A Buddha statue in bronze made in the 500th century in what is today eastern Pakistan was found in 1956 by archaeologists at Swedish Helgö. It is now part of the British Museum's new exhibition "Silk roads" in London. The so-called Helgö Buddha is believed to have come to Sweden sometime during the Vendel or Viking Age and is usually part of the exhibition "The Viking Age" at the Museum of History in Stockholm.
It may have come to Scandinavia via the Silk Road itself – the trade route between China and Europe.
"It is a central exhibition object even with us and a very appreciated item among our visitors", says Sven Kalmring, antiquarian responsible for the younger Iron Age at the Museum of History in a press release.
