NORTH AMERICA, U.S.A, WORLD

36,000-year-old Meat of a Mummified Bison was used for a Stew

36,000-year-old Meat of a Mummified Bison was used for a Stew

One Night in 1984,  A handful of lucky guests gathered at the Alaska home of palaeontologist Dale Guthrie to eat stew crafted from a once-in-a-lifetime delicacy: the neck meat of an ancient, recently-discovered bison nicknamed Blue Babe.

The dinner party fit Alaska tradition: Since state law bans the buying, bartering, and selling of game meats, you can’t find local favourites such as caribou stew at restaurants. Those dishes are enjoyed when hunters host a gathering. But their meat source is usually the moose population—not a preserved piece of biological history.

Blue Babe had been discovered just five years earlier by gold miners, who noticed that a hydraulic mining hose melted part of the gunk that had kept the bison frozen. They reported their findings to the nearby University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Concerned that it would decompose, Guthrie—then a professor and researcher at the university—opted to dig out Blue Babe immediately. But the icy, impenetrable surroundings made that challenging. So he cut off what he could, refroze it, and waited for the head and neck to thaw.

Archaeology curator Josh Reuther and University of Arizona’s François B. Lanoë draw a sample from Blue Babe for the ongoing redating project.

Soon, Guthrie and his team had Blue Babe on campus and started learning more about the ancient animal. They knew that it had perished about 36,000 years ago, thanks to radiocarbon dating. (Though new research shows that Blue Babe is at least 50,000 years old, according to the university’s Curator of Archaeology, Josh Reuther.) Tooth marks and claw marks also suggested that the bison was killed by an ancestor of the lion, the Panthera leoatrox.

Blue Babe froze rapidly following its death—perhaps the result of a wintertime demise. Researchers were amazed to find that Blue Babe had frozen so well that its muscle tissue retained a texture, not unlike beef jerky. Its fatty skin and bone marrow remained intact, too, even after thousands of years. So why not try eating part of it?

It had been done before. “All of us working on this thing had heard the tales of the Russians [who] excavated things like bison and mammoth in the Far North [that] were frozen enough to eat,” Guthrie says of several infamous meals. “So we decided, ‘You know what we can do? Make a meal using this bison.’”

Guthrie decided to host the special dinner when taxidermist Eirik Granqvist completed his work on Blue Babe and the late Björn Kurtén was in town to give a guest lecture. “Making neck steak didn’t sound like a very good idea,” Guthrie recalls. “But you know, what we could do is put a lot of vegetables and spices, and it wouldn’t be too bad.”

Eirik Granqvist working on the taxidermy of Blue Babe.

To make the stew for roughly eight people, Guthrie cut off a small part of the bison’s neck, where the meat had frozen while fresh. “When it thawed, it gave off an unmistakable beef aroma, not unpleasantly mixed with a faint smell of the earth in which it was found, with a touch of mushroom,” he once wrote.

They then added a generous amount of garlic and onions, along with carrots and potatoes, to the aged meat. Couple that with wine, and it became a full-fledged dinner.

Guthrie, who is a hunter, says he wasn’t deterred by the thousands of years the bison had aged, nor the prospect of getting sick. “That would take a very special kind of microorganism [to make me sick],” he says. “And I eat frozen meat all the time, of animals that I kill or my neighbours kill. And they do get kind of old after three years in the freezer.”

Blue Babe is on display at the University of Alaska Museum of the North.

Thankfully, everyone present lived to tell the tale (and the bison remains on display at the University of Alaska Museum of the North). The Blue Babe stew wasn’t unpalatable, either, according to Guthrie. “It tasted a little bit like what I would have expected, with a little bit of wringing of mud,” he says. “But it wasn’t that bad. Not so bad that we couldn’t each have a bowl.” He can’t remember if anyone present had seconds, though.

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

3,300 Years Ago Ancient Egyptians Collected and Revered Ancient Fossils Now Known as the ‘Black Bones of Set’

3,300 Years Ago Ancient Egyptians Collected and Revered Ancient Fossils Now Known as the ‘Black Bones of Set’

3,300 Years Ago Ancient Egyptians Collected and Revered Ancient Fossils Now Known as the ‘Black Bones of Set’
A linen bundle unwrapped many years ago, from Qau el-Kebir was found to contain fossil bones.

