Viking warrior grave found in backyard

Medieval

Heiland family with Viking blade. Photo courtesy Joakim Wintervoll.Homeowners in Setesdal, southern Norway, have discovered a Viking warrior burial in their backyard. Oddbjørn Holum Heiland was digging a little to get the jump on an addition he and his wife Anne are planning on building when he encountered an oblong stone just under the grass and top soil layers. He kept going, and in his next pail full of top soil, he spotted an iron object that looked a lot like a sword. Because it was a sword blade. When he dumped out the soil from the digging bucket, a sword hilt fell out. A little Googling revealed that the shape of the sword suggests it was of Viking origin.

Heiland stopped digging and alerted the county to his potential find. The next day, county archaeologist Joakim Wintervoll and Jo-Simon Frøshaug Stokke from the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, came to view the sword in person. They confirmed it was Viking, and that Heiland had likely excavated a tomb in his own backyard.

The two pieces of the sword that were found make out a 70 cm long sword, and the blade is 5 cm at the broadest point.

“But it’s the hilt that tells us this is a sword from the Viking Age,” Wintervoll explains.

The hilt of a sword is an object of fashion, and the style of the hilt found in Setesdal places it at around the end of the 800s and the beginning of 900.

“We have datings for different styles of hilts from year zero, so we have a pretty good overview of how these hilts have changed from the early Iron Age and into the Middle Ages,” Wintervoll says.

The house dates to 1740 so the grave was lurking under a few inches of sod for a thousand years and by a complete fluke, construction of the house just missed it. The grave also contains a lance, gilded glass beads, a brooch and a belt buckle which was probably also originally gilded. This is an intact, integral assemblage of luxurious grave goods. The person buried must have been someone of high status. There is no evidence that there was ever a mound marking the grave, but the large oblong stone that covered the grave may have been standing originally, only to topple over later. In that case it would have been highly visible in the landscape. If it was deliberately laid horizontally as a headstone, its location would have been significant to the people who lived there at the time.

There used to be a collection of smaller farms just 100-150 metres away from where the grave is located. It is reasonable to assume that these farms existed back at that time, or perhaps even further back in time, according to the archaeologist.

“A pattern that we see is that you bury those who have owned land near the farm, and often in a spot that is easily visible from the nearby roads. People who passed by would then see the grave and know that the people who live here have ancestors who have lived here for a long time. These are our relatives; we lay claim to this land and have done so for generations. This is the function of the visible grave,” Stokke says.

No human remains have been discovered yet, and archaeologists are not optimistic they’ll find any when excavations resume next week, especially since cremation was common at this time, leaving only fragments of charred bone to be found today, if anything.

Anti-mine divers discover 3rd c. B.C. shipwreck

Ancient

An ancient shipwreck from the 3rd century B.C. was discovered by divers from the Croatian and Italian navies during anti-mine training exercises in the Adriatic. The wreck, found at a depth of more than 140 feet below the surface, carried a cargo of amphorae. Underneath the field of amphorae is a complete ancient shipwreck. It is one of the earliest fully preserved shipwrecks ever found on the eastern coast of the Adriatic.

The joint training mine-counting mission took place in the sea water around Šćedro Island because no existing archaeological sites had been mapped there, but the search for mines provided an excellent opportunity to cooperate with the Croatian Ministry of Culture and Media on exploring the seabed.

The activity was carried out in cooperation with the Ministry of Defense, the Conservation Department in Split of the Ministry of Culture and Media and the University of Split. After the perimeter of the search was determined, a multi-layered recording (scanning) of the bottom was started, by processing the obtained data, i.e. by reviewing the recorded material, several potential “contacts” (positions) that could represent archaeological sites (shipwrecks) were detected. The target positions were then inspected with an underwater ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) equipped with a smaller sonar and camera, or joint teams of Croatian and Italian anti-mine divers immediately performed dives in order to determine the context of the findings. An inspection of one such position resulted in the discovery of a hitherto undiscovered, fully preserved ancient shipwreck.

