Norwegian archaeologists say they have for a second time found the remains of what could be a Viking ship by using geo-radar techniques, adding it is likely more than 1,000 years old.
Overview of the area at Edøy [Credit: Manuel Gabler, NIKU]
Knut Paasche, an archaeologist with Norway’s Institute for Cultural Heritage Research, says a 13-meter (43-foot) long keel was spotted in September in a field that used to be a burial mound on the island of Edoeya about 110 kilometers (70 miles) west of Trondheim.
Geo-radar image of the Edo ship [Credit: Manuel Gabler, NIKU]
Paasche said Friday that the ship could be up to 17 meters (56 feet) long. There are no immediate plans to unearth it.
The Viking era was approximately 793-1066.
In March, a ship was found buried west of Oslo using geo-radar — a geophysical method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface.
In the second half of the 9th century, an important woman dies at the farm now known as Skeiet at Vinjeora, in central Norway. Her dress is fastened at the front with two large shell-shaped brooches of gilded bronze along with a crucifix-shaped brooch, made from an Irish harness fitting. She is then placed in a boat, about seven or eight metres long. Grave goods are also buried along with body, including a pearl necklace, two scissors, a spindle whorl– and a cow head.
The oldest grave is from the 8th century. But why were they buried together? [Credit: Arkikon]
So far, there is nothing extraordinary about this burial ritual. It is only when the boat is buried that the Vinjeora Vikings do something that will intrigue archaeologists more than 1000 years into the future.
Instead of digging a new grave for the woman, a boat grave from the 8th century is carefully excavated. This is a larger boat, probably between nine and ten metres long. It contains the body of a man buried with weapons. The boat with the woman is gently placed inside the man’s boat, and then they are both buried. Who were the two and why were they buried together, even though they died 100 years apart?
Archaeologists at the NTNU University Museum have been puzzling over this exact question ever since they unearthed the graves in October. The unusual find was discovered during the excavation of a burial ground of one of the Viking Age farms in this area. The excavations are being undertaken in connection with improvements to the E39 highway.
Hoping for DNA analysis
Nearly all the wood in the boats had rotted away, there was only a little left in the keel of the smallest boat. Still, the boat rivets were still in their original positions, so that by looking at the them, the archaeologists were able to determine that they had found two boats in one.
The soil in the area that was excavated was not good for preserving human remains. Archaeologists were consequently overjoyed when they found parts of the skull of the woman in the upper boat tomb [Credit: Astrid Lorentzen, NTNU University Museum]
“I had heard about several boat graves being buried in one burial mound, but never about a boat that had been buried in another boat,” said Raymond Sauvage, an archaeologist at the NTNU University Museum and project manager for the excavation.
“I have since learned that a few double boat graves were found in the 1950s, at Tjolling, in the south of the Norwegian county of Vestfold. Still, this is essentially an unknown phenomenon,” he said
The soil properties at the dig site aren’t good for preserving bones. Archaeologists were consequently extremely happy when they found parts of the skull of the woman in the upper boat grave.
“Hopefully, we we will be able to get some DNA from the skull to provides us with more information, such as what she looked like,” says Raymond Sauvage.
Isotope analysis can be another source of knowledge about the woman. Isotopes are variants of a particular chemical element that vary between different food sources and geographical locations. Isotope analyses from teeth and skeletons can therefore give us information about where a person was born and lived during their life, and about what he or she ate.
Irish harness fitting a sign of status
The crucifix-shaped brooch in the woman’s grave says a lot about both her and the community she was part of.
This crucifix-shaped brooch was found in the woman’s grave [Credit: Raymond Sauvage, NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet]
“The decoration and the design itself tell us that it came from Ireland, and that it was once part of a harness fitting,” says researcher Aina Heen Pettersen at NTNU’s Department of Historical Studies.
Pettersen is writing a PhD about the significance and use of Irish and British artefacts that were brought to Norway during the Viking Age.
“It was common among the Vikings to split up decorative harness fittings and reuse them as jewellery. Several fastenings on the back of this brooch were preserved, and were used to attach leather straps to the harness. The new Norse owners attached a pin to one of the fastenings so it could be used as a brooch.”
Pettersen explains that brooches like these probably were quite exclusive, and that they are often found in well-equipped – though not particularly rich – graves.
This suggests that the harness fittings were distributed among people who took part in the Viking voyages or helped organize them.
“The Viking voyages – whether for raids, trading or other expeditions – were central in Norse society. That meant it was important to participate in this activity, not only for the material goods, but also to raise both your own and your family’s status,” Pettersen said.
“Using artefacts from Viking raids as jewellery signalled a clear difference between you and the rest of the community, because you were part of the group that took part in the voyages.”
Viking hipster?
