An eight-year-old girl has discovered a rare Neolithic dagger while playing in her schoolyard in southwestern Norway’s Vestland county. The style of the dagger dates it to around 3,700 years ago.
Elise went to pick up a piece of glass when she spied an even cooler piece. She showed her teacher, Karen Drange, the neat pointed stone she’d found and Ms. Drange quickly realized it was more than just a stone. The school contacted the Vestland County Council who investigated the find with the cooperation of experts from the University Museum in Bergen. The follow-up excavation found no further artifacts nor any other traces from the Neolithic in the schoolyard.
The flint blade is 12 cm (4.7 inches) long. Flint is not native to Norway so the dagger must have been imported, perhaps from Denmark. This type of dagger is rare in Norway and when they are found, they are usually interpreted as sacrificial offerings.
The dagger is now at the University Museum in Bergen where it will be catalogued before it undergoes further study and analysis.
Elise looks to have been overcome by the emotion of the occasion!
Best Show and Tell ever! If something like this happened to me as a kid, I’d probably be digging with a team in the field for a career.