„One Year – One Island“ – week 17
Sometimes – just sometimes – I am really happy with a painting. That is the case this week. I can’t get enough of this old barn. I also think that I was able to keep the painting „open“ for a long time, which means that I didn’t work on the details too early and used larger brushes. Of course, the painting is rich in detail in the final version, that’s not what I mean. But I didn’t – for example – paint each individual board separately, I painted the facade as a form and then just put the structure on top. Yes, that might be a bit ”nerdy” for those of you who don’t paint yourself. But anyway, I am more than happy and a little proud of this particular watercolor painting. (I may say that, right? :)))
I had already seen the exit to Sandby the week before and was surprised that the place seemed to have two parts, namely the southern part (which I had previously thought was the actual place) and the northern part (which is not directly on the eastern mainroad). And because I’m a curious person and this project is also about discovering Öland, I went there this week.
The church seemed somehow attractively different to the many other church buildings on Öland, so I drove there first. On the right side of the village road I drove past an old barn, which I wanted to keep in mind in case the church didn’t work out. Somehow the church wasn’t that exciting after all. There are two rune stones in this cemetery, which is enclosed by a limestone wall. But I’ve already painted the Karlevi stone. So no more rune stones for me. So I drove back to the old barn. I parked the car next to the village road and went out into the courtyard, looking at this old building from all sides. And I was immediately hooked when I saw the back of the barn! I don’t know what it is, but I find old, dilapidated wooden buildings incredibly picturesque. You can see the history in every faded wooden board. Imagine how long ago this board was a tree and how old it was when it was cut down. I like old things with history and I also like going to flea markets and antique markets.
(from left to right: Norra Sandby church, the barn seen from the village road, below: it was even better on the backside, my painting spot)
Since I was clearly standing on private property, I didn’t want to spread out without asking permission. So I knocked on the beautiful white house next door. Nobody opened the door. I knocked on the building next door and the woman who opened told me to just go in and call out, there should be someone there. I know that’s what people usually do here in the country, but I don’t feel comfortable doing it. Nevertheless, I knocked again loudly and then opened the door (it wasn´t locked) and called out loudly „Hellooooo? Anyone home?“ The radio was on, the light was on, but there was no answer. But they couldn’t be far away, could they? I was undecided, but didn’t want to miss out on this fantastic motif. I waited. Then I decided to not loose time, so I had my lunch: a cheesebread and some tea. Then I knocked again. No, no answer. It was getting late to start… Finally I unpacked my chair and my painting bag and started sketching. Usually nobody has anything against me wanting to paint something. After about 15 minutes I heard a door slam and when I knocked again I was lucky. A young woman, Emma, opened the door for me and when she understood what I wanted she was really pleased and it was no problem at all. She also wanted to take a look at my sketch straight away, but there wasn’t much to see. The preliminary drawing for a building, especially one as winding as this barn, is much more complex than a landscape painting because the proportions and angles and perspectives have to be taken into account. And really: It took me about 1.5 hours to capture the barn on paper. By now I was completely frozen. The light started slowly fading because I had simply waited too long. I said goodbye to Emma and packed up. The same evening I finished the picture at home after taking a few photos.
So, and now I have promised the gruesome story of Sandby. All of you who live on Öland or in Kalmar know the story, of course. All of you archaeologists probably do too. But here it is:
A little south of Sandby, directly on the east coast of the island, there was a ringfort during the Iron Age – Sandbyborg. (In week 11 I painted one such ringfort, namely Eketorp.) Sandbyborg is one of at least 15 ringforts on Öland and only the overgrown ruins are still visible. The best way to see it is probably from a bird’s eye view.
(Sandbyborg from above – credit: fof.se, Sandbyborg & North and South Sandby on google maps, how the ringfort looked like – credit: popularhistoria.se, an antique clothespin – credit: chartes.hypotheses.org)
In 2010, work began on to examine this rampart, i.e. archaeologists opened up the grass over a few square meters for several years in a row and made a gruesome discovery: human skeletons were lying here – in the middle of the fort. It was immediately clear that this was a very unusual find, because normally the dead were buried outside the ringwall. Within a short time, almost 30 skeletons of all ages, from babies to the elderly, were found. So far, however, only a small part of the fort has been examined, so it is safe to assume that there are far more dead there.
For the archaeologists, the finds are a sensation, they are talking about the Nordic Pompeii, because on Sandbyborg, under the grass, you can see that around 1500 years ago a massacre took place: the bodies found so far all indicate a violent death, but without any signs of resistance. The people seem to have been slaughtered completely unprepared. It was probably not a pure raid, because during the excavations, gold clothing clasps were found in the usually secret hiding places for example under the doorstep. Those treasures would no longer be there if the attackers had been after these things at the time. There are indications that a big celebration was either being prepared or was already underway. What seems to be puzzling researchers, however, is the fact that no one buried the bodies. All of them lie as they fell over in death. If someone had come back after escaping, they would probably have buried them all. But the bodies were never moved. And: so far, no adult female skeleton has been found, but the discovery of an infant is considered proof that there must have been women there. Were they stolen by the attackers? It seems that every discovery in Sandbyborg raises more questions than it answers.
I have heard from locals in this area that the elderly have „always“ said that the place is cursed. Children were not allowed to go there and should stay away. At the same time, however, it is known that many of the stones from the protective wall were taken for other construction projects in the nearby area. Did the people who took those building material see the dead? When were these stones stolen? Before the grass had grown over the bodies? And can such a warning – that the place is cursed – last for over 1500 years, passed down from generation to generation?
There are now several films and articles (even National Geography had it as the cover story) about this early massacre on Sandbyborg. There are both short animated clips on YouTube and several documentaries (also in English or German), entries in Wikipedia and the excavation site has its own homepage (here is the link to the English version: https://www.sandbyborg.se/en/home/ ).
So, now I’m going to take a look at the map and plan my trip to southern Öland for tomorrow. Since I was in Lenstad last week (report to follow next week), I’ll be somewhere between Gårdby and Norra Möckleby. Unfortunately, the sun has disappeared from the weather forecast again. But it’s not that cold anymore, at least. I am looking forward to what I will find on my excursion tomorrow.