Underwater archaeologists will return to the site to explore its context and document the placement of the cargo on the sea floor. Once the wreck is fully recorded, experts will come up with a plan for its long-term protection and conservation.

 Divers survey amphora field from 3rd century B.C. shipwreck off Croatia. Photo by Saša Denegri and Robert Kramarić. Detail of amphora field. Photo by Saša Denegri and Robert Kramarić.

National Museum of Denmark returns glorious 1600s feather cape to Brazil

Modern(ish), Museums

The National Museum of Denmark has donated its most exceptional 17th century Brazilian feather cape to the new National Museum of Brazil to help rebuild the museum’s patrimony after its entire ethnographic collection of 20 million irreplaceable artifacts was destroyed in a fire in 2018. Interestingly, the iconic scarlet ibis feather cape was not among them, as the few surviving examples known were all in European museums.

Made by hand-tying scarlet ibis and macaw feathers to a woven cotton net, the cape dates to the early 1600s and was crafted by the Tupinambá people of Brazil. The Tupinambá were the first indigenous people the Portuguese encountered when they reached eastern Brazil in 1500. European chroniclers record that the Tupinambá were adept feather workers and used local bird feathers in jewelry, sashes, headbands, cloaks, even as tattoo needles. Used in important rituals and ceremonies, the scarlet ibis cloaks were revered for their beauty and religious significance.

The Tupinambá were described as taking painstaking care of their feathered items, handling them with kid gloves to prevent deterioration. They were not so gingerly handled by the Portuguese, Spanish and by the functionaries of the Dutch West India Company which occupied parts of northeast Brazil between 1624 and 1654. The striking feathered cloaks made their way into the collections of the European monarchs and other wealthy collectors, but few were able to survive the centuries.

Today only 11 Tupinambá feather capes are known to survive, several of which are also owned by the National Museum of Denmark. The recently-donated cloak is the best preserved of all of them. Compare it to the cloak at the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan to see how much denser the feather coverage is and how pristine each individual feather still looks. It even retains the small hood made of yellow macaw feathers, long since lost from the Ambrosiana example.

The Tupinambá population plummeted after their encounter with European pathogens, but the tradition of feather work never stopped. Today there are around 4,600 recognized Tupinambá in Brazil and their leaders have been working with officials from the National Museum in Rio to negotiate the return of the sacred feather cape from Copenhagen.

Upon receiving the letter from Dr. Rane Willerslev, Director of the National Museum of Denmark, chief Tupinambá Babau said: “For us, the donation of the Tupinambá mantle means the return of an ancestor! It is also the return of hope that never dies: a concrete answer for those who believe in the strength of their people and continue to fight for their culture, secrets and religion. We continue to create other mantles. But now, by a generous donation, our greatest relic will return to Brazil! The bird that symbolizes this mantle, the ibis, which no longer exists in our region, is born and grows gray. When eating crabs, their feathers turn red. It is a sign of transformation that occurs in everything, human beings and their culture. Many thanks to the National Museum of Brazil and Denmark for allowing us to hear the sacred words of our ancestors again. The Cloak is back!”

The Museu Nacional is in the process of rebuilding its ethnographic archives and physical collections in close collaboration with the country’s indigenous peoples and museums outside Brazil. The National Museum of Denmark and a number of other European museums are already supporting the reconstruction by creating digital catalogues that will make Brazilian artefacts and archive material located in European museums available. […]

“The feather cape has had a prominent place in our collection, but it has greater significance for the Brazilian population as a cultural symbol, as a material heritage of the Tupinambá and as evidence of Brazilian-European historical, colonial encounters. In Brazil, it will be available to the indigenous peoples who have a strong historical and cultural connection to it,” says Christian Sune Pedersen, head of research.

The cape will remain in Copenhagen long enough to be photographed in high resolution and analyzed to determine its age, origin and exact composition. Meanwhile, the National Museum of Brazil will focus on creating an ideal setting for the long-term conservation and display of the cape.