Some of the first people ever to stumble upon prehistoric fossils lived in Egypt 3,300 years ago. Their story likely started with a sandstorm. Some strong wind rose up and blew the desert sands away, exposing a secret hidden underneath: the hard, pitch-black bones of what looked like a gigantic monster.

We can only imagine what must have gone through the minds of the men who found them. They didn’t write a word about it – or, if they did, it’s been long lost to the decay of time.

All we know is what they left behind: a tomb filled with prehistoric fossils, some of them as much as two million years old, hidden until 1922 AD. It’s a fascinating mystery that we’re only starting to unravel today. We don’t know for sure what sense they made of the bones of the massive prehistoric giants that they found. Slowly but surely, though, archaeologists are unravelling a few clues.

Egyptian fossils in an unwrapped linen bundle.

A Tomb Full Of Prehistoric Bones

It’s taken nearly a century of research to discover anything about the prehistoric fossils found in ancient Egypt. When the first archaeologists, Guy Brunton and Flinders Petrie, found them, they didn’t even fully understand what they’d discovered. All they knew, at first, was that they’d found bundles wrapped in linen, with no idea what could be inside.

The Egyptians, after all, hadn’t put these bones on display. Instead, they’d taken them to a rock-cut tomb near a town called Qau el-Kebir. There, they’d given the massive, prehistoric bones the sort of dignified burial fit for royalty. They’d wrapped them up in fine linens and placed them in the tomb, buried with ivory tools to help them through the afterlife.

Linen bundle still wrapped (supported by modern string) found in a rock-cut tomb at Qau el-Kebir, c.1922-24.

Whatever it was they thought they’d found, they believed it was something worthy of their respect. The tombs of Qau el-Kebir weren’t just makeshift graves thrown together for the occasion; they were the ancient resting places of powerful Egyptian lords, built 1,500 years before the fossils were found.

It was a place for the revered ancient dead; a place fit for the bones of a creature that, 2 million years ago, had terrorized the land that would become Egypt.

Three Tons Of Fossils Transported Over Miles

We still have no idea where the Egyptians found them. In 1926, shortly after they were uncovered, a geologist named K. S. Sandford combed every spot within 500 miles ( km) of Qau trying to track them down without success. To this day, nobody’s been able to figure it out for sure.

All we know is that they were moved. There were more than three tons of them and they had been dragged across miles of wild country, just to bury them again. It must have felt like nothing short of a holy act. It would have taken an incredible amount of effort to move those bones, and a whole team of people must have been involved.

Their destination, Qau el-Kebir, was no ordinary town. It was the centre of a cult dedicated to the god Set, the god of darkness, storms, and confusion. He was the lord of the black land; a monstrous, evil force who was often drawn looking like a monster with a hippopotamus’s head.

Wall relief of fight between Seth and Horus where Horus, helped by Isis, kill Seth (hippopotamus), the temple of Edfu, Egypt.

Without question, the bones were taken there on purpose. Whatever the Egyptians believed they’d found, they thought they belonged to the god of Chaos, and they were willing to do anything to bring them to him.

A Breakthrough In a 90-Year-Old Mystery

After more than 3,000 years buried in a tomb, Gun Brunton and Flinders Petrie pulled the fossils out, only to lock them up once again. They sent their discovery off to a museum, where they were left in unopened crates. Brunton planned on writing a book about them, but he never did. And for nearly 80 years, they just sat in those crates; an incredible discovery was forgotten.

It took until 2007 before anyone looked inside. In part, it was a matter of technology. Nobody wanted to tear open a 3,000-year-old linen bundle and risk destroying a priceless artefact. We had to wait for x-ray scanning machines that could show us what was hidden inside.

But finally, in 2014, the bones were revealed. Little pieces from countless extinct animals were inside: giant wildebeests, crocodiles, boars, horses, buffalos, and even human beings.

