The uninhabited island is now a national park, and though members of the public are allowed to visit the island during the day, they must stick to certain paths. The scientists are currently investigating a layer of material, below one of the caves, that contains quartz that may have been used to help make tools.Įxploring the site has been quite an experience, Papmehl-Dufay said. Work on the island is continuing as archaeologists try to unravel the secrets of the site's past. "However, more-specific activities with ritual elements to cannot be ruled out, such as feasting in connection to the rituals performed in the nearby caves." "A few people could have been sitting or standing, perhaps just resting or spending the night during sporadic stays on the island," Papmehl-Dufay said. Radiocarbon dating indicates people consumed the seals around 9,000 years ago. In between the two caves, the archaeologists discovered a small rock shelter, just 20 by 26 feet (6 by 8 meters), that contained stone tools and seal remains. This area "could have been used to place something in, perhaps as part of some form of offering, like an altar," Papmehl-Dufay said.
Archaeologists found a hammerstone and an area that was used for grinding up material. The second cave yielded yet more strange clues. The noise from the hammering and the sight of the fire burning, as viewed from above, may have created an interesting effect for Stone Age audiences, the researchers said. The "act of producing the hollow could have been the important part, perhaps even the sound created while doing so," he said. Īnimal bones found at the Stone Age site contained mostly seal remains, dated to around 9,000 years ago.
once you're inside, only half of the cave is covered and you can actually stand above the cave and look down into it, almost like a theater or a stage below," said Papmehl-Dufay. "The entrance to the cave is very narrow, and you have to squeeze your way in. "We believe the hollow is man-made and that the fireplace has been used in connection to hammering out the hollow, probably several occasions," said Ludvig Papmehl-Dufay, an archaeologist with Kalmar County Museum.Īrchaeologists said they are not certain what took place here however, one clue comes from the cave's layout. One cave has a massive hollow, about 2.3 feet (0.7 meters) in diameter, which was hammered into a vertical wall. "In two caves, distinct ritual features were identified," wrote the team members, who hail from Kalmar County Museum and Linnaeus University, both in Sweden. Meanwhile another cave has an area that could have been used like a "theater" or "stage." One cave contains what may be an altar where offerings could have been made to deities. People who travelled to the island may have practiced various rituals inside the two caves, archaeologists say.
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