the oldest settlements from the first more permanent sites in Scania and in Sweden full stop," project leader and archaeology professor at Södertörn University Björn Nilsson told The Local.

Nilsson's team has been diving in Hanö, a sandy bay off the coast of Skåne County, and has been given the resources by the Swedish National Heritage Board (Riksantikvarieämbetet) needed for a three-year excavation of an area 16 metres below the water's surface.

So far, they've uncovered a number of remnants that are believed to have been discarded in the water by nomadic Swedes in the Stone Age, objects which have been preserved thanks to the lack of oxygen and the abundance of gyttja sediment. 

One of the biggest finds has been what Nilsson believes was an abandoned harpoon carving from animal bone, which was discarded into the water along with a host of other objects.

"There's wood and antlers and other implements that were thrown in there," he continued. "Around 11,000 years ago there was a build up in the area, a lagoon or sorts ... and all the tree and bone pieces are preserved in it. If the settlement was on dry land we would only have the stone-based things, nothing organic."

Things made of textiles, like rope, can survive where there is a high presence of gyttja, which is sediment rich in organic matter at the bottom of a eutrophic lake. The team has also recovered wood pieces, flint tools, animal horns, and bones of the aurochs, the ancestor of domestic cattle, the last of which died off in the early 1600s. They archaeologists are also keeping a keen eye out for any potential burial sites.

Nilsson admitted that "lousy Swedish tabloids" had blown the story out of the water by labelling the find "Sweden's Atlantis", even though the remnants never belonged to an actual village. The people were all nomadic at the time, he explained, so there was no village. He trumpeted, however, that the finds so far were "world-class" and "one-of-a-kind". He added that was extremely rare to find evidence from the Stone Age so unspoiled.

"What we found here is totally new for us - the whole diving team is really thrilled. They're having the time of their lives down there." The Local/og/sr

Related video (2010): Submerged forest 

Divers Beesham Soogrim and Arne Sjöström surveying the submerged forest at Haväng, Hanö bay, southern Sweden. In the film you can see old trunks and stumps from pine trees that grew in the Verke river valley during the early mesolithic. Stumps at 13 m have been radiocarbon dated by Gaillard & Lemdahl to c. 10.800 years before present (calibrated). The high banks, which look like rocks, are made of detritus mud that deposited in the old river valley when it was flooded. At the end of the film you can see parts of a fish trap (trap no 1) in the eroded mud bank. It is constructed of long thin hazel stems that have been radiocarbon dated by Jan Öijeberg, Malmö museer, to c. 9000 years before present (calibrated). In the film "Mesolithic fish trap" you can see another trap that I found in the same area.


Actualización 28-01-14. Hallan en Suecia una 'Atlántida' de la Edad de Piedra – RT
Un grupo de buceadores suecos ha descubierto artefactos de la Edad de Piedra "únicos en su especie" que pertenecieron a nómadas de hace 11.000 años, lo que ha llevado a algunos a bautizar el descubrimiento como 'la Atlántida sueca'.

Los artefactos fueron descubiertos por el profesor Björn Nilsson, de la Universidad Soderton, y por un equipo de la Universidad de Lund durante un buceo arqueológico en Hano, frente a la costa del condado de Escania, en Suecia, según informa ‘The Local'. "Lo que tenemos aquí es tal vez uno de los asentamientos más antiguos de los primeros sitios permanentes en Escania y en Suecia", expresó el líder del proyecto Björn Nilsson. Enterrados a una profundidad de 16 metros, los investigadores han descubierto madera, herramientas de sílex, cuernos de animales y cuerdas. Entre los objetos hallados más destacados se encuentra un arpón obtenido a partir de hueso de animal y los huesos de un animal primitivo llamado uro. El buen estado de conservación de muchos objetos se explica debido a que el lugar de buceo es rico en un sedimento llamado ‘gyttja’.