The man in the larger boat grave was buried with a spear, a shield and a single-edged sword. These weapons enabled archaeologists to confidently date the grave to the 8th century.
The cruciform brooch was found in the woman’s grave [Credit: Raymond Sauvage, NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet]
“Sword styles change through the centuries, which means we can unambiguously date this grave to the 8th century, the period that is known as the Merovingian era in Northern Europe. That’s assuming that we are not dealing with a Viking hipster,” Sauvage said with a smile.
But what was the connection between the man and the woman? Sauvage says it’s reasonable to assume that the two were related. The Vikings on Vinjeora probably had a clear idea about who was in each burial mound, since this information most likely was passed down for many generations.
“Family was very important in Viking Age society, both to mark status and power and to consolidate property rights. The first legislation on allodial rights in the Middle Ages said you had to prove that your family had owned the land for five generations. If there was any doubt about the property right, you had to be able to trace your genus to haug og hedni – i.e. to burial mounds and paganism,” says Sauvage.
“Against this backdrop, it’s reasonable to think that the two were buried together to mark the family’s ownership to the farm, in a society that for the most part didn’t write things down,” Sauvage said.
A monument in the landscape
Two-boats-in-one and interesting grave goods are not the only thing that makes the archaeologist enthusiastic about this find. The placement of the two boat graves – at the edge of the largest mound on the burial ground – also tells a story.
“The connection between the boat graves and between the boat graves and the mound is very exciting. The two boat graves are also located right at the edge of a cliff, overlooking the fjord. This must have been a monument in the landscape,” Sauvage says.
The age of the large burial mound also makes Raymond Sauvage’s archaeologist heart skip a beat.
“The burial mound must naturally be older than the oldest boat grave, meaning early Merovingian age. This is a fascinating era in Scandinavian history, from which there are few archaeological finds.”
Unfortunately, hundreds of years of farming on the site means the large burial mound has been completely ploughed away. However, the archaeologists still hope they might find artefacts when this area is further excavated next summer.
“So far, we’ve found part of a brooch from the Merovingian era, indicating that the large burial mound once held a richly appointed woman’s grave,” Sauvage said.
A new genetic study carried out at the University of Helsinki and the University of Turku demonstrates that, at the end of the Iron Age, Finland was inhabited by separate and differing populations, all of them influencing the gene pool of modern Finns. The study is so far the most extensive investigation of the ancient DNA of people inhabiting the region of Finland.
Medieval burial site of Kalmistomaki in Kylalahti, Hiitola in Russia [Credit: Stanislav Belskiy]
In the study, published in Scientific Reports, genes were investigated from archaeological bone samples of more than one hundred individuals who lived between the 4th and 19th centuries AD. Most of the samples originated in the Iron Age and the Middle Ages. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is passed down by mothers to all of their offspring, was extracted from the individuals, thus uncovering the population history of women.
Based on the findings, the people who inhabited Finland in the Iron Age (approximately 300-1300 AD) and the Middle Ages (approximately 1200-1500 AD) shared mitochondrial lineages with today's Finns. However, significant differences were seen in the genome of individuals buried in different burial sites in the Iron Age in particular. mtDNA lineages typical of Stone Age hunter-gatherers were common among those buried in Luistari, Eura (southwest Finland), and Kirkkailanmaki, Hollola (southern Finland).
The Iron Age and the medieval burial sites investigated in the study include Levanluhta in Isokyro, Luistari in Eura, Kirkkailanmaki in Hollola, Kalmistomaki in Kylalahti, Hiitola, and Tuukkala in Mikkeli (marked in the map with dark grey colouring) [Credit: SUGRIGE-HANKE]
In Kylalahti, Hiitola (Republic of Karelia, Russia) and Tuukkala, Mikkeli (eastern Finland), the most common findings were lineages characteristic of ancient European farmer populations. The fifth Iron Age burial site included in the study is located in Levanluhta, western Finland. Many of the individuals buried there represented mtDNA lineages associated with the modern Sami.
"All of the above originally independent lineages remain common in Finland to this day. This indicates that the studied Iron Age populations have had an impact on the gene pool of contemporary Finns," says doctoral student Sanni Oversti from the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland.
The researchers posit that the differences found in the Iron Age populations of western and eastern Finland are opposite to those found in today's Finns: the lineages associated with ancient farmers were more common in the east, while the lineages inherited from hunter-gatherers were more prevalent in the west. Farmer populations arriving in Finland not only from the west and south but also from the east provides a potential explanation for this.
Two large warships from the 17th century have been found by divers outside Vaxholm, an island near Stockholm. Archaeologist divers from the new museum Vrak – Museum of Wrecks are hoping to have found the Vasa’s sister ships.
Credit: Jim Hansson, SMTM
This week, maritime archaeologists at Vrak – Museum of Wrecks, the new museum that is part of Sweden’s National Maritime and Transport Museums, have investigated historical remains in a depression in the sea bottom, outside of Vaxholm.
