About 4,900 years ago, a Neolithic people on the Danish island Bornholm sacrificed hundreds of stones engraved with sun and field motifs. Archaeologists and climate scientists from the University of Copenhagen can now show that these ritual sacrifices coincided with a large volcanic eruption that made the sun disappear throughout Northern Europe.

According to the team, there is a high chance that a connection exists between the volcanic eruption, the subsequent changes in climate, and the ritual sun stone sacrifices. In addition to a deteriorating climate, Northern European Neolithic cultures were also affected by the plague and a major shift in cultural traditions.

Hundreds of stone artifacts discovered on a Danish island may have been offered to the gods to ward off a climate crisis.

Neolithic people buried hundreds of stones carved with images of the sun about 4900 years ago and they may have done it because a volcanic eruption covered the sky