It would appear that the men were captured in battle, stripped, then beheaded in a mass execution. Given that the site is of important Hardyan relevance*, and on a Ridgeway with known Beaker associations - there's a possibility that the people who carried out this act of vengeance may have been, not Anglo-Saxon, but a hillside enclave of the Beaker People.
Obviously, we can't be sure. But to be on the safe side, and to get in before Gordon Brown, I would like to apologise to any living descendants of these no-doubt innocent Scandinavian tourists, and also to the whole Swedish people. I will happily sign any on-line petition that the Vikings' remains be repatriated to Uppsala or Malmo, although I hasten to add we won't be offering any reparations.
* Being not far from where Dick Dewey became engaged to Fancy Day in Upwey, and indeed not far from the settings of The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion, and with relevance to The Trumpet Major as well. This is deep Hardy country. If only he'd known about this.
** Image © Copyright Nigel Mykura and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence at http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1085853
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