The discovery was astonishing – the maritime archaeologists first discovered a shipwreck as big as the Vasa ship. It was a 17th-century warship that was most likely purpose-sunk to make it harder for intruders to take the sea route to Stockholm. The stern is broken, but the bow is better preserved and sticks up roughly 5 metres from the bottom of the sea. The measurements taken and the design details recorded both tally well with the Vasa’s.
“It was like swimming around the Vasa ship,” says maritime archaeologist Jim Hansson enthusiastically.
The next day, the team found another shipwreck – probably larger than the first – in the lengthened section of the first wreck they had found.
Credit: Jim Hansson, SMTM
The maritime archaeologists hope they may have discovered the Vasa’s sister ship, the Apple, one of several large warships that, according to historical sources, were sunk outside Vaxholm during the second half of the 17th century. Among them are likely the Crown and the Sceptre, two ships built in a series together with the Vasa during King Gustav Adolf’s equipping of the Swedish naval fleet.
During the dives, the archaeologists took several samples of the wood in the wrecks. These samples will now be analysed in order to date and hopefully identify the wrecks.
“The detective work has only just begun,” Hansson says.
The dives were carried out by the National Maritime and Transport Museums in cooperation with the Swedish Navy.
About Vrak – Museum of Wrecks
Vrak – Museum of Wrecks is a museum that aims to spread knowledge about the maritime heritage of the Baltic Sea. With the help of digital technology, the museum will bring the stories to the surface while allowing the wrecks to remain at the bottom where they are best preserved.
Credit: Jim Hansson, SMTM
The museum is set to open at the end of 2020 on the island of Djurgarden in Stockholm. The new maritime archaeology museum will bring together the knowledge and collections from the Maritime Museum, the Vasa Museum the Naval Museum and other sources. The museum is part of the National Maritime and Transport Museums.
The museum’s maritime archaeologists are already doing dives, research projects, archival studies and networking around the Baltic Sea. This work is bringing in a steady stream of knowledge and environmental observations that can be shared at the museum.
About the warships
King Gustav II Adolf equipped his naval fleet during the 17th century. He was a proponent of large, mighty ships with plenty of artillery. The large ships that were completed after the Vasa (1628) on Skeppsholmen (now Blasieholmen) included the Apple (launched in 1629), the Crown (1632) and the Sceptre (1634).
Credit: Anneli Karlsson/SMTM
The Apple took part in the invasion of Germany in 1630, but appears to have been used sporadically thereafter. It was most likely a problematic ship, and was sunk in a strait near Vaxholm in 1659.
The Crown engaged in battle at Kolberger Heide in 1644 and Oresund in 1658. The Sceptre became the best sailing ship of the big ships, and was used in the Kolberger Heide battle in 1644.
Both ships were probably sunk in a strait near Vaxholm in the 1670s.
South-west Sweden's best preserved rock painting has now been dated—it is from the late Stone Age. With the aid of new technologies, researchers at the University of Gothenburg have been able to reveal a number of previously unknown motifs that are no longer visible to the naked eye. The most important of these newly discovered motifs are boats with elk-head stems. This is the first time that these kinds of boats have been documented in southern or western Scandinavia and these motifs provide further evidence of the long-distance sea voyages undertaken by Stone Age maritime hunters.
Credit: University of Gothenburg
Archaeology students from the University of Gothenburg have been visiting Tumlehed on excursions for many years. There—in the Gothenburg suburb of Torslanda, on the island of Hisingen and barely 15 kms from the center of the city—lies the best-preserved and most complex prehistoric rock painting in south-west Sweden.
Archaeologist Bettina Schulz Paulsson was inspired to test the methods she wanted to use for a project on megalithic art in Europe (in a previous project she charted the origins of megalith graves and how they spread across Europe—a discovery that earlier this year was published in the high-ranking journal PNAS) on the rock painting in Tumlehed.
"I wanted to test the method I used for my last project at a site in my local area and it ended up generating spectacular results!" says Bettina Schulz Paulsson.
In recent years, what we know about prehistory has undergone quite a change thanks to ever-advancing technological development. Today, there are new technologies for documenting and analysing rock paintings that are many thousands of years old.
This technology has made it possible for the first time to date the rock painting in Tumlehed. It is from the late Stone Age and was painted some time between 4200-2500 years BCE by mobile hunters who had come by boat to the west coast of Sweden to hunt seal and whales.
Many motifs previously unknown in the area were discovered, the most important of these being pictographs of boats with elk-head stems—motifs that have only been found before in Finland, Russia, the north-east of Norway and northern Sweden.
"These findings confirmed my theories of seafaring in the Stone Age," says Bettina Schulz Paulsson.
