The Island Pt. 03

The Island

Part Three

by o_girl © 2024

Chapter Twenty-Two - Present Day - More Riddles

by o_girl © 2024

The builders and construction workers left the island little by little as their jobs were completed.

The boulder piers with the artificial sand beach in front of the house had been finished and the ship and its crews had sailed away.

A nerve wrecking drilling machine that had been making a very deep well down to the fresh water level mark, had finished the job and also departed.

The steel plates supporting the heavy machinery on the paths was gone.

The house was almost finished and the day came when they had to have a farewell party for the Navers.

They had sat long into the night as the Navers told stories of their travels and work.

The next day they got them all into the RIB and sailed them back to the village.

The Navers travelled light, according to their tradition. Their few spare clothes wound on a stick that they had in a sling over one shoulder, and their tools in a box over the other. Bryn and Sunny gave them all a bag of supplies: Bread, fruit, dried meat, and a bottle of Sunny's best Cider.

When they landed in the village there was quite a reception committee, and a lot of villagers made arrangements with individual Navers.

In the months following many houses had their windows restored, roofs repaired, new staircases done, new doors and fences put up.

All in the tradition of just providing shelter and food for their "Resident Naver".

As they finished their work, the Navers moved on. Always with a very warm and grateful goodbye from the person or persons they had worked for.

Now there was just the archaeologists and Bryn and Sunny on the island.

The girls gave the house the last finishing touches. They had more animals installed in the stables, including a flock of sheep, and some more hens.

Sunny went to an animal shelter inland and came back with six neutered cats.

The mice that had spread and multiplied on the island, as the only natural enemy of them were a few prey birds residing in the treetops here and there.

Now the cats kept the population at bay and their garden products safe in storage.

The girls also began putting deco's and paintings on the walls and went searching for solid furniture to match the 'rustic' style of their new home.

Bryn and Sunny each had a room of their own in the basement. Sunny's was more or less a laboratory and store room for the many finds they had dug out of the ground.

Bryn's was the "Play-Room" she had always dreamed of, and although Sunny was bursting with curiosity, she stayed away. She was sure that she would get to know the room soon enough!

The archaeologists had almost finished clearing the temple. The mosaic being damaged here and there. Mainly on the edges as roots and plants had grown up between the small stones, but basically, they had a beautiful and relatively intact temple floor. One could even see the wear on the circle around the middle where the virgins had danced.

One conundrum remained though.

In the middle all the slabs that had surrounded the centrepiece had been lost or stolen and one day the archaeologists had called the girls to the site.

They pointed out that the colour of the soil was all even and obviously a stamped clay foundation for the slabs. Except for one place where the soil had a distinct different colour and was not clay, but more like ordinary soil.

They agreed to excavate it and two days later they had uncovered yet another body, or rather two.

It was definitely a woman and a baby and they looked like black, old leather.

They seemed bound together with a leather and plant-fibre cord. Included in the embrace and leather tendons was an uneven-formed boulder.

Aino scratched her head: "This is weird! Their skin looks like the kind of curing only seen in the human bog offerings of the iron age, where the acid of the bog preserved human bodies so perfect that they look like they had died yesterday."

She showed them examples on her iPad: The Tollund Man, The Grauballe Man and there was a distinct likeness to their new-found body. Like on the iPad examples you could even see the woman's eyelashes and every line in her hands.

It was yet another island riddle as the soil surrounding the two bodies definitely did not have those preserving abilities and pieces of mosaic was found under the bodies.

They agreed with Aino to have the two bodies transported to the mainland for forensic analysis, on the condition that they got them both back after the examination. Sunny and Bryn felt yet again that these bodies belonged here on their island and wanted them interred in their little memory plot.

Having made the decision, the two corpses were carefully packed and put in a reinforced wood crate and sailed off.

Two weeks later they got the results. Reluctantly and having to use a lot persuasion they also got the bodies back.

They were both prehistoric and in excellent condition. Something they already knew or more than suspected.

