On assignment from the Directorate for Cultural Heritage, NIKU was tasked in 2016 with excavating and retrieving a skeleton from the well at Sverresborg in Trondheim.

The skeleton is believed to be of a man who was thrown into the well by the Baglers in 1197. The event is described as follows in Sverre’s Saga:

“The Baglers took all the goods that were in the fortress, and then they burned all the houses that were there. They took a dead man and threw him headfirst into the well, carried stones there, and laid them over until it was full.”

Architect Gerhard Fischer identified the skeleton during restoration work in 1938, but the war halted the excavation, and the skeleton remained in the well for another 80 years.

In 2014, NIKU, under the leadership of Anna Petersén, conducted the first investigation, during which parts of the skeleton were retrieved. In June 2016, the rest of the skeleton was brought up.

In addition to using archaeological and osteoarchaeological methods, a forensic expert from the Trondheim police district assisted in the work to retrieve the rest of the skeleton and secure information about the circumstances surrounding the find.

The well is near 7 meters deep. Water pumps made it possible to access, but to descend safely, the NIKU team had to use helmets and climbing harnesses.

The entire discovery in on exhibit at the NTNU University Museum in 2022 – 2025.

The reports from the investigation can be read here (Norwegian):

• NIKU rapport: Brage: Påvisningsundersøkelse av menneskelige levninger i brønn på det middelalderske borganlegget Sverresborg i Trondheim TA 2014/21. Sverresborg borgruin, Trondheim kommune, Trøndelag (unit.no)
• NIKU rapport: Brage: Arkeologisk undersøkelse av brønnen på Sverresborg borgruin og opptak av skjelett. TA 2016/14. Sverresborg borgruin, Sverresborg museum, Trondheim (unit.no)