Paper short abstract:

Medical instruments, among archaeological artifacts, from first millennium, excavated from Danish offering-bogs, and from Uppåkra and Helgö, in Sweden; shows that the society in Roman Iron Age Scandinavia treated wounded warriors; and medical treatment (offerings?) took place within cultic areas.

Paper long abstract:

In the geographical area of Southern Scandinavian we have no written sources informing us about medical treatment or care in the societies in the first millennium. All our knowledge is based on interpretation of archaeological excavated artifact-material.

Re-evaluation has identified medical instruments, among previous excavated archaeological artifact - material, dating to the Roman Iron Age. Artifacts excavated from six Danish war booty offering-bogs, shows that the society in Roman Iron Age Scandinavia cared for and treated wounded warriors. In the paper are given examples concerning types of identified surgical instruments, excavation contexts and for what kind of treatments the instruments could have been used.

Additional, my re-interpretation of archaeological material from Uppåkra, Helgö and Birka in Sweden, shows medical artifacts excavated about fifty years ago and dated to the first millennium. More exact dating is unfortunately not possible. The newly identified instruments prove that medical treatment has been carried out and that the theories behind the performed treatment followed contemporary medical ideas of Southern Europe. The deposition location of the excavated instruments shows that some medical treatment may have been carried out within a cultic/holy site. It was however necessarily not only medical treatment that was executed but perhaps also ceremonial performed offering of humans or maybe animals, or both, which took place at the site. The medical equipment for caring out both purposes is equal.