The clues of some of the mosaic squares being under the bodies proved that they had been buried in this non-acidic soil during Roman times.

The fact that the bodies were distinctly older than the Roman period indicated that they had been found in their original resting place and moved to the plot in the middle of the temple square.

Some decay was traced in both bodies but it was from a much later period than the date of their death.

The verdict was that they had definitely been moved from their original grave at one point.

Both of them were badly nourished and the woman's stomach contents had been mainly nuts and berries. The verdict from this was that they had died in winter

The most interesting fact, and one that almost prevented them from getting them back was that the baby was a mix of Neanderthal and Sapiens. The big corpse was a woman and definitely Sapiens. So, they had found a rare cross-breeding proof between Sapiens and Neanderthal.

When Bryn had commented on that fact, Sunny had replied that even today we still had a small percentage of Neanderthal genes in our DNA, so the early cross-breeding had been known for quite a while.

The remnants of the wrappings around the two bodies were definitely younger, but not recent.

Sunny made yet another grave in her little plot, and the two were interred together in an aluminium sealed box. Close together in the same way they were found.

Sunny had explained to Bryn that the woman was an example of our ancestral mother, so the text, she engraved on the round boulder on the grave was just: "Mother and child".

Chapter Twenty-Three - Present Day - A Burial Mound With Surprises

by o_girl © 2024

A couple of days later, Sunny came running into the house. Red faced, out of breath and excited.

"Bryn, Bryn. You have got to come and see this!"

"What now? Found Elsa at last?"

"No, but this is even better. I walked all the way to the top of the chalk cliffs on the East side of our island, and I found something. Come, come!"

They walked through the ferns and heavy undergrowth to a place on the island they had not been yet. Using a path Sunny had trampled down.

When they were almost at the East point the trees and undergrowth shifted to a low vegetation. The view widened and the sun shone on them.

Sunny pointed ahead: "What do you see there?"

Bryn used a hand to shade from the sun: "Well. To be honest, it looks like a giant breast. That big stone on top of the hill. Is it natural or made by someone?"

"I'm sure it is not natural. Follow the contours. Someone made it higher than it

originally was. Let's go look."

Bryn again strained her eyes and now she could see the change in the curve of the hill.

They walked to the top and had a great view of the ocean.

"Look here, Bryn. This stone has been tilted. I tried scooping out under it with my hands. Here. It seems to have a flat surface that it is lying on, and just behind it is a hollow that is not made by water or nature. It has definitely been upright at one point."

They tried to lift it but it was too heavy. So, Bryn suggested they would go and have breakfast and come back with some tools to tilt the stone back up.

Sunny did not eat much and was restless all through a quick lunch at the house, and she was more than a few steps ahead of Bryn as they walked back to the spot with some long iron poles they had found in the stable.

It did not take long to get the stone back up. Bryn had brought a spade and made the hollow behind it deeper, and then they combined forces to tilt the stone.

"Look, Bryn! See what I said: Runes! How fortunate we are. This is definitely a burial mound, and Viking period!"

"So, my clever little archaeologist. What does his e-mail from the past tell us?"

Sunny kneeled down and brushed the face of the stone off with her hands.

"It's very well made, and very clear. This is made by a skilled person. Wait a minute. There's a dragon going all along the edges and lines with text inside it.

After a few more minutes, Sunny read out: Randi, Sigrid, Tora and Ulfhild.

On each their line and then below in smaller runes: I Vigdis made the stone, and he who removes it will be forever damned.

"I do hope this Vigdis will not come storming out tonight to haunt us", said Bryn with a laugh.

"This is no joking matter, but I am sure no one - dead or alive - will mind us investigating the hill."

They walked back to the camp after taking a few photos of the stone.

The two Finnish archaeologists: Aino and Essi had moved into the big house. They had been on the island almost from the beginning, and were no longer living in tents like the rest of the archaeology gang.

After seeing the photos of the stone, they got just as agitated as Sunny, and for once Bryn felt totally left out of the company. The discussion and talk went back and forth over the evening roast and long into the night.

