A rare 12th century picture stone with unique iconography has been discovered under a house in the village of Klotzow, northern Germany. Homeowner Peter Wittenberg was doing some construction work on the foundations when he came across a boulder carved with the image of a person with a cross over his belly. Only about 20 picture stones are known, and this is only the sixth one from the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. It is also the only picture stone ever discovered that features a cross in the engraving.

The granite stone is about three feet long, two feet wide and 1.3 feet deep. It is carved into a pointed arch shape and engraved with a deep outline drawing of a standing man. The cross is carved onto a stole that hangs from a loop around the neck. The stone was found in a horizontal position next to the wall of the house with the image facing upwards. It was likely used as a step, but the house was built in the 18th century, so the stone is not in its original location.

Picture stones are believed to have been memorials to honor the dead, although they did not mark graves. The presence of the cross links the stone to the period when Bishop Otto of Bamberg (ca. 1060-1139) converted Pomeranians to Christianity. It’s even possible that the stone depicts Bishop Otto himself, and that the stole is a pallium, a vestment conferred by the Pope onto high-ranking clerics as symbols of their authority. Otto received the pallium in 1111.

Minister of Culture Bettina Martin : “With this exceptionally significant find, we can add another important piece to the mosaic of our country’s history. Bishop Otto of Bamberg undertook his first missionary journey to Pomerania in 1124. The fact that a picture stone from this period has now been found exactly 900 years later is an extremely fortunate circumstance. The finder deserves thanks and the highest recognition for reporting his find immediately. The experts from the State Office for Culture and Monument Preservation and the lower monument protection authority will now take care of securing and further examining this unique find.”

The stone is currently being scanned to create a 3D model that will clarify the engraving.

An archeology student has discovered a hoard of seven silver arm rings dating to the Viking Age just north of Aarhus, Denmark. Gustav Bruunsgaard found the hoard while metal detecting earlier this year in a field near Elsted where traces of a Viking settlement have been discovered in the past. First he found one silver bangle, then returned to find another six. Experts date the arm rings to around 800 A.D., the dawn of the Viking Era (793-1066 A.D.).

The bracelet group weighs about a pound in total, and bracelets like these were used as currency and for trade. Most of them were likely made in Denmark, or at least in southern Scandinavia.

The one coiled ring is of a type that originally came from Russia or Ukraine, which has since been imitated in the Nordics. The three band-shaped, stamped rings are of a South Scandinavian type that inspired bangles in Ireland, where they became very common. The three smooth bangles are rare, but are known from Scandinavia and England.

“The Elsted farm treasure is a fantastically interesting find from the Viking Age, which connects Aarhus with Russia and Ukraine in the east and the British Isles in the west. In this way, the find emphasizes how Aarhus was a central hub in the Viking world, which went all the way from the North Atlantic to Asia,” says Kasper H. Andersen, Ph.D. and historian at Moesgaard Museum.

Archaeological objects, including coins, that have historical value and/or are made of precious metals are legally property of the Danish state. By law, anyone who acquires any such materials must report them to the authorities and immediately cede them to the National Museum. The museum then compensates the finder an amount determined by the value, rarity and significance of the object.

The silver arm rings are currently on display at the Moesgaard Museum and will be handed over to the National Museum after the exhibition.

A recent interpretation of the runic inscription on the Forsa Ring, an iron ring from 9th or 10th century that is the oldest extant legal text in Scandinavia, has revealed new information on Viking Age monetary systems. The reinterpretation changes only one word, but that change reveals a more flexible and practical approach to the payment of fines.

For centuries the Forsa Ring hung on the door of the parish church in Forsa in central Sweden’s province of Hälsingland, but it dates from before the Viking conversion to Christianity so that was not its original location. It is 17 inches in diameter and had an iron spike that was likely used to mount it through a hole in the door. It is engraved around the edge with approximately 250 runes that record the fines incurred by the violation of a sanctuary.

The runes read:

uksa tuiskilan auk aura tuo staf at fursta laki
uksa tuo auk aura fiura at aþru laki
in at þriþia laki uksa fiura auk aura ata staf

The previous translation of them:

One ox and two ounces of silver (in fine) to the staff for the restoration of a sanctuary in a valid state for the first time; two oxen and four ounces of silver (in fine) for the second time; but for the third time four oxen and eight ounces of silver (in fine).

Researchers from the Department of Economic History and International Relations at Stockholm University proffer a different interpretation of the word “auk” that alters the entire fine structure.

“The Forsaringen inscription “uksa … auk aura tua” was previously interpreted to mean that fines had to be paid with both an ox and two ore of silver. This would imply that the guilty party had to pay with two different types of goods, which would have been both impractical and time-consuming,“ says Rodney Edvinsson, Professor of Economic History at Stockholm University, who conducted the study. […]

By changing the translation of the word “auk” from the previous interpretation “and” to the new interpretation “also,” the meaning changes so that fines could be paid either with an ox or with two ore of silver. An ore was equivalent to about 25 grams of silver.

“This indicates a much more flexible system, where both oxen and silver could be used as units of payment. If a person had easier access to oxen than to silver, they could pay their fines with an ox. Conversely, if someone had silver but no oxen, they could pay with two ore of silver,“ says Rodney Edvinsson.

In addition to being more practical and making it easier for people to pay the fines, this interpretation is more congruent with later Scandinavian laws and the valuation of oxen in silver also comparable to their values in other countries in Europe. If the researchers are correct, this makes the Fora Ring runes Scandinavia’s earliest extant price record.

“The price level during the Viking Age in silver was much lower than in the early 14th century and late 16th century, but approximately at the same level as in the late 15th century and the 12th century, when there was a silver shortage,“ says Rodney Edvinsson.

The study highlights the importance of using modern economic theories to interpret historical sources. By combining economic theory with archaeological and historical findings, new opportunities for interdisciplinary research and a deeper understanding of early economic systems are opened up.

The study has been published in the Scandinavian Economic History Review and can be read in its entirety here.