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Surprise grave find reveals secrets of Viking king
The burial site was found after construction work uncovered artefacts like pearls, coins, and ceramics, indicating gifts in Viking graves.
Grave findings, including a box with pearls, suggest a connection to the Danish monarchy and high-status individuals, possibly related to a nearby nobleman's farm.
The discoveries indicate that the Danish town was a seat of power in the 900s during the reign of Viking king Harald Bluetooth.
A magnificent wooden coffin, likely belonging to an important woman, contained items like scissors, a silver bead, and gold thread, suggesting she may have been one of Harald Bluetooth's earls or stewards.
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BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
Five Newcastle and Northumberland stories you might have missed this week
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Times
3 days ago
- Times
American zoos don't feed ponies to the lions — should they?
American zoos would never feed ponies to the lions — even though giving whole carcasses to predators is a 'healthy' practice, a North American zoo chief says. A Danish zoo has caused global outrage by asking the public to donate chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs and horses so they could be 'gently euthanised' and fed to its predators. Daniel Ashe, the chief executive of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), said the idea would be 'frowned upon' in the US. 'These are cultural norms that we're talking about,' said Ashe, whose association has about 220 zoos in the US. 'The Danish zoo has a different cultural norm and practices.' Even so, experts are in agreement that feeding predators whole carcasses is important for their welfare. 'It's stimulating for the animals,' Ashe said. 'They're feeding on the meat, the cartilage, the tendon and bone and hide. The same feeding they do in nature. It's nutritious for them, it's healthy for them. Behaviourally, it's important to them as well.' Earlier this month Aalborg Zoo posted an appeal for pet donations on its Facebook page, which received a 'hateful and malicious' response, according to zoo officials who insisted it would 'stand by' the practice. Pernille Sohl, who donated her daughter's dying pony to Aalborg Zoo, told The Sunday Times the practice 'might sound very dramatic … but they are going to be put down anyway and it is not like they are alive when they are given to the predators'. • I gave the zoo my daughter's beloved pony to be fed to the lions So far this year, Aalborg Zoo has received 22 horses, 137 rabbits, 53 chickens and 18 guinea pigs, which have been turned into dinner for the lions, tigers, European lynxes and other carnivores who live there. Most other Danish zoos also accept pet donations. Ashe said the predators in AZA's zoos were fed animals that could be easily sourced via regulated commercial and agricultural suppliers, including pigs, sheep, goats and lamb. The zoos have to make sure they are sourcing 'meat products that are graded by the US Department of Agriculture,' he explained. Horse meat is not graded by the department so it is not available in America as a food supply for zoos. Some zoos, however, work with state and local natural-resource agencies to take roadkill such as deer for food, he said. Although Americans may not have an appetite for feeding their horses and guinea pigs to the lions, they are still fascinated by the sight of predators tucking into other animals, Ashe said, adding: 'I was at Denver Zoo about two weeks ago and they were carcass-feeding their lions. They were using pig carcasses. 'It was advertised to the guests at 1pm. Appropriate warnings were issued in case people didn't want to see something like this. But it was packed. I mean, you could not get a place next to the railing. People enjoy seeing animals engaging in natural behaviour.' If predators are fed only filleted meat they can develop nutritional deficiencies, dental problems, boredom-induced stress and unnatural feeding patterns, zoologists say. Aalborg Zoo is not the only European zoo that has faced backlash this month. Critics also rounded on Nuremberg Zoo in Germany last week after it announced it had culled 12 Guinea baboons due to chronic overcrowding in their enclosure. Half were then fed to the zoo's lions, tigers, maned wolves and marbled polecats. The skeletons of the remaining monkeys will be put on display in a museum. The baboons were decapitated and their hands and feet removed, 'out of respect for visitors' who would see the carnivores feeding, Jörg Beckmann, the zoo's deputy director, told DPA, the German news agency. Ashe said AZA's zoos did not cull their animals as a means of population control. 'We manage our animal population so that we don't have a lot of surplus animals,' Ashe said. 'We don't euthanise animals for management purposes. It's allowable under our policies but in general, if our members have an animal you don't need, then we look for an alternate home.' He added that Americans had a different attitude towards animal breeding from Europeans, which has led to their opposing practices around death. 'Other cultures believe that breeding is a necessary kind of life behaviour and that animals should be allowed to breed,' he said. 'But then that presents the challenge, what do you do with the animals that might be surplus?' AZA has 30 overseas members in countries like Korea, the UAE, Canada and Colombia. Not all follow the same practices as those in the US, Ashe said. He added that some of AZA's members in Korea did not euthanise animals that may be close to death. 'When we're doing accreditation visits, our inspectors are like, 'Wow, this animal seems like it's not in great condition.' 'They just have a different value set. 'Well, as long as it's eating and can interact with its social group.' And they want to support it. Whereas here in the US we would euthanise it. We have to put our standards into the context of different cultural norms.'