Credit: University of Gothenburg
The new technologies used on the Tumlehed rock painting included the digital image enhancing program Dstretch, which was originally developed by NASA and is being increasingly used in rock art research. It was used to digitally enhance symbols that are no longer visible to the naked eye.
Using portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) spectroscopy, the basic chemical composition of the pigment used in the motifs was also determined, and this gave the researchers data which revealed that different batches of paint had been used for some of the motifs. This suggests at least two separate episodes of producing the rock painting.
A student, Fredrik Frykman Markurth, was also part of the project and completed the initial PXRF measurements.
"This study is a collaboration between well-established researchers and a student, and is a very good example of research-driven teaching," says Christian Isendahl, senior lecturer in archaeology.
The most important findings from the study were the new motifs that emerged showing boats with elk-head stems.
"Elk-head boats are often associated with hunting and fishing scenes, and we have interpreted the motifs in Tumlehed as three elk-head boats related to a small whale, a seal and four fish," says Bettina Schulz Paulsson.
The Tumlehed rock painting indicates similar maritime voyages during the Stone Age that are culturally connected to the peoples of eastern and northern Fennoscandia, an area that covers Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Kola Peninsula and Russian Karelia.
"Deer, reindeer and elk are frequent depicted motifs in Fennoscandian rock art. These species were important game for hunting but may also have had important symbolic and spiritual roles for these societies," says Bettina Schulz Paulsson.
What's the real age of Norwegian stave churches? The usual method for dating wood is to measure the variation in the width of the tree rings and compare them to already dated samples.
Hopperstad Stave Church in Sogn og Fjordane county is dendro-dated to 1131-1132. Previously, the date was estimated at 1125-1250 [Credit: Jan Michael Stornes]
Recently, researchers have used a different measurement method called photodendrometry. With this technique, the material can be photographed in place. The method has the advantage of not needing to take core samples, and scientists can photograph large amounts of material in a protected building and procure larger amounts of data. This provides more precise knowledge of the estimated construction date, because it allows wood that cannot be core sampled to also be dated.
Through the Stave Church Preservation program headed by the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage, dendrochronologists at NTNU received money to study the country's stave churches more closely. The program has yielded results.
"We now know the age of some stave churches almost to the year," says Terje Thun. He is an associate professor at the NTNU University Museum in Trondheim. Thun is one of the country's foremost experts in dendrochronology, or tree ring dating.
Photodendrometry less invasive
Thun explains that the original dating method of measuring tree rings with a magnifying glass has some limitations. If tree rings cannot be measured on the surface or end of a plank or log, then researchers need core samples. This is not always possible—or desirable.
During the stave church program, photodendrometry was tested as a non-destructive method. The researchers photographed the wall boards in various churches, and did the actual measuring of the tree rings in the laboratory with the photos.
"In this way, researchers were able to examine all parts of the stave churches without any invasive techniques," Thun said.
Urnes Stave Church older than assumed
Over a long research career, Thun has studied wood samples from stave churches in order to more accurately pinpoint Norway's most important contribution to world architecture.
Photo from Urnes Stave Church, taken while photographing tree rings in the church choir [Credit: Jan Michael Stornes]
The stave church preservation program, which lasted until 2016, accelerated that research. Thun and his staff were able to conduct more systematic analyses of various building sections in several of the churches.
"Urnes Stave Church was especially thoroughly studied, since it's considered to be the oldest stave church in Norway," says Thun.
He and several of his colleagues and researchers in Norway and Denmark can now confirm that several of the churches are older than many historians previously believed.
Dendrodating indicates that part of Urnes Stave Church, which was estimated built before 1100, was constructed using timber from 1069 and 1070. The slightly younger part of Urnes is dated to 1129-1130.
For the sake of clarity: dendrochronology can date the year a tree was felled for the stave churches. The likelihood is that the felling year was also when the construction began.
Several stave churches older than presumed
According to Thun, Urnes Stave Church is interesting in several ways.
Already in the 1950s, archaeological excavations were being carried out to learn more about this special church at the head of the Sognefjord. Norway's oldest stave church is also on the UNESCO World Heritage list, and many books have been written about the unique church building.
"Research has been done on the stave churches in the past, too, but not as systematically as under the stave church program. Over the years, dating estimates were based on construction technique and style and spanned almost a hundred years.
"Now we're sure of the age, and several of our stave churches are older than first thought," Thun says.
Using a method called photodendrometry, researchers can reduce the number of core samples they need to take for dating wooden buildings. They can now get enough information from photographs, which yields more data and more precise information. Pictured: Thomas Bartholin (at left) and Jan Michael Stornes [Credit: Leif Anker]
Researchers thoroughly examined the stave churches in Kaupanger, Hoppestad and Urnes using photodendrometry. Some parts of the Gol and Borgund stave churches were also documented using the same method.