In the morning Aino and Essi carried the ground radar equipment over to the mound.

They did not come back till nightfall, and immediately went to the computer down in Sunny's room to interpret the results.

At a late dinner they brought piles of transcripts along and eagerly discussed them with Sunny. To Bryn it was just a lot of wobbly parallel lines on sheets on paper but she did understand the verdict: There was a square with a different composition from the rest in the middle of the hill. Right below the runestone. The three experts were sure there was a grave there and they immediately agreed to excavate.

Next day Aino and Essi briefed the rest of the archaeology crew and they all went off in high spirit.

Sunny spend all her days away and Bryn felt again a little let out of the action, but had enough to do in the stable and veggie garden.

In the evening everybody was too tired to give long accounts, but they did keep Bryn informed of the major progress of the excavation.

After a week they invited Bryn to come and have a look.

On top of the hill they had erected a large tent under which they had made a square hole about five meters on each side.

It was around three meters deep.

Bryn looked down as Sunny explained: "We have four skeletons. All female."

Sunny then pointed to a row of four circular, big objects lying on the edge of the excavation: "They were underneath their shields. We slid a thin plate under the shields and lifted them up. They are very fragile. Apart from the buckle in the middle, they are wood with a cover of tanned leather and has metal fittings along the edge and to keep it all together."

Bryn leaned over and looked into the hole. The archaeologists had put heavy planks across and used those to kneel and work on the skeletons below.

Sunny continued: "I will bet you a bent Roman As that it is the four women named on the stone."

"I agree that seems a reasonable deduction, Sherlock. Now who are they and why are they here?"

"I can tell you so much at this point my inquisitive love: They are all in their prime and they all came to a violent end. I bet they are Shield Maidens and someone you would not like to get on the wrong foot with!"

Bryn smiled as Sunny continued: "Look at the one on the left", she pointed, "Something heavy and sharp has hit her across her face. Notice the nose buckle on her pointed helmet. It is bent and pressed into the skull, and there's a distinct mark after what we think is an axe. She has been hit across the face and the axe has gone half way into the skull. Must have died almost instantaneously."

Bryn shivered: "I get your point. Poor woman. What about the other three?"

"Not sure yet but the one on the right seems to have a lot of broken ribs. We need to clean and clear some more."

"So, you believe we have found four Shield Maidens?"

"Yes, most likely. Is it not wonderful? We have had Shield Maidens on our island!"

Sunny jumped up and down and gave Bryn a hard embrace.

After catching her breath, Bryn continued: "How do we know it is not just some poor girls that has been sacrificed or slaughtered unable to defend themselves?"

Sunny shook her head: "I'll give you a few clues: All four are wearing chain mail or reinforced leather tunica's. They all have pointed steel helmets and they are all buried with an impressive assortment of weapons. As for not getting in their way, they all have strong tendon fastenings on their bones indicating a lot of muscle mass, and they all have old broken bones, cuts and damages that have healed long before they met their death. Need I go on?"

Bryn smiled. "Nope, Sherlock. Impressive! I believe you, and I am happy they do not get up from the death and demand food and drink. Hehe.."

"Well you should just be happy they don't invite you to 'bring a friend to work day'," Sunny laughed, and for a brief moment they pretended to slap each other.

The next week each and everything was recorded, lifted out of the grave, packed, and shipped for conservation and studies.

The open grave was left with the tent above, and as the things and bones came back each item was placed cautiously in its original spot.

It would take more than a year before they could close the grave once more and place the stone back in position.

Chapter Twenty-Four - 1349 - 1355 - Plague and Persecution

by o_girl © 2024

Once again there were people on the little island.

A ragged company had moved in on the South-West side.

There were 24 of them. Mostly family groups.

Marina lived in a wooden shack with her parents Petrus, Katarina, and Katarina's old mother. Known to all just as "Granny", she was skilled in the old ways of healing.