Medusa phalera found at Vindolanda

Ancient

A volunteer digger at the Roman auxiliary fort of Vindolanda in Northumberland unearthed a rare silver phalera with a relief of the head of Medusa earlier this month. It was discovered on the floor of a barracks dating to the Hadrianic period of occupation in the 2nd century A.D.

The silver disc has a raised rim with the bust of Medusa facing the viewer. She has wings on the top of her head and wild wavy hair, the prettified version of the formerly terrifying snake-haired gorgon. The only snakes on the portrait are two slim fellas tied in a knot under her chin like a bolo tie.

Phalerae were worn by centurions and standard-bearers in the Roman legions, emblems of rank and valor. They came in sets of three to 10 roundels mounted on leather straps that buckled on the back. They could be plain discs or decorated with reliefs of deities, animals, mythological creatures or emperors. The Gorgon Medusa was a popular motif for phalerae, breastplates and other military accoutrements as her image was believed to be apotropaic (ie, have the power to ward off evil or bad luck).

An example comparable to the Vindolanda find is engraved on the tombstone of Roman centurion Marcus Caelius, notable as the only archaeological epigraphic source to explicitly reference the Varian disaster of 9 A.D. Marcus Caelius was the primus pilus (senior centurion) of the XVIII Legion, one of the three legions Publius Quinctilius Varus led haplessly into an ambush in the Teutoburg Forest that would destroy them all and bring the Roman attempt to conquer Germany beyond the Rhine to a screeching halt. After his death in the calamitous battle, Caelius’ brother had the funerary stone erected in his honor. Now in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Bonn, the tombstone depicts the centurion wearing his phalerae. The central roundel, larger than the others, is a gorgoneion.

Phalerae were valuable status symbols and would not have been intentionally discarded. The one at Vindolanda was probably lost by accident, much to its owner’s dismay. It is currently undergoing conservation and will be exhibited next year at the Vindolanda museum.

Bronze Age metal hoard found at Roman battlefield in Swiss Alps

Ancient

Archaeologists excavating an ancient Roman battle site in the Oberhalbstein Alps have discovered a Late Bronze Age metal hoard containing more than 80 bronze objects weighing a total of 20 kg (44 lb). Found in a field just south of a prehistoric settlement on a transalpine trade route, the hoard dates to the 12th or 11th century B.C. It is the largest and most important Bronze Age hoard ever found in the Graubünden canton.

Hundreds of Roman sling bullets, hobnails, a richly decorated dagger and other military equipment have been found at the site near the modern-day municipality of Surses since 2003. The sheer quantity of projectiles, weapons and gear from the Augustan era identify it as the location of a large-scale military action between the local Suanetes tribespeople and three Roman legions led by future emperor Tiberius and his brother Drusus in 15 B.C. This is the only proven Roman battlefield in Switzerland. The remains of the Roman military summer camp they established to control the strategically important Septimer Pass were discovered in 2008.

In 2021, ADG launched a new research project to systematically examine the landscape for remains of the conflict between Rome and the Suanetes. The Bronze Age hoard was discovered as part of this project. The Archaeological Service of Graubünden (ADG) unearthed the hoard in October 2022 after a volunteer metal detectorist surveying the site alerted the team to its presence. The objects were densely packed inside a small, well-defined pit indicating they had been deposited inside a wooden box that was wrapped in leather and buried in the ground.

Most of the metal objects are cast cakes, raw copper chunks that were used in the production of metal objects in the Alpine region. Other artifacts include sickles, axes, saw fragments and jewelry parts. They were damaged deliberately, “killed” before being buried as an offering.

The sensational discovery of what is by far the most extensive and important repository to date is a great moment for Graubünden archaeology. “The comprehensive scientific investigation that will now follow of this find, which is unique in our area, will certainly provide far-reaching insights into late Bronze Age cultural, economic and landscape history,” says Graubünden canton archaeologist Thomas Reitmaier with conviction. “It also underscores the potential of large-scale archaeological prospecting and collaboration with volunteer probers.