Shards of Roman ceramics found in ancient graves in western Sweden suggest there was more contact between the Romans and Swedes than thought.
Archaeologists at the site in Stenungsund, around 30 miles north of Gothenburg, found the ceramic pieces along with some charred bones from two people, which were dated between the years 1 and 300 AD, said Bengt Nordqvist, who is leading the dig for Sweden's National Heritage Board.
He told Sweden's English-language newspaper The Local the finds challenge previous migration theories.
"The discovery shows that contact between Sweden and the Roman Empire was possibly much greater than we used to believe," Nordqvist said.
The excavation was ordered before the town granted permission to turn the land into soccer fields, the newspaper said.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
Related stories:
Swiss blogger victim of 'suicide' spam scam
A Swiss blogger who campaigns against Internet fraudsters said Thursday he was questioned by police after thousands of emails were sent purporting to claim he was going to commit suicide.
Book: Evolution, religion are compatible
The U.S. National Academy of Sciences has published a new book arguing that acceptance of the theory of evolution does not require giving up a belief in God.
Father-son team find Roman Briton remains
The skeleton of an ancient Roman Briton apparently with some social standing was found by two men who previously unearthed a $2 million Viking treasure.
Google helps find ancient Roman remains
A computer programmer looking at Google Earth satellite images has reportedly discovered the remains of an ancient Roman villa near Sorbelo, Italy.
Magnetism and Superconductivity Observed to Exist in Harmony
(Physorg.com) -- Physicists at Los Alamos National Laboratory, along with colleagues at institutions in Switzerland and Canada, have observed, for the first time in a single exotic phase, a situation where magnetism and superconductivity are necessary for each other's existence.
Archaeological excavations uncover Roman temple in Zippori (Sepphoris)
Ruins of a Roman temple from the second century CE have recently been unearthed in the Zippori National Park in Israel. Above the temple are foundations of a church from the Byzantine period. The excavations, which were undertaken by the Noam Shudofsky Zippori Expedition led by of Prof. Zeev Weiss of the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, shed light on the multi-cultural society of ancient Zippori.
New bottle cap thwarts wine counterfeiters
(PhysOrg.com) -- When the Roman historian Pliny the Elder wrote " in vino veritas " – in wine, there is truth – he must not have been drinking from a counterfeit bottle. Researchers Roger Johnston and Jon Warner of the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have created a device to ensure that modern wine connoisseurs can have faith that they are drinking what they pay for.
Japanese sushi rage threatens iconic Mediterranean tuna
The rage for sushi and sashimi, Japan's raw fish dishes that overtook the West and have now spread to increasingly prosperous China, risks wiping out one of the Mediterranean's most emblematic residents: the bluefin tuna.