Project Manager
Anna Nyqvist ThorssonProject manager
The West Swedish Archaeology AssociationAmount granted
222 867 SEKYear
2025
In the fall of 2023, a burial monument in front of the west tower at Husaby church on Kinnekulle was examined as part of an archaeological research project. Five people were buried under the monument, dated to the 11th, 12th, 13th and 16th centuries. DNA analysis of the remains is currently underway at Stockholm University to see if the individuals were related. To go one step further, a comparative DNA project is now being planned to investigate whether any of those buried in Husaby may have been related to the Swedish king Olof Skötkonung, who, according to tradition, donated Husaby to the church.
The focus is on the king's daughter Ingegerd, who in 1019 married the prince of Kyiv, Yaroslav I, and was buried in Sofia Cathedral. A female skeleton in her marble sarcophagus was previously analyzed, but DNA analysis failed. Together with Ukrainian scientists, it is now planned to open the sarcophagus and take new samples, both for DNA analysis and strontium isotope analysis, which can show where the individual grew up. In addition, a carbon 14 dating is being done to further establish that the remains are indeed Ingegerd's. The project is a unique interdisciplinary collaboration between Swedish and Ukrainian researchers, and has the potential to link Swedish and Eastern European history through modern science.