Blå Jungfrun
Blå Jungfrun, which translates to Blue Maiden, is off the coast of Oskarshamn, Sweden. Today, it is an abandoned island. Blå Jungfrun primarily inhabited by all sorts of birds, including eagles and eider ducks. The island itself is thought to be around 570 million years old. It is spotted with giant burrows, smoothly rounded rocks, and herb-rich woodlands. There is even a labyrinth, known as the Trojeborg labyrinth, that no one knows who built it. Most interestingly, according to lore it was home to witches.
The island itself is a little more than a half mile long and is dome-shaped. In 1926 Blå Jungfrun was named a national park. Blå Jungfrun has been an ominous, small island for generations. In fact, many people avoid saying its full name which is Blåkulla. Sailors who were near it avoided saying it aloud or even writing it down as it was believed if it was uttered a storm would instantly fall upon the vessel. So, that is why it is now known largely as Blå Jungfrun.
According to 16th century Swedish ecclesiastic Olaus Magnus, Blå Jungfrun has been a home to witches, rituals, and magic for centuries. In 1555, he wrote that witches openly worshipped the devil every Maundy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter). In addition, the island is thought to be generally cursed and any who remove even a small pebble from the site are said to endure a lifetime of bad luck.
It was also a common practice to leave votive offerings on the shores of the island in hopes of avoiding its wrath or cruse. Many of these offerings were female clothing.
Although many people have feared the strange island before recently archaeological evidence brought to light compelling proof that rituals may really have once taken place on Blå Jungfrun.
The archaeological team from Kalmar County Museum and Linnaues University began their fieldwork in Spring 2014 and found “extensive human activities on the island in the Mesolithic Stone Age.” Which is quite interesting, especially since its believed to have always been largely uninhabited.
The most compelling sites were two caves. The first of the caves has a sizable hollow about 2 feet in diameter which was purposefully hammered into a wall. Underneath this hollow, there is a fireplace. The layout of the cave is also strange, "The entrance to the cave is very narrow, and you have to squeeze your way in. [However,] once you're inside, only half of the cave is covered and you can actually stand above the cave and look down into it, almost like a theater or a stage below," said Papmehl-Dufay.
The second cave provided equally interesting artifacts. The proof of human use of the space was found in the form of a hammerstone and an area that the archaeologists believe was dedicated to grinding up materials. It is believed that the room could have been used to give some sort of offering or serve as an altar-like structure.
In between these two strange caves the archaeological team also found a rock shelter that held stone tools and remains of seals. Radiocarbon believes that the seals were prepared and consumed by people about 9,000 years ago.
Papmehl-Dufay notes, “A few people could have been sitting or standing, perhaps just resting or spending the night during sporadic stays on the island...However, more-specific activities with ritual elements to [them] cannot be ruled out, such as feasting in connection to the rituals performed in the nearby caves." This is interesting because it seems to further promote the idea that the area was used primarily for some kind of ritual and not permanent human habitation.
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