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Daily Mail
The Medieval Brits with West African ancestry: Bodies buried in 7th–century England show Britain was more DIVERSE in the Middle Ages than we thought
Two people buried in early medieval England had West African ancestry, experts have revealed, in a discovery that rewrites British history. The find provides the first direct evidence of a connection between Britain and Africa in the seventh century, more than 1,300 years ago. Archaeologists made the discovery after analysing DNA from a girl who had been buried in Kent and a young man laid to rest in Dorset. Both had recent ancestors, likely grandparents, from West Africa, the experts said. And in both cases, the individuals had been laid to rest as typical members of the local community – suggesting they were valued by the societies in which they lived. 'Our results emphasise the cosmopolitan nature of England in the early medieval period, pointing to a diverse population with far–flung connections who were, nonetheless, fully integrated into the fabric of daily life,' Dr Ceiridwen Edwards, from the University of Huddersfield, said. For both individuals, the mitochondrial DNA inherited from their mothers was northern European. But the autosomal DNA, inherited from both parents, showed strong genetic links to present–day Yoruba, Mende, Mandenka and Esan groups from sub–Saharan West Africa – thousands of miles away. Further investigation suggests they both had one grandparent from their father's side from West Africa. The girl, buried in Updown in Kent, was found with several items including a pot possibly imported from Frankish Gaul – an area that encompasses present–day France, Belgium and Luxembourg – and a spoon that could indicate the individual's Christian faith. The Updown cemetery was part of Kent's royal network and these goods point to the area's continental connections. Meanwhile the man unearthed at Worth Matravers, in Dorset, was buried alongside a British male and an anchor made of local limestone. 'Kent has always been a conduit for influence from the adjacent continent and this was particularly marked in the sixth century,' Professor Duncan Sayer, from the University of Lancashire, said. On the other hand, Dorset sat 'on the fringes of continental influence'. 'The archaeological evidence suggests a marked and notable cultural divide between Dorset and areas to the west, and the Anglo–Saxon influenced areas to the East,' Dr Edwards explained. Both discoveries, published in the journal Antiquity, add a new dimension to understanding long–distance movement and interaction involving Britain during the Early Middle Ages. 'What is fascinating about these two individuals is that this international connection is found in both the east and west of Britain,' Professor Sayer added. Early medieval England, spanning roughly from the fifth to the 11th centuries, was characterised by a predominantly rural society. Most people lived in small, self–sufficient villages with agriculture being the primary occupation. Social structure was hierarchical, with a ruling class of nobles and a large peasant population who worked on the land. The period also saw the rise of Anglo–Saxon kingdoms, the influence of Christianity, and eventually, Viking incursions and settlements. What was life like in Medieval society? There were few large towns, and most people lived in villages. The majority of people were peasants who worked on the land owned by a local lord. If people wanted to move or get married they needed the permission of the lord first. Peasant homes were small, often a one–room hut with a hearth in the centre. Animals tended to live in huts with their owners. Furniture was sparse, usually consisting of just a few stools, a trunk for bedding and a few cooking pots. Women in peasant families learned to spin wool from an early age, using wooden wheels to make clothes. Rather than going to school, children spent more of their time helping their parents with jobs in the house, looking after animals and growing food. People attended church every Sunday.
