Strange carvings at Norwegian grave site reveal what language was like before Vikings

 

Archaeologists have pieced together the earliest stone fragments containing inscriptions of Germanic letters, revealing what the Norse language was like before the Viking era.

Researchers from the University of Oslo found that the ancient fragments fit together “like a jigsaw puzzle” suggesting that the writing may have been “separated intentionally”.

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Earliest Known Rune-Stone Discovered in Norway

 

Archaeologists in Norway have pieced together fragments of what is now the world’s earliest known rune-stone, dating back to as early as 50 BC. The discovery at the Svingerud grave field offers new insights into the origins of runic writing, a script long associated with the medieval period but now revealed to have a much older history.

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What Do Vikings Mean to You? New Global Survey Seeks Answers

 

The University of Oslo’s Museum of Cultural History has launched a global study to uncover how people around the world perceive Viking warriors and the enduring legacy of the Viking Age. The Great Viking Survey invites individuals to share their thoughts on these iconic medieval figures and their influence in modern culture.

The survey, part of the Making a Warrior research project, aims to map the ways contemporary media and academia shape public perceptions of the Viking Age. Led by a pan-Nordic network of scholars, the project explores the concept of Viking “warriorhood” and its representation throughout histor

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Hagia Sophia Dome to Be Dismantled for Restoration

 

The iconic Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (Constantinople) will undergo extensive restoration, including the dismantling of its dome, to preserve the historical and structural integrity of the world-renowned monument, according to the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet.

Ahmet Gulec, a member of the project’s scientific committee, said damage to the dome’s lead cover and cement materials made the restoration necessary. “The underside of the dome is covered in mosaics, making structural intervention from below nearly impossible” Gulec explained. The team will remove the lead cover and other harmful materials to ensure the building’s safety.

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Who Was the Man in the Well?

 

“Remarkable historical find at Sverresborg. Skeleton at the bottom of the old well. Could it be the Baglers’ victim, thrown into the well in 1197, as the saga claims?”

This was the headline in Adresseavisen on December 2, 1938. The manager of Sverresborg Folk Museum, Sigurd Tiller, and architect and self-taught archaeologist Gerhard Fischer found the skeleton while investigating the castle ruins. Three doctors were called in to confirm it was indeed a human skeleton. Despite the uproar caused by the discovery, Tiller was cautious with the press.

“Thorough and lengthy investigations are required before science can provide definitive insights into the find’s true significance.”

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Book review: Muslims on the Volga during the Viking Age

 

A compilation of essays may not necessarily be your first choice when you reach for a book on a library shelf or conduct a quick search on Amazon. 

For many of us non-academics, essays are something that brings back pubescent horrors from schooldays. The type of thing that, as soon as you graduated from high school, you'd pledge to avoid for the remainder of your life... until you went to college or university. 

Yet one must, as Voltaire's Candide quips, "tend to one's garden," and part of this tending is surely reading both for pleasure and for a purpose. 

Muslims on the Volga during the Viking Age, thankfully, for a collection of essays, combines both pleasure and purpose as a series of famed historians and academics cast their gaze upon the multicultural interactions that took place on the Volga River during the 10th century CE.

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Archeologists share new findings from the Viking graves at Tvååker, Sweden

 

The Viking burial ground at Tvååker revealed 139 graves, including ship-formed stone settings and a ship-formed mound. Photo: Arkeologerna

Ship made of oak and stone 

The latter appears to be the remains of a wooden ship burial that may have been relatively common in the local area. 

"Scientists in the 1950s discovered a characteristic local grave type in Halland County known as 'oblong mounds,'" Nordin and Kjellin tell The Viking Herald. 

"These have been interpreted to be the remains of a cremation in a ship site. The cremation here appears to have taken place in the ship." 

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