Inside the x-ray CT scanner at the Imaging and Analysis Centre, NHM, London. The X-ray source is on the left of the image, and on the right of the image the bundle on the turntable behind it is one of the x-ray detector plates.

But the creature they saw the most of were the bones of massive, prehistoric hippopotamuses – the animal of the god Set. And every fossil had been polished over millions of years by river sands until they shimmered with the colour of the chaos god: pitch black.

The Black Bones Of Set

Nobody knows for sure what the Egyptians thought they’d found – but there are theories. It’s very likely that, 3,300 years ago, the people who found those bones believed that they had stumbled upon the remains of a god.

The Egyptians had come to a similar conclusion before. Early Roman and Greek historians wrote that when the Egyptians found fossils from the coiled shells of nummulites near the pyramids of Giza, they took it as proof that Set had once ruled over their land. The small fossils were taken to a temple in Tienna and, there, were given up as an offering to the gods.

Nummulitid foraminiferans from the Eocene near Al Ain, United Arab Emirates.

They may have felt the same way about the gigantic fossils they put to rest in Qau el-Kebir. The bones had been fossilized – they were incredibly hard – and their religion had long taught that the gods had bones made of iron.

Perhaps they thought what they had found was something more than an animal or a man. Perhaps, as palaeontologist Kenneth Oakley has suggested, they recognized the fossilized remains of humans and giant hippopotamuses and assumed they’d all come from the same place: the remains of the half-human, half-bestial god of chaos, Set.

God of Chaos, Set.

An Ongoing Mystery

That, at least, is one theory – but to this day, nobody knows for sure what the ancient Egyptian fossils meant to the people who uncovered those prehistoric bones. All we have to work off of are a few archaeological finds – and so far, they’ve left us with more questions than answers.

We still don’t know where the bones were found. We still don’t know why they were buried, or why nothing was written about such an incredible find. And we still don’t know for sure what it meant to them.

But bit by bit, we’re uncovering more and more clues that give us a better image of our pasts – just like our ancestors did before us, 3,300 years ago.

EUROPE, ITALY, WORLD

Did Romans Eat Special Foods at Funerals?

Did Romans Eat Special Foods at Funerals?

In the 1950s, a Roman necropolis (or cemetery) was found in the centre of Barcelona, hailing from the second and third centuries AD.

Did Romans Eat Special Foods at Funerals?
Tombs of two adult individuals were found in the Vila de Madrid necropolis.

The site – Plaça de la Vila de Madrid – was excavated again between 2000 and 2003, when a funerary complex of about 500 square feet was discovered. This collective grave – containing the remains or ashes of 66 individuals – was set up to bury slaves or low-income free people.

By paying a monthly fee during their lifetimes, Romans of the lowest echelons could secure decent burials. However, problems arose when relatives had to carry out obligatory ritual banquets in front of the tombs, for not everyone could celebrate the deceased as tradition dictated. For instance, according to authors like Cicero, a tomb was only considered a tomb following the sacrifice of a pig – a high-priced animal beyond the reach of slaves or most citizens.

Within the necropolis, in addition to human remains, some animal bones have also been found, confirming that the funerary rites required by law – such as banquets and offerings – were indeed carried out.

A hole was made in the graves, through which food and drink were introduced. Offerings, banquets and animal sacrifices were made to ensure the nourishment and protection of the deities and the memory of the deceased. Archaeologists have also unearthed pottery and plants inside the tombs.

In a study for the academic journal Plos One titled “Food for the soul and food for the body: studying dietary patterns and funerary meals in the Western Roman Empire,” the authors explain that “the age, sex, offerings and diet of the buried individuals show some differences… suggesting that the inequalities present in life could have also persisted in the funerary rituals.”

FONDO DE EXCAVACIONES ANTIGUAS-MHCB

The human remains found in Vila de Madrid have been subjected to carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis to determine the diet of the buried individuals, so as to contrast it with the remains of the animals consumed during the funerary banquet. And, in addition to human remains, animal bones have also been analyzed.

