3,000-year-old graves found in Norway

Oslo, Oct 23 (IANS) Archaeologists have found 3,000-year-old graves in central Norway, media reports said on Monday.

The archaeologists, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology Museum, found the graves under two meters of slide deposits in Sandbrauta in South Trondelag, where a new section of the European route E6 is to be built, Xinhua news agency reported.

"There is a trace of a clay landslide that happened in the area probably already in prehistoric times. The clay has landed as a lid over the tombs," project manager Merete Moe Henriksen said.

According to state-owned company New Roads, the excavation will have no consequences for the development of the road, public broadcaster NRK reported.

The archaeologists have found well preserved cairn graves under the clay which are nine meters in diameter, as well as several smaller stone-built chambers.

Several figures have been found close to the cairns as well. The scientists have also found a casting mold that had been used to cast bronze axes.

The graves are in good shape and therefore constitute an important source of knowledge of the burial customs of the Bronze Age in central Norway, the archaeologists said.

The excavations will continue in the area during autumn and next year.

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