Etikett: Archeology

  • Advent calendar Flap 5, the Stala Pickaxe

    Advent calendar Flap 5, the Stala Pickaxe

    Flap 6 Behind flap 6 in this year’s Advent calendar is the so-called Stala Pickaxe. It was found on the island of Orust in Bohuslän, Sweden and received its name from Stala parish, where it was discovered in 1857. In 1867 it was displayed at the World Exhibition in Paris, and a few years later…

  • Advent calendar Flap 5, the Hedeby Mask

    Advent calendar Flap 5, the Hedeby Mask

    Flap 5 Behind flap 5 in the Advent calendar we find the Hedeby Mask. This mask was discovered during excavations at the Viking Age trading town of Hedeby/Haithabu. According to archaeologists, it had been reused as caulking in the hull of a Viking ship. The mask is felted from wool and shaped like an animal.…

  • Advent calendar Flap 4, the Konsterud Horn

    Advent calendar Flap 4, the Konsterud Horn

    Flap 4Behind flap 4 of the Advent calendar we find the Konsterud Horn. This horn is a so-called vallhorn, a type of blowing instrument that in Sweden represents a living tradition with roots stretching back thousands of years. The Konsterud Horn was made sometime around the year 0, making it nearly 2,000 years old and…

  • Advent calendar Flap 3, the Osterby Man

    Advent calendar Flap 3, the Osterby Man

    Flap 3 Behind the third flap of this year’s Advent calendar is the skull of the Osterby Man. The skull was discovered in 1946 during peat cutting in Osterby, Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. It belonged to a man aged between 50 and 60. An injury indicates that he had been struck on the head before being…

  • Advent calendar Flap 2, the Bautasten in Runsten

    Advent calendar Flap 2, the Bautasten in Runsten

    Flap 2Behind flap number two in the Advent calendar hides the Bautasten in Runsten on the island of Öland. A bautasten is a type of standing stone that is known in other parts of Europe as a menhir. The word bautasten comes from the Old Norse bautarsteinn or bautasteinn. Bauta meant “to strike,” perhaps referring…

  • The Rock Paintings at Tumlehed

    The Rock Paintings at Tumlehed

    A English version of my text can be found below the Swedish one. Hällmålningarna vid Tumlehed Det här är en fornlämning som inte är helt lätt att hitta trots att den ligger så nära Göteborg. Detta är med stor sannolikhet då den är så unik och känslig för potentiell skadegörelse. Tanken är att de som…