While searching for a lost earring, a Norwegian family makes an incredible discovery in their garden. Now the case is getting bigger and bigger.
Jomfruland – Actually, the Aasvik family was just looking for an earring that their grandma lost in her garden. But the Norwegian family made an incredible discovery. Like that Smithsonian magazine reports, dad Jan Erik Aasvik used a metal detector to scan the ground in front of the house on the sparsely populated island of Jomfruland in the southeast of the country for the missing piece of jewelry. Under a large tree, right in front of the terrace, the device suddenly started beeping loudly.
However, there was no trace of grandma’s earring. “I took the spade and started digging,” Jan Erik Aasvik later told the Norwegian newspaper Kragerø Vestmar. The self-proclaimed treasure hunter didn’t have to dig far; after just a few centimeters he came across two bronze ornaments. “I didn’t know what it was, but it looked old,” reports the father of the family. He asked for help in a Facebook group. The community there was able to help quickly. It is not uncommon for treasures to be found in the Scandinavian country, which is known for its natural spectacles.
After a sensational discovery: an archaeologist from Norway contacts the father of the family
Shortly afterwards, the Norwegian archaeologist Vibeke Lia, who saw the post, contacted the father of the family. “I was sure it was a discovery from the Viking Age,” she tells the portal Dagbladet. And she’s right. The Aasvik family’s treasure is bronze brooches from the eighth century. The larger of the two brooches has loud Cultural Office of the Norwegian Province of Fylkeskommune an oval shape and most likely served as the shoulder straps of a women’s dress. “It looks great and functions like a kind of safety pin,” explains Lia. The smaller brooch, on the other hand, is circular, which initially makes it difficult for experts to identify it.
The objects are also decorated with elaborate engravings of animals and geometric patterns and show traces of gold. The archaeologist therefore believes that the brooches were once covered with the valuable precious metal. According to the scientists’ initial findings, the site was the grave of an aristocratic Viking woman. “We don’t know if there is a settlement associated with the place, but people often buried their dead near roads or near their houses in their gardens,” says Lia. Spectacular finds also occur regularly in Germany.
Despite the age of the brooches, they are still in “pretty good condition,” emphasizes Viebke Lia. The reason for this is probably the Aasvik family’s garden. Because the location is crucial for the preservation of the relics. “This place has never been plowed before,” says the archaeologist Live Science.
Family finds Viking treasure in the garden – relics are in the district council office
Archaeologists had previously discovered posts in the southwestern part of Jomfruland that Vikings may have used to assert their claim to the conquered land. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the warlike sailors were also based on the island.
The authorities have not yet agreed on what will happen to the site. “The next step is probably to assess whether this site is at risk of deterioration,” notes the archaeologist. “If it is safe there, it will probably not be dug up, but kept where it is.” The relics are currently on the district council’s desk, but will soon be sent to the Art History Museum in Oslo. Whether on land or on water. Historical treasures are increasingly being discovered using metal detectors. Just recently, a man in Poland discovered valuable coins in a field.
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