Väldigt intressant! Hoppas verkligen ni får funds till att fortsätta.. Har sett att kungen och drottningen följer detta väldigt nära också, man tycker ju att dom borde peta in några riksdaler i detta..
I understand a possible motive now, that will explain some of the odd facts. We know Øland had a long tradition to send their sons to work for the western roman empire. The massacre took place same time as the plague was killing off half of humanity. Sandby Borg was the lastest and youngest settlement constructed on the island. With very little farmland. The population on Øland had a strong hierarchical mindset, with old families that had ownership of the land through generations. Scientists have found the bacteria diphtheria in the settlement. My theory: The construction of the settlement was not fully cleared with the rest of the island. They had wealth and maybe the strength, to simply just build it. Maybe it was a large group of veteran warriors that have returned. They wanted their own place with their wife's. That also explains the location, so close to the sea. Another cause for conflict with neighbors could be the lack of farmland connected to Sandby. Maybe the actually forced them to sell land to them? During the fall of the western Roman empire, partly because of the plague, all sons and warriors of Øland returned home. The Island experienced a large influx of wealthy veteran warriors, that have seen the devastation and consequence of the pandemic while traveling through Europa. On returning home they discover the conflict on the island. Sandby borg is an illegal build settlement. With a possible outbreak of the plague also. The rest of the island agrees on creating a small band of veterans, and wait for the right time to attack. Maybe while most of the fighting men are away. They attack, kill all living no mercy, burns it down and marks the place as off limits, because of the risk of getting infected with the plague. So no one would ever dare sneak into the ruin, if they would bring the infection home, their own settlement would suffer the same fate. And local inhabitants of Øland could tell the archeologists, that they always knew that place was off limits, the reason behind it was lost through 1500 years though.
Sandby borg is being called the pirate castle "Piratborgen" locally. The pirates at Sandby have probably plundered merchantships, and destroyed the trade for the mighty men at the reminder of the island... This is Casus belli...
