Burial containing decorated longsword found in Halmstad

Archaeologists have uncovered a medieval longsword during excavations in the Lilla Torg centre of Halmstad, Sweden.

The longsword was discovered in a burial containing the skeletal remains of a man at the former site of a medieval convent known as the Church of Sankta Anna.

The church and monastery was built between 1494 and 1503 with the support of Christina of Saxony, then Queen of Denmark.

Following its closure by the city magistrate in 1531, it was repurposed to be used as a hospital and then an armoury. The surviving buildings were destroyed in 1619 when a fire destroyed much of the…