Rare Stone Age Dog Burial Found in Sweden
Archaeologists have made a remarkable discovery in Sweden: a Stone Age dog skeleton that’s “exceptionally well-preserved,” lying alongside a dagger that’s around 5,000 years old. The announcement came from Archeologerna, a Swedish archaeological consultancy, revealing details from a site near Jelna, which is southwest of Stockholm.
This excavation was a joint effort with the Swedish National History Museum (SHM) and was undertaken last autumn as part of preparations for a railway project. The area, covering about 3,500 square meters, looked quite different thousands of years ago. Back then, it was a shimmering lake, ideal for fishing.
The dog was carefully buried with a bone dagger measuring just under ten inches, likely crafted from either moose or red deer bone. Officials described the dog as a “large, powerful male,” between three and six years old at the time of its death.
Archaeologists suspect the dog was placed in a container filled with stones and submerged at a depth of around 100 to 130 feet in the lake. Excavation project manager Linus Hagberg mentioned that they are still analyzing the remains, hoping to discover more about the dog’s life and diet.
“Early Neolithic dog burials are incredibly rare,” Hagberg noted. While dog burials have been found in ancient settlements, they were not frequent even in those earlier times. The dog’s skull appears to have sustained damage at the time of death rather than during the burial process.
The bones remained intact over the millennia, largely due to their underwater resting place. Hagberg remarked that the remarkable condition of the remains is quite unusual. He emphasized the surprising aspect of the excavation was uncovering the dog’s remains.
While it’s difficult to classify the dog in terms of modern breeds, it was described as relatively large, featuring a wide jaw and sizable teeth.
This discovery follows closely a separate finding of another well-preserved dog burial from ancient Rome, highlighting the ongoing significance of canine companionship across cultures and eras.