The work of dating the stave churches has also given the researchers knowledge of building practices and material choices.
"Among other things, we can now study what kinds of forests were available at different periods," Thun says.
The preparatory work of the stave church program showed that many of the churches had serious construction problems and required a great deal of maintenance. So building historians, art historians, conservators, archaeologists, craftsmen and other professional groups were all involved in the project.
Dendrochronology method can tell us about climate
Thun's colleague, researcher Helene Lovstrand Svarva, also participated in the stave church program.
They both work at The National Laboratory for Age Determination that is part of the NTNU University Museum in Trondheim.
Svarva is particularly concerned with how climate can be studied using dendrochronology.
"Dendroclimatology is a major field of study, and here in Northern Europe we can use the trees' response to summer temperatures to find out more about climate variations over time," she says.
According to the researcher, the tree-ring chronology of the stave churches covers a climatically interesting period, which is often called the Medieval Climate Anomaly. This was a period that was assumed to be warmer than the periods before and after.
By comparing summer temperatures over time, Svarva can find out how the climate has changed throughout history.
"Long chronologies allow us to see variations over time that can give us a picture of how temperatures have changed. It's especially interesting to find out how today's climate can be seen in light of the climate almost a thousand years ago," she says.
But, Svarva points out, "trees are also affected by forces other than temperature, so we need a lot of trees as a source. We also need chronologies from many parts of the world to create a picture of how temperature has changed in time and space."
October 16, 2019 marks 360 years since the Dutch merchant ship Melckmeyt (Milkmaid) was wrecked off a remote Icelandic island during a clandestine trading mission.
A scene from the virtual dive, showing the virtual diver and their dive buddy swimming over the wreck as it appears today, with areas of the wreck labelled in yellow [Credit: Flinders University]
Since its discovery in 1992 it has remained the oldest identified shipwreck in Iceland, and its lower hull has remained unusually well-preserved in Iceland's icy waters.
To mark this anniversary, digital archaeology specialists at Flinders University have collaborated with maritime archaeologists at the University of Iceland to release a 360 degree virtual dive on the wreck.
This is a highly realistic virtual experience of the wreck and includes a digital reconstruction of how the ship might have appeared on the seabed moments after it sank.
The three minute virtual dive was created for an exhibition at the Reykjavik Maritime Museum, but has now been published through YouTube and is available to anyone with a VR headset—it can also be viewed with a smartphone or tablet just by turning it around to view the scene.
A 3D scan of the shipwreck, created during 2016 and 2018 fieldwork, showing the depth of the archaeological remains [Credit: Flinders University]
The wreck at the centre of the experience is a merchant ship around 33 metres long named Melckmeyt (Milkmaid), thought to be a type of Dutch ship known as a flute.
Flutes were one of the most widely used ship types in the 17th century, a period when the Dutch ruled the seas and piracy and sea battles were a frequent occurrence. The kingdom of Denmark ruled Iceland and forbade other European nations from trading with the island.
However, in 1659 a surprise attack by the Swedish king on the Danish capital prevented any Danish supply ships from travelling to Iceland.
Sensing an opportunity, enterprising merchants in the Netherlands sent a small fleet of unlicensed ships flying under a false Danish flag to trade illegally with the Icelandic population for fish and other goods. If discovered their ships were at risk of confiscation or attack by Danish authorities.
On October 16th, the ship Melckmeyt paid the ultimate price, wrecking in a remote harbour during a sudden storm, with the death of one crew member.
The survivors took shelter above water in the highest point of wreck for the next two days. Although recorded in the Icelandic annals, this event was largely forgotten until its rediscovery in 1992 by local divers Erlendur Guðmundsson and Sævar Arnason. In 2016 PHD candidate Kevin Martin from the University of Iceland returned to the wreck site to carry out a detailed high-resolution 3-D survey with his team, including archaeologists from the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands.
"The significance of this wreck is enormous for Iceland. As it is one of the oldest known historic wrecks in this part of the world, it shines a light on a fascinating period of Icelandic history, when Denmark ruled the island and had a monopoly over trade here for a period of 200 years."
"We have also been able to directly embed a 3-D survey of the seabed with full photographic texture. In theory, a member of the public viewing this might even spot something on the wreck that we have missed during our dives on it!"
A digital reconstruction of the flute ship Melckmeyt [Credit: Flinders University]
PHD candidate in Maritime Archaeology at Flinders University, John McCarthy created the virtual dive.
"Funding from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Canberra allowed me to travel from Australia to the Netherlands to make a 3-D scan of a rare ship model from the 17th century, supporting the most authentic reconstruction of the ship possible."
"We have even based the stern painting on a real contemporary Dutch painting, Vermeer's' famous 'Milkmaid', painted just one year before the ship was wrecked."
