The case in summary The skeleton of a man was first discovered in a well at Sverresborg in 1938, but it took over 85 years to find out where he came from. The man was thought to be a Birkebeiner, but recent research shows that he was actually from Agder. DNA analyzes show that the man was blue-eyed, fair-skinned and had blond hair. The population structure in Norway has been very stable over the past 800 years, which makes the researchers certain that the man was from Agder. The man died in his late 30s, was robust and probably between 1.75 and 1.8 meters tall. Although it has been difficult to obtain DNA analyses, researcher Martin Ellegaard has managed to find answers using a new method. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. It is over 800 years since a previously unknown man was thrown into a well in Trøndelag. The year was 1197. The first time this skeleton was discovered was in 1938. It happened in connection with investigations of the ruins of the castle at Sverresborg. But then came the war, and it may seem that the skeleton was forgotten. Because almost 80 years would pass before someone again sought an answer to the old riddle. Excavations were started in both 2014 and 2016. And the work led to the discovery of a more or less complete human body. But since then the big question has been the following: Who was this man who was thrown into the well by the bagels? The researchers will not have found the answer until 2024. Dead man was thrown into the well Sverresborg was a castle in Nidaros (today Trondheim). It was built on a hill west of the city by King Sverre Sigurdsson. The aim was to defend the city against enemy attacks. According to the saga, the bagels “took all the goods that were in the castle and then they burned every single house that was there.” They took a dead man and threw him into the well. Then they piled stones into it until it was full.” The aim of the archaeologists has never been to confirm that what was written in the saga actually happened. But closer examination of the skeleton has nevertheless given a confirmatory answer. Among other things, it has been established that the bone remains belonged to a human and a man. The carbon-14 dating also showed that he had lived in the late 12th century. – I would say that there is a high probability that this is the man from the saga. Not only based on the dating, but also because the whole context agrees with what is written: Not only is the body in a well under large amounts of stone, but this stone is also from the same time as the skeleton. That’s what Anna Petersén says. She has led the excavation work. The castle in Trondheim Sverresborg was a castle in Nidaros. The castle was built on a hill west of the city by King Sverre Sigurdsson to defend Nidaros (today Trondheim) against enemy attack. The discovery of a skeleton is unique because the archaeological find and King Sverre’s saga tell the same story about a specific, dramatic event at Sverresborg in the year 1192. There was a civil war in Norway in the 12th and 13th centuries, and the battle was between the Birkebeiners and the Baglers over who who should have the royal power. According to King Sverre’s saga, the castle was captured by the Bagels in 1197. They burned down wooden buildings, tore down the walls and threw a dead man into the well. Perhaps they did this to poison the drinking water. The skeleton was first discovered in 1938, when manager Sigurd Tiller together with architect Gerhard Fischer carried out an archaeological investigation in the well. They then uncovered the remains of a skeleton (see picture), but did not record it then. Then the war came to the country, Sverresborg was occupied by the Germans and it was not possible to get to the plant. In June 2016, archaeologists have found a snapshot from 1197. The stone that was thrown, they can see how the skeleton lies and the entire well construction. Source: Trøndelag folk museum, Sverresborg The Birkebeiner who was not a Birkebeiner Already after the discovery in 2014, the man in the well was referred to as a Birkebeiner. The remains have been in such good condition that it has been possible to reveal several of the man’s secrets. – When he died, he was in his late 30s. His body was robust. He had a masculine face and was probably between 1.75 and 1.8 meters tall. It was probably a considerable height in his time. This is what Hanne Ekstrøm Jordahl, who is an osteoarchaeologist and expert on human remains at NIKU, tells Gemini. But there is one thing the researchers have struggled to achieve – namely DNA analyses. But now Martin Ellegaard has managed the “impossible”. – Eventually we realized that the story of the well man was a little different than we had initially thought, says the researcher. Because it turns out that the Birkebeiner in the well was not a Birkebeiner. He was no slouch either. With fresh courage, Martin Ellegaard decided to do DNA analyzes of the well man, as part of his doctoral work. After the first attempt to extract DNA, he thought: “This is never going to work. But, damn it, I don’t want to give in” Photo: Frid Kvalpskarmo Hansen Geographical origin surprised The process itself is quite difficult and requires good craftsmanship in the laboratory, Ellegaard tells news. He has based his doctorate on the man in the well. Finding DNA was no easy task, but thanks to a new method it was possible. – This was a small revolution in the treatment of fossil DNA that must be prepared for sequencing. The method was fundamentally different from before, so I knew we had a good chance. So the success is a mixture of ability and technology. In the end, it was via a tooth that the researchers could use the DNA. Photo: Martin Ellegaard The DNA analyzes show that the man in the well was blue-eyed, fair-skinned and had blond hair. Perhaps not so surprising considering that we are in Scandinavia. What still surprised the researchers was the man’s geographical origin. – They show that he is, unequivocally, from Agder. That means he is most similar to the population group that is in Agder right now, says Ellegaard. Although the well man’s DNA has been compared with people living today, we can still be sure that he was from Agder, explains the researcher. Ellegaard’s analyzes also revealed that the population structure in Norway has been very stable over the past 800 years. – From other studies we know, for example, that 1,000 years ago there were far more migrants in Norway than there are now. Then Norwegians looked more different. Black hair and darker skin were more common than today. Light skin and blue eyes are actually a fairly new phenomenon in Norway. – It’s pretty cool, if you ask me! And if you want to see the well man with your own eyes, you can visit the Science Museum in Trondheim. This is what the well man at Sverresborg may have looked like. It is now known that he had fair hair and blue eyes. Photo: Illustration/Inga-Lill Røsberg
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