Excavation report of another house site at Sandby Borg:
Once gain, as with the original exploratory work a decade or so ago that showed Sandby Borg was an atrocity/massacre/crimescene site from 1500 years ago that preserved both a snapshot of daily life from the later iron age, and also evidence of a swift, thorough massacre with specifically callous treatment of the residents - The houses contain bodies where they fell, there was little to no looting, with tools and jewellery left behind, the victims were felled from behind or above, and aside from some scavenger predation, the bones are in articulated position, covered by the fallen houses, which seem to have to have rotted or fallen apart, so the fallen turf roofs and walls have protected the archaeology. The excavations in 2011 were catalysed by discovery of possible looting pits, leading to a geophysical and metal detector survey of the site, and targeted rescue archaeology, leading to an ongoing research project due to the discovery of essentially an untouched settlement left alone after an event of targeted massacre.
This report shows similar evidence to the trial excavations, with the first evidence of a child found at the site, and an adult victim found spralled across the fireplace in the house, partially burned, and, remarkably, what looks like sheeps teeth deliberately placed in the mouth of the victim - possibly a calculated insult.
Every time I read more evidence of Sandby Borg, I get a chill down my spine. The excavators note that in oral tradition on the island, the site was held in folklore to be an unlucky, dangerous place that one should not visit, so it's quite possible that is a direct oral tradition stemming from a calculated atrocity committed there 1500 years ago quite possibly as an example or revenge designed to quell other people nearby, and memory remains, even if only faintly.
