On Monday, construction workers found several bone remains during excavation work at Leangen in Trondheim. The police made a visual examination of the remains, but considered them to be outside of a recent criminal history. They were thus sent to the church guardian in Trondheim. Later, the police asked for the remains of the bones to be returned in order to carry out more thorough investigations. – We must be able to come up with a better qualified answer. We have to recognize that we don’t have expert competence in these matters – so we have to associate people with better competence, says John Arthur Gjersvold. He is head of the forensics section at the police station in Trondheim. Gjersvold says it is important for relatives and survivors to know whether the findings originate from missing persons. – Over the years, we have knowledge of several missing persons, dating back to the end of the 1940s, who have not been accounted for. So it is possible that the discovery of bones originates from some of those who are missing, he says. Could come from an old cemetery Gjersvold says that there have been several inputs from reliable people. These assume that the bone remains may come from an old cemetery that was located at Rosendal in Trondheim. The soil masses from here were used to fill in an area at Leangen in the 1970s. The cemetery was in use until 1940. Last autumn, bone remains were also found in an area near the most recent find, Gjersvold says. The police believe one of the bones may be a femur, but the find will be investigated further. Photo: The police – Which we also assume has the same origin, namely from the cemetery that was located at Rosendal. These remains were delivered to the church guardian in Trondheim. As of now, the police have no plans to analyze these further. Will review the routines The police do not have fixed routines for how older bone finds should be examined. They will do something about that. – So that with the greatest possible degree of certainty we are able to say something about species determination and equally age determination on the bones. And then possibly be able to extract DNA, says Gjersvold. It was here, on a construction site at Leangen, that bone remains were found on Monday. Photo: Sunniva Skurtveit / news New routines are already being planned. The police are looking at which bodies it might be useful to cooperate with if the need arises. – We are in contact with Trøndelag County Council, Section for Cultural Heritage, who will help us in the assessment of further progress, says John Arthur Gjersvold about the new Leangen find. Not unusual – Trondheim is located on historical grounds, and it is not unusual for bone remains to turn up. Neither in construction contexts nor in archaeological work, says Gunnar Hansen. He is head of the department for cemeteries in the Kirkelig Fellesråd, which is responsible for the cemeteries in Trondheim. The Church’s joint council took over this responsibility in 1997. Hansen cannot therefore answer for the work that was done in the 70s. When the police have finished examining the bones found, the church warden takes over the remains and buries them. – It happens at one of the cemeteries in the city, which has an area earmarked for this type of thing, says Hansen. The grave is made so deep that it is below the level of a normal burial ground and the coordinates are written down. – We keep a log of which finds are buried there, he says.
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May come from an old cemetery – news Trøndelag