The analysis has determined that 30 per cent of identified animals were pigs, 27.1 per cent bovines, 24.3 per cent goats and 10 per cent chickens. Remains of roe deer, hare, rabbit and fox were also documented.

The most frequent bones documented were scapulae, humeri, radii, ulnae, pelvis, femurs and tibias, indicating that the parts richest in meat were consumed, although they came from old animals in order to reduce the costs of the banquets.

“This is an important point, as it suggests that only animals that could not be exploited for other purposes were being slaughtered… therefore, the economic burden of slaughtering could be minimized,” notes the article in Plos One.

Women and men in Rome did not eat the same protein sources – men generally ate more meat.

“This could mean that sociocultural tastes for food were different between the sexes, or that more males than females had access to protein-rich resources perhaps due to custom, social status, wealth, or medical advice.”

Roman doctors advised “eating different types of food depending on mood.” Men, they thought, were “hot and dry,” so it was recommended that they eat “cold and wet food,” such as fish. Women, on the other hand, were “cold and wet,” so they had to eat “hot and dry food, like oats.”

In short, the study reveals that “although the offerings and banquets were stipulated by law, not everyone could afford to make sumptuous or rich offerings.

The presence of bird remains and portions rich in meat suggests that the relatives of the deceased tried to follow the law as closely as possible.” Yet, it is clear that the poor did not eat like the rich… even in death.

EUROPE, POLAND, WORLD

Padlocked, restrained female ‘vampire’ discovered in 17th-century graveyard

Padlocked, restrained female ‘vampire’ discovered in 17th-century graveyard

Padlocked, restrained female ‘vampire’ discovered in 17th-century graveyard
Archaeologists in Poland have uncovered the skeletal remains of a woman that was likely believed to have been a vampire at the time she died.

The remains of a “female vampire” have been uncovered by archaeologists at a 17th-century graveyard in Pień, Poland. Professor Dariusz Poliński and a team of researchers from Nicolaus Copernicus University were conducting the dig when they discovered the skeletal remains of the woman, who had been pinned to the ground with a sickle across her throat.

The popular farming tool was commonly used by superstitious Poles in the 1600s to try and restrain a deceased person thought to be a vampire so that they would be unable to return from the dead.

“The sickle was not laid flat but placed on the neck in such a way that if the deceased had tried to get up… the head would have been cut off or injured,” Poliński told the Daily Mail.

The professor also noted that the dead woman had a padlock wrapped around her toe — further strengthening the theory that she was considered a vampire at the time of her death.

Sickles were commonly used by superstitious Poles in the 1600s to try and restrain a deceased person thought to be a vampire.
“The sickle was not laid flat but placed on the neck in such a way that if the deceased had tried to get up… the head would have been cut off or injured,” Poliński stated.

Poliński claimed the lock would have been used during the burial process to symbolize “the impossibility of returning.”

The researchers did not disclose the presumed age of the deceased but said a silk cap found on her skull indicates that she was of high social status.

According to Smithsonian magazine, residents across Eastern Europe initially became fearful of vampires in the 11th century, believing that “some people who died would claw their way out of the grave as blood-sucking monsters that terrorized the living.”

By the 17th century, “unusual burial practices became common across Poland in response to a reported outbreak of vampires,” Science Alert reported.

There is still no scholarly consensus around how people came to be classified as “vampires,” but they were often violently executed across various parts of the continent, according to Poliński.

By the 17th century, “unusual burial practices became common across Poland in response to a reported outbreak of vampires,” Science Alert reported.
The researchers did not disclose the presumed age of the deceased but said a silk cap found on her skull indicates that she was of high social status.

And, even after their deaths, their bodies were further mutilated to make sure they wouldn’t return to wreak havoc on local villagers.

“Other ways to protect against the return of the dead include cutting off the head or legs, placing the deceased face down to bite into the ground, burning them, and smashing them with a stone,” Poliński stated.

The discovery of the “female vampire” in Pień — located in the south of the country — comes seven years after the remains of five other presumed vampires were unearthed in the town of Drawsko, 130 miles away.

The dig was conducted in the town of Pień, in southern Poland.

All five of those found there had similarly been buried with sickles across their throats.