A treasure of 1,000 silver coins from the Middle Ages has been found in Vejle close to a forest. The coins, which are made of 80 percent silver and 20 percent copper, weigh approximately one gram apiece.
Some of the coins from hoard [Credit: VejleMuseerne]
Some 803 of them are loose, while the rest, up to 1,000, are attached to the remains of the pot in which they were buried.
The story behind the find is more or less a treasure hunt in itself! It all started back in March 2017 when an elderly couple walking in the woods by Uhrhøj found four coins lying on the path between some twigs and leaves. The couple later handed in the coins to VejleMuseerne.
In August 2018, another coin found in the same area was handed in to the museum, and then another one last month.
This prompted Kasper Terp Høgsberg, an archaeologist at VejleMuseerne, to visit the area with a metal detector on September 30, and it did not take him long to find the whole treasure.
Excavation of the coin hoard en bloc [Credit: VejleMuseerne]
The treasure is the first of its kind from the period found in the area, and the museum believes it might bring more nuance to the local history.
“It felt completely unreal. It is a once-in-a-lifetime thing to find such a treasure. It will never happen again in my career as an archaeologist!” said Høgsberg.
“I thought I was going to find a lost purse with 20 coins along a road, but it just kept going until I eventually had hundreds of coins.”
The coins are a mix between Danish coins and coins minted in German Hanseatic cities in the early 1400s. One of the Danish coins was minted in 1424, and experts believe the treasure was buried within the following two to three decades.
Coins attached to textile fragment [Credit: VejleMuseerne]
During those years, there were many conflicts between Denmark and the northern German Hanseatic cities. However, the Hanseatic League, despite the conflict, was Denmark’s main trading partner, which explains the mix of coins.
Archaeologists estimate that the value of the coins at the time would be the equivalent of buying 10 cows – or enough to feed a farmer’s family for more than a year.
The museum believes in the possibility there are more coins out there, and it has launched a call for people to hand over any coins found in the area to the museum.
This 12cm-long iron arrowhead was found high up in the mountains near Eidfjord, at the end of the Hardangerfjord.
The arrowhead is about 12cm long [Credit: Hordaland fylkeskommune]
As glaciers melt and the ground changes, historical artefacts are turning up more frequently. The latest find in the mountains of Hardanger paints an interesting picture.
Around one thousand years ago, a reindeer hunter was out hunting 1,400 metres above sea level at Store Ishaug in Eidfjord, just north of what is now Hardangervidda National Park. He had with him a bow and arrow on his hunt for reindeer. But his aim was poor, and he lost an arrow into the snow.
In September 2019, a local out for a walk near his mountain cabin stumbled across the arrowhead, laying on the floor next to a snowflake. “I immediately realized that it was something special, something from before they used rifles,” said Ernst Hagen.
Hagen took the arrowhead to the archaeologists at Hordaland county council. Archaeologist Tore Slinning sais that no similar findings have been made in Hordaland before.
“This is an unusual finding and a bit of a hit. It's like finding a needle in the haystack. Such discoveries may emerge as climate change melts the ice and changes the form of the land. This arrowhead would have been covered by snow in the winter had it not been found,” he said.
If the iron arrowhead had been left exposed, it would gradually erode and eventually disappear completely. The wooden arrow itself is long gone.
“We don't know when the long arrow would have decomposed. In soil, everything rots. The arrow may have rotted away a long time ago if it was in soil. If it had been encased in snow and ice, it may have decomposed much more recently when the snow had melted. Those who are in the close proximity to glaciers that melt should look for such ancient discoveries,” Slinning says.
The arrowhead is made of iron. There has been iron extraction in the area in the past, and several villages nearby. The arrowhead was found in the mountains near to these former settlements.
The archaeologist said that such finds are not common in Hardanger, unlike several others places in Norway.
This summer, an arrow with arrowhead was found in Fresvik, while a 1,500-year-old sled was discovered on Vossaskaret.
The reason why there are relatively few discoveries in Hordaland is to do with the movement of Norway's glaciers. Objects are often crushed by the glaciers, whereas in Oppland, objects are left laying on the plains as snow melts.
The arrowhead is now being looked after by the University Museum in Bergen. The experts there will preserve it, so that no further rusting takes place, and attempt to more accurately date it. So far, the best estimates put the arrowhead at approximately 1,000 years old. That would date it to the end of the Viking Era or the Early Middle Ages.
In an interdisciplinary study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, an international research team has combined archaeological, genetic and stable isotope data to understand the demographic processes associated with the iconic Battle Axe Culture and its introduction in Scandinavia.
