Nestled beneath a stretch of earth in a quiet Swedish village, archaeologists have uncovered a treasure trove of hand-carved figurines.

No less than 29 of these so-called guldgubbars, which means 'Gold Old Men', were unearthed in the southern region of Blekinge and each are thought to have been made using 6th Century Roman coins.

The figurines are most commonly found at sites of ritual and worship as devotions to the gods, and because they were discovered alongside the ruins of houses and a forge, archaeologists now believe the area may have been home to an Iron Age cult.

The hoard of gold, said to be one of the largest discoveries of guldgubbar in the whole of Sweden, was found during excavations of the site being carried out by the Blekinge Museum.

Each of the figurines is thought to date back to the 6th century AD and each measure two centimetres tall.

'The discovery of gold from this period shows that people in the area served as soldiers in the Roman Army,' said Bjoern Nilsson, of Soedertoern University College.

'Up here in the Nordic countries the gold coins that had been paid to the soldiers were melted down and formed into guldgubbar and guldkoner.'

To read the complete article, see:Could these 1,400-year-old figurines be evidence of an Iron Age cult? Hoard of 30 models hints that Swedish town was once a religious centre(www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2515008/Could-1-400-year-old-figurines-evidence-Iron-Age-cult-Hoard-30-models-hints-Swedish-town-religious-centre.html)