Meanwhile, back in 2013, The Post reported that archaeologists had uncovered a “vampire gravesite” outside of the town of Gliwice, where multiple skeletons were found decapitated with their severed heads placed near their legs.

PERU, SOUTH AMERICA, WORLD

Possible Priest’s Grave Discovered at Pacopampa

Possible Priest’s Grave Discovered at Pacopampa

A team of archaeologists have discovered what they believe to be the tomb of a religious leader from ancient Peru at the Pacopampa site, a priestly figure, who was baptized as the “priest of the pututos,” or the priest of the shell trumpets.

The Pacopampa priest’s tomb remains have been dated to around 1000 BC. He was buried with musical instruments and an assortment of exotic objects.

Pacopampa is located in the province of Chota in the larger Cajamarca region. The tomb was located in the “La Capilla” building, and the man in the Pacopampa priest’s tomb was between 25 and 35 years of age, as reported by Agency Andina. Two other tombs have also been previously found at the site: the Lady of Pacopampa, who died in 750 BC (discovered in 2009), and the Serpent Jaguar Priest, from 700 BC (uncovered in 2015).

The National University of San Marcos and the Ethnographic Museum of Japan team, pictured here, that discovered the Pacopampa priest’s tomb has been working at the site since 2005.

The Pacopampa Priest’s Tomb: Uncovering a Tomb Full of Riches

The Peruvian National University of San Marcos and the Ethnographic Museum of Japan have been working on the Pacopampa site continuously since 2005.

Together, this team has undertaken numerous research projects within the framework of the International Cooperation Agreement on Research and Development, signed between both countries in 1988.

The Pacopampa priest’s tomb had been sealed with a huge rock that weighed more than half a ton (1,100 pounds). Inside, the team found offerings, votive deposits, trousseaus of exotic objects, seashell necklaces, malachite beads, and semi-precious stone earmuffs. And they also found pututos or shell trumpets.

Pututos were used as instruments in rituals and ceremonies. Ancient pututos were made from seashells imported from northern seaside settlements, including Tumbes and Guayaquil.

In a report, the archaeologists have argued that the Pacopampa shell trumpets are older than the ones found in Kuntur Wasi in Cajamarca, and Chavin de Huantar in Ancash.

“The burial is also associated with the Strombus snail that you don’t find in the Peruvian sea but in the Ecuadorian one. They were brought from a faraway place, it could mean this person had a quite important religious power back then,” said Yuji Seki, one of the directors of the Pacopampa Archaeological Project, to Reuters. The team has also shared the Pacopampa priest’s tomb finds on their Twitter account.

The original state of the Pacopampa priest’s tomb when it was first opened and before it was “cleaned up.”

The Pacopampa Archaeological Complex and a New Museum

The Pacopampa Archaeological Complex was a large ceremonial centre made with carved and polished stone. There are 12 archaeological sites within the complex, including La Capilla and El Mirador. In 2009, the tomb of a 30–40-year-old woman, “La Dama de Pacopampa” (The Dame of Pacopampa), was discovered at the site, she was believed to be a woman of power in the local community.

In 2012, five more tombs were discovered that were dated to roughly 2,900 years ago.

The first occupation at the Pacopampa Archaeological Complex dates to the beginning of the Middle Formative Period (1200 BC onwards). Historical records indicate a constant stream of construction right up until 500 BC. The temperate climate and fertile soils, along with ready access to the Chotano River provided this flourishing civilization with an abundance of corn, beans, squash, and yacon.

Roxana Judith Padilla Malca, director of the Decentralized Directorate of Culture of Cajamarca, is the head of the complex. She has highlighted the work of the Japanese and Peruvian researchers. The archaeological complex is widely believed to be the most extensive and important one in the Sierra Norte region of Peru.

Further digging has been approved by the Ministry of Culture for the 2022 season, under the supervision of archaeologist Francisco Esquerre, representatives of the Cajamarca Decentralized Directorate of Culture announced.

There are plans now to construct a site museum, which the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism has promised to finance. The facility will showcase the work of this international research team and give the public a chance to see the treasures of ancient northern Peru.