The rest of them lived in other wood shelters and tents under a large, old oak tree.

One that had first sprouted after the great fire when the barbarians ravaged the island.

Now it was very old, had grown to an impressive size and had many winding and crooked branches reaching out in a large circle.

It was a short walk to the stony coast on that side of the island and just out of sight from the village on the shore.

Times were bad. A strange plague ran across the mainland and people died with their bodies full of blisters oozing out a foul-smelling puss. They also died in great pain and it had been a while since proper burials had taken place. Villages and towns were de-populated and society seemed to have stopped functioning.

The religious went about singing hymns and carrying sacred objects, but little good did it do. People still died from the strange decease.

The group on the island had fled the plague and the persecution of the religious people.

The islanders were not Christians and had rejected the formalities of religion. Their number included two elderly women skilled in healing. Those had been in danger as the monks and priests wanted to have a monopoly on treating the ill and elderly.

It would only had been a short while before the witch hunters would have cast their ugly attention on those two women - and probably the rest of them.

They were also being increasingly pressed to have water poured on their heads and strange words read over them. Eventually they had gotten into their small boats and had made for the island in the hope to be left alone.

Now they lived by making frequent trips to the mainland village and trade at the market. They mainly brought the fish they caught to the market and exchanged that for goods, vegetables, and other food.

But life on the island also had a dark side.

Marina stood with most of the others at the large bonfire on the edge of the cliff.

The storm had been raging for days now and the grey day was turning into night.

Earlier their lookout had come running while shouting: "A sail, A sail!"

They had all gathered at the coast, and soon all could see the large ship fighting the wind and waves. They had lit the bonfire.

Now they waited as the crew of the ship obviously had seen the fire and was steering towards it and the sharp reefs on the coast.

Marina shivered. It was not the first time, she had witnessed how a ship had been lured onto the cliffs.

About an hour later the ship crashed on a reef a few hundred meters out from the coast. One could hear the doomed sailors screaming through the heavy winds.

Late into the night the ship gave some very loud noises as it slipped off the reef and disappeared in the depths.

A few sailors survived for a very short time and their scream faded as they drowned, one by one.

Only one survived, and crawled wet and beaten up on the sharp cliffs.

Marina watched as two of the villagers went down and hit him repeatedly with heavy clubs till he slid back into the water.

She turned and ran back to her hut. Only stopping once to throw up in the bushes beside the path.

She hated it, but it was necessary. Or so her parents: Petrus and Katarina told her. If goods drifted ashore and no one claimed it, it belonged to the finders.

So was the old law of the coast.

She crawled as far back on her straw bed as she could and covered herself with her blanket. Crying herself to sleep.

The next couple of days goods and driftwood from the ship drifted ashore and the storm slowly decreased its rage.

They piled everything up against the oak tree: Wood and metal pieces from the disintegrated ship, rope from the rigging, sailor's chests, and the cargo.

It was a rich loot and everyone - except Marina - seemed very happy about it.

Now they needed to sort and dry what could be used and on the next market day at the village, transport it over and trade and sell it.

They were not popular among the people of the mainland. Everyone had seen their bonfires and knew how and where the goods originated from.

However, the few survivors of the plague in the village and nearby farms still came and traded whatever they could use from the loot.

They might have a guilty conscience, but also appreciated the useful things they were offered.

One of the excuses they used to themselves was that almost all skilled workers had perished to the plague. Hardly anything could be repaired as well as it was almost impossible to have new utilities made.

Trading with the islanders was the only way to replace earthenware, spoons, working tools etc.

--

A week later they sailed their small crafts to the mainland for the market. Heavily loaded.

They set up their usual stall in the square by the water post, and soon had a lot of villagers and upland farmers crowding around their stalls.

Marina helped where she could. Her parents and their closest friends had a stall at the end of their row.

They took turns. As soon as they had made a sale or an exchange, someone was sent either to load the traded items into their boat or to go exchange it for something they needed. Mostly grain, preserves, cured meat or other necessary food items.