This is a skeleton of a male individual associated with the Neolithic Age Battle Axe culture on exhibition in Linkoping, Sweden. Genomic DNA extracted from this individual was analyzed in the study [Credit: Jonas Karlsson, Ostergotlands museum]
In 1953, a significant burial site belonging to the Battle Axe Culture was found when constructing a roundabout in Linkoping. 4,500 years ago, a man and a woman were buried together with a child, a dog and a rich set of grave goods including one of the eponymous battle axes. "Today, we call this site 'Bergsgraven'. I have been curious about this particular burial for a long time. The collaboration of archaeologists with geneticists allows us to understand more about these people as individuals as well as where their ancestors came from," says archaeogeneticist Helena Malmstrom of Uppsala University, lead author of the study.
The Scandinavian Battle Axe Culture appears in the archaeological record about 5,000 years ago and archaeologically it resembles the continental European Corded Ware Culture. "The appearance and development of the culture complex has been debated for a long time, especially whether it was a regional phenomenon or whether it was associated with migratory processes of human groups, and - if the latter - from where," says osteoarchaeologist Jan Stora of Stockholm University, one of the senior authors of the study.
By sequencing the genomes of prehistoric individuals from present-day Sweden, Estonia and Poland, the research team showed that the Scandinavian Battle Axe Culture and continental Corded Ware Culture share a common genetic ancestry, which had not been present in Scandinavia or central Europe before 5,000 years ago. "This suggests that the introduction of this new cultural manifestation was associated with movements of people. These groups have a history which we ultimately can trace back to the Pontic Steppe north of the Black Sea," says population geneticist Torsten Gunther of Uppsala University, co-lead author of the study.
In previous studies, the research team had been able to show that other cultural changes during the Stone Age, such as the introduction of farming practices, were also associated with movements of people. Torsten Gunther: "Again, archaeogenomic analyses reveal new and surprising results concerning demographic processes in the Stone Age." Jan Stora adds: "Prehistoric movements of people have played a major role in spreading innovations. But there is also some integration and reconnection of previous elements. For example, we find that people sharing the genetic signal of the Battle Axe sites were re-using megalithic tombs for their burials."
Comparisons between these individuals and other prehistoric Scandinavians provided further valuable insights. Mattias Jakobsson, population geneticist at Uppsala University and one of the senior authors of this study, notes: "It is also interesting that the herders from the Battle Axe Culture differed from other contemporary farmer and hunter-gatherer groups in Scandinavia. At least three genetically and culturally different groups lived side-by-side for centuries and did not mix a lot."
There is some evidence for low levels of genetic admixture between the incoming herders and other farming cultures. The research team was not able to determine whether this took place before or after their arrival in Scandinavia. "That remains an open question and still leaves room for future studies as more data from additional individuals as well as other geographic regions should provide a more detailed resolution," concludes Helena Malmstrom.
The Bergsgraven burial as well as a reconstruction of the individuals is usually on exhibition at Ostergotlands Museum in Linkoping. "Ostergotlands Museum is currently closed for renovation and renewal. Therefore, the display of the Bergsgraven grave has been temporarily removed, but it will be a central part of the upcoming exhibition, in which we aim to integrate current archaeological and historical research. This is a rare opportunity to build a new exhibition, and of course we want to tell the audience about the new analyses and interpretations made of the material," says Per Nilsson, archaeologist at Ostergotlands Museum.
Not just one but three 400-year-old shipwrecks have been found during building work in central Gothenburg.
The wrecks were found during construction work [Credit: Arkeologerna/SHM]
The wrecks were found during archaeological diggings in connection with building work for Gothenburg's new railway line Västlänken, and the finds were not totally unexpected.
Gothenburg has a long history of being a major centre for Sweden's shipping trade, partly thanks to the Swedish East India Company and its convenient location on the coast of western Sweden.
Gothenburg was awarded city privileges in the 17th century and has a long shipping history [Credit: Arkeologerna/SHM]
The wrecks were found at Packhusplatsen, the site of a disused harbour known as Masthamnen. The harbour was used from the 1600s and formed part of the city's defence, but was eventually covered up in the mid-1800s – at which point the ships were likely left at the bottom of the sea.
It is not known if they were deliberately sunk or sank for other reasons and weren't salvaged.
The ships were built using the clinker method, which means the hull planks overlap each other [Credit: Arkeologerna/SHM]
"Their size is such that they were probably cargo boats that were used to transport goods on shorter distances. It will be interesting now to see if we can find the remains of the cargo, for example in the layers between the planks, which could then show what they transported," said archaeologist Carina Bramstång Plura, who is in charge of the archaeological excavations for the Västlänken project, in a statement.
The three wrecks are made out of oak tree and were likely between 15-20 metres in length.
Marine archaeologists are now set to help salvage the ships and analyze them.
What a team of Swedish archaeologists first believed to be a Bronze Age grave turned out to be a large penis that may have been used for sacrificial rites.