EUROPE, IRELAND, WORLD

Carvings Discovered at Ireland’s Grange Stone Circle

Carvings Discovered at Ireland’s Grange Stone Circle

An aerial view of the Grange Stone Circle in Lough Gur, County Limerick.

An Irish archaeological photographer has discovered a remarkable series of prehistoric carvings at the Grange Stone Circle in Lough Gur, County Limerick. 

Ken Williams, a leading Irish archaeological photographer, has developed methods of lighting stones so that they can be photographed to maximum effect, allowing him to find a series of carvings over the past few years. 

Williams was returning to check the stones at Grange Stone Circle as part of his research when he discovered the new carvings. 

The new carvings are particularly spectacular due to the presence of concentric circles and arcs found on the back and sides of a stone at the north entrance passage to the prehistoric enclosure. 

Dr. Elizabeth Shee Twohig, who has published extensive research on megalithic and rock art, remarked that the carvings are extremely rare for Munster and Connacht. 

“The carvings are quite like those at passage tombs in the North and East of the country, such as Knowth and Newgrange, but there is only a single carved stone of this kind in Munster or Connaught,” Dr. Shee Twohig said in a statement. 

“It is possible that the stone is contemporary with the banked enclosure henge at c.3000 BC and was incorporated into the circle built inside the enclosure at a slightly later date.” 

The Grange Stone Circle in Lough Gur, County Limerick.

Minister of State for Heritage Malcolm Noonan welcomed the discovery of the carvings.

“This is a site that has both captivated and intrigued locals and visitors for many years. It shows yet again the capacity our national monuments have to surprise and engage us,” he said in a statement. 

The Grange Stone Circle is the largest standing stone circle in Ireland, measuring 150 ft in diameter and enclosed by 113 stones. 

The circle’s largest stone is Rannach Chruim Duibh, which weighs over 40 tons and is over 13 ft tall. 

The circle comprises a ring of continuous upright stones backed by a nine-meter-wide earthen bank reaching 1.2 meters in height. 

Ken Williams said he plans to publish the new carvings in an academic paper, where he will describe the art and discuss comparable examples. 

ASIA, ISRAEL, WORLD

Israeli archaeologists dig up the large tusk of an ancient elephant

Israeli archaeologists dig up the large tusk of an ancient elephant

Israeli archaeologists dig up the large tusk of an ancient elephant
A fossilized tusk from a giant prehistoric elephant emerged from an excavation site near Kibbutz Revadim in southern Israel

Israeli archaeologists have unearthed the complete tusk of a giant prehistoric elephant that once roamed around the Mediterranean. The 2.6-meter (8.5-foot) remnant, weighing approximately 150 kilograms (330 pounds), is estimated to be around half a million years old.

“This is the largest complete fossil tusk ever found at a prehistoric site in Israel or the Near East,” Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) prehistorian Avi Levy, who headed the dig, said on Wednesday. 

It belonged to a Palaeoloxodon antiquus, or straight-tusked elephant, that would have stood up to 5 meters tall, significantly larger than today’s African elephants.

Levy said the tusk would be preserved and transferred to a lab for further analysis to “try to define the age, where he lived, where he walked.”

The tusk will be displayed at National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel in Jerusalem once the conservation process is complete

Mystery over who hunted the behemoth

What makes the find even more exciting is that it was found in an area where stone and flint tools and other animal remains have been recovered.

It is “very puzzling, very enigmatic,” said Omry Barzilai, an IAA archaeologist, explaining that the dig team did not know whether ancient people hunted the behemoth on the spot or whether they brought the felled animal’s tusk from further away.

The site in modern-day Revadim, Israel, was dated to the late lower palaeolithic period, around 500,000 years ago, based on stone tools found in the vicinity, the antiquities authority said.

But half a million years ago, when the ancient elephant died, the now-arid terrain was likely a swamp or shallow lake, an ideal habitat for ancient hominids.

The identity of the prehistoric humans who inhabited the region — a land bridge from Africa to Asia and Europe — was “a mystery,” said Levy.

