Sweden cave yields likely 9,000-year-old pregnant remains

The remains of a pregnant Stone Age woman and her fetus have been found in a cave on a small island off Gotland in Sweden, an archaeologist said Monday.

Alexander Roesen Sjostrand, an independent researcher connected to Uppsala University, said the find was made in a cave he had been excavating since 2023. He described it as “very unusual” and said the remains were found in the deepest Stone Age layer of the cave.

Sjostrand estimated the remains were between 7,000 and 10,000 years old, most likely about 9,000 years old because of where they were found. He said carbon dating would be carried out to determine their age.

He said the discovery indicated people were living on the island soon after it emerged in the Baltic Sea after the last ice age, rather than only visiting as an exploration party.