Credit: Arkeologerna SHM
The phallic stone, measuring a stately 52 centimetres, was discovered during an archaeological excavation at Rollsbo, Kungalv, near Gothenburg in western Sweden.
"The stone was hidden under a stone packing and originally the archaeologists thought it was a Bronze Age grave," said archaeological consultancy firm The Archaeologists in a press release.
Credit: Arkeologerna SHM
Phallic stones are not uncommon, and were often associated with power and potency. However, it is rare to find one designed to look quite so similar to the real-life version.
"In this specific context, with a stone so clearly resembling a phallus, perhaps it was primarily a fertility cult," mused The Archaeologists about the purpose of the sacrificial site.
Credit: Arkeologerna SHM
The phallic stone was found erected in the centre of the monument, with patches of soot surrounding it. A hammer stone and two small burned bones were also found, probably animal bones, said The Archaeologists.
"Forthcoming archaeobotanical analyses will perhaps reveal burned cereals as a result of grain offering, perhaps together with the erection of the stone and within sacrificial fertility rituals."
The monument is believed to be from around 1100-500 BC.
A Viking Age mortuary house was discovered during the excavation of the burial ground of one of the Viking Age farms on Vinjeora in Hemne in Trondelag. The house measured five by three meters. It had corner posts, and the walls were made of standing planks, in a building style similar to that used in early stave churches. Archaeologists could see that the building was solidly constructed, even though the only thing that remains is a rectangular ditch with a slight impression from the house and some retaining stones where the walls once stood.
The construction style of the mortuary house is similar to that used for stave churches [Credit: Raymond Sauvage, NTNU University Museum]
Even though the style of building is typical of the Viking Age, this house was far from ordinary. Archaeologists think it was most likely home to a Viking grave. Hundreds of years of farming in the area have plowed away the grave that was likely found inside the structure.
"We can see that the house once stood in the middle of a burial mound. That's how we know that there probably was a grave inside the house," said Sauvage, who is project manager for the dig.
The burial mound itself is also gone, but the ring ditch that once surrounded the mound has been filled in, rather than plowed away, and is therefore still visible.
"The ditch forms a circular depression that tells us where the burial mound was situated, which means that we also can see that the mortuary house was placed right in the middle of the mound," he said.
The mortuary house was found under an excavation of a Viking Age grave field on Vinjeora in Hemne municipality in central Norway. The dig was undertaken in preparation for road construction associated with expansion of the E39 highway.
A house for the dead
Viking Age mortuary houses are rare finds in Norway, with fewer than 15 found in the entire country. That means there's a lot we don't know about why these houses were built and what they were intended for.
"Early research has often interpreted these houses as purely functional. They've been seen as a morgue, where the Vikings stored corpses, such as when they were waiting for the ground to thaw in the spring," says Sauvage.
But this interpretation doesn't explain why the house on Vinjeora was dug into the burial mound, and why graves have been found inside mortuary houses in other locations. Now, most researchers believe that these houses played more of a symbolic role than a practical one.
Here’s what the archaeological site looks like from the air. The picture clearly shows the discolouration around the location of the house left from the ditch that surrounded the structure. The stripe that goes across the top of the picture is from a modern-day ditch [Credit: Raymond Sauvage, NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet]
"They can be compared to boat graves—a custom that was practiced at the same time as mortuary houses—where the boat has been interpreted as a vessel that will carry the deceased to the land of the dead," Sauvage said.
Why the Vinjeora Vikings wanted the dead to live in the burial mound—rather than to sail to the land of the dead—is a matter of speculation. Perhaps they wanted the spirits of the dead to stay and protect the farm and family.
In pre-Christian times, it was not unusual to believe that the dead lived in the mound, and that the living should take care of what they called the people of the mound. This would involve bringing them gifts and food, so that in return they would ensure that the crops were good and that both animals and humans were fertile. People may have believed that if the deceased had their own house in the mound, there would probably be a greater chance that they would stay there, instead of wandering around, tormenting people.
Unique opportunity
It is extremely rare for archaeologists in Norway to be able to examine an entire grave field in one excavation, as they now can at Vinjeora.
"This gives us a unique opportunity to learn about how Vikings dealt with death. There is a great deal of variation in the burial customs found in this grave field—everything from boat graves and burials in coffins to cremations and mortuary houses. It will be very interesting to explore this spectrum further," says Sauvage.
The excavation will continue throughout the autumn and into next year, as there is still quite a lot left for archaeologists to examine. Nevertheless, Sauvage is already confident that what they discover will be of great importance.
"When we've analyzed all the findings from the graves here, it will give us a deep insight into the society that existed here in the Viking Age. It will allow us to see connections that are otherwise invisible," he said. "I believe that what we find will make a considerable contribution to the Viking field as a whole."