“We haven’t found remains of people here, we only find their material culture the trash they discarded after use, whether animal bones or flint tools,” the historian added.

EUROPE, FINLAND, WORLD

Rare silver coins minted by Viking king Harald Bluetooth were found in Finland

Rare silver coins minted by Viking king Harald Bluetooth were found in Finland

Rare silver coins minted by Viking king Harald Bluetooth were found in Finland
The 12 silver coins were minted by Harald Bluetooth.

In May of 2022, Finnish metal detectorists discovered a silver cache from the Viking Age in a field in Mynämäki, a municipality of Finland located in the Southwest Finland region.

The follow-up excavations carried out by the Finnish Heritage Agency uncovered silver coins and pieces of silver jewellery. 

The hoard included 12 coins minted by Viking king Harald Bluetooth. They are considered very rare, as only a couple of such coins have previously been found in Finland. 

Furthermore, researchers were able to make a noteworthy discovery – the objects were brought to Mynämäki from Poland.

METAL DETECTORIST DISCOVERS TREASURE, IMMEDIATELY CALLS NATIONAL MUSEUM OFFICE

The batch of silver objects was found during a metal-detecting trip by enthusiasts of the Vakka-Suomen Metallinetsijät association. 

“My hands were shaking… This was my most spectacular find so far and the first intact cache I’ve found,” metal detectorist Oskari Heikkilä said.

After stumbling upon the find, Heikkilä stopped digging, left the rest of the objects in their place, and reported his findings to the National Heritage Agency. 

The following week, archaeologists visited the site to carry out trial excavations. A small excavation area was processed at the location of the find, and the rest of the silver cache was carefully lifted from the ground.

The investigations by the National Heritage Agency determined that the objects were densely concentrated, and they may have originally been left in, for example, a leather bag. 

Small pieces of Iron Age pottery vessels were also found in the dark soil layer of the excavation area, which suggests that the site may have been inhabited. Mynämäki is known for many Iron Age sites and finds.

Now, the field area where the cache was found has been registered as a protected archaeological site, and metal detecting and digging will not be allowed there without the permission of the National Heritage Agency. 

No further studies are currently planned.

Metal detectorists were present at the site during the expert investigations.

SILVER COINS MINTED BY HARALD BLUETOOTH

Jani Oravisjärvi, the curator of the Finnish National Museum who investigated the coins, described the find as “important and interesting.” 

“I got the initial information about the discovery directly from Oskari in the field, who sent me pictures of the discovery. My eyes almost immediately fell on Harald Bluetooth’s money, and I noticed four (of his) coins in the photographs. 

“I knew we were now on the verge of an important and interesting discovery. It was a great privilege to be the first to get all the discovered coins and objects on my desk,” Oravisjärvi said, according to the Agency.

As many as 12 silver coins minted by the Viking king Harald Bluetooth (911–986 CE) were eventually identified, which makes the find exceptional. 

In the past, only one or two similar coins have been found in Finland. In total, about one hundred silver coins were recovered from the place where the cache was found. 

The find contains money from a range of around 250 years. The majority of the coins date to the last decades of the 9th century, but none of the coins in the cache date to the 11th century with certainty. 

From Pomerania to Mynämäki

The origin of money is very diverse. Along with Iraq and Central Asia, the stash includes money from England, Denmark, Poland, Germany, Switzerland, and Strassburg, France.

“At that time, hundreds of different mints were operating in Europe. In addition, dozens of mints operated in the Caliphate and Central Asia. 

“Furthermore, at that time, money circulated completely freely, so the place where the money was minted was not as important as it is today. The most important thing was the material of the money, i.e., silver,” Oravisjärvi explained.

Based on the composition, it is very likely that the silver treasure originated in Pomerania, the area of present-day Poland. One of the fragments of the silverware is identical to the plate buckles previously found in Pomerania.

“The origin of the money can almost always be identified. The problem is that the money is often from dozens of different places, making it difficult to tell where the cache originally came from. However, in the case of this discovery, we can do that”, Oravisjärvi said.

The discovery will now become part of the Archaeological Collections of the National Heritage Agency. 

All In One Magazine