Finds by the river Seut tell a cruel story

This fall is the bustling activity of archaeologists in our district. Not least, it is exciting to continue the Gjellestad excavation, but now the Viken County Municipality has also begun investigations of the western route to the double track, yielding immediate results.

Last week, the Museum of Cultural History also carried out an urgent investigation of a field along the Seut river in Råde in Østfold, following a discovery made by a private individual last year.

The finding was first mentioned by NRK (external link).

The costs of the survey are covered by the National Heritage Board.

Now archaeologists are linking the discovery to a catastrophe that affected the world 1,500 years ago and that affected the population as hard as the Black Death.

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Archaeologist Jessica MacGraw in the field at the site. Photo: Gry Catinka Wold

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– Especially rare

On the ground, archaeologists Margrete Simonsen, Jessica McGraw and Magne Samdal have found three more gold bracteates. A total of seven bracteates have been found.

– They lay down next to the rock at the edge of the field. We believe the closure was here, and that it was a ritual closure, says project director Margrete Simonsen.

The earliest gold bracteates found lay at some intervals and have probably been plowed up.

– The three we found now were a little closer than the previous finds that have been made. They were here where today there is an approximate area on top of the earth. One was on the left side of a trench that was dug in the 1980s, and the other two were on the embankment that was laid, that is, the soil that was next to the rock wall and that was moved when they dug the ditch, explains McGraw.

This type of archaeological find, where something is buried in a hole, is called a deposit find. Gold bracteates, as a type of pendant, date from the migratory period and probably from the 500th century.

– This is a particularly rare find, says Simonsen.

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Left: the gold bract extracted from the site. The surface has been carefully cleaned with water and we see that the motif contains a figure resembling a horned horse with a rider and a symbol of the sun. Middle: A type D gold bract right after it was found. Right: After gentle cleaning with a soft brush in a water bath, the animal figures in the D-bracteate motif appear more easily. Photo: Jessica Leigh McGraw / Museum of Cultural History

Also read: Traces of the Stone Age found in a hole in the middle of the Råde show (Democrat +)

Valuable offer

Archaeologists believe that the jewels may have been placed on the ground in connection with bad years and bad times, to appease the gods.

– We are thinking about a closure of victims, because here there is no grave or anything like that, says Simonsen.

The gold bracteates have loops and may have sat together on a large necklace. They may also have been used as individual pendants and placed as various pieces of jewelry.

– But isn’t it an insane sacrifice, considering the courage it must have had at that time?

– Absolutely. Can you say that. It is difficult to say specifically who has owned such a valuable gem. But we think that these objects have belonged to the upper social strata of society, or people who have played a special role in society. The fact that some have had access to valuable gold and objects as special as this, also testifies to special networks of contacts and relationships within the elite in Scandinavia. Gullbrakteater has also been found in graves, mostly female. At least one of Råde’s finds is characterized by wear and tear and refers to use as a pendant or amulet before closure.

According to Wikipedia, the migratory period replaces the Roman period or Roman Iron Age, which is calculated archaeologically and historically until the great migratory waves and convulsions in Europe around the year 400.

The era is named after the great migrations on the European continent, and especially the migrations of Huns and Goths from the 4th century onwards. There are also major changes in Norway, in settlement and in funeral customs. The basis for the new power structures is formed at the end of the migration period.

Archaeologist Margrete Simonsen (inset) is one of three responsible for the excavation at Seut. She believes that the closure of the fantastic gold jewels is likely related to the winter of Fimbul during the migration period. Photograph: Margrete Simonsen / Gry Catinka Wold

Do I offer you Fimbulvinter?

Furthermore, there were other factors that made the period challenging for the Norsemen at the time.

“The winter called Fimbul winter is coming. It drives snow everywhere. It is very cold and windy. Nothing enjoys the sun. There are three winters of this type, with no summers in between.” Snorre writes in his book Edda.

– It is a period with very great difficult climatic conditions. There is a volcanic eruption, around 535-36, and as a result erosion. We know from Europe that there are three summers without normal sun. And then there are more waves of plague afterwards. We believe there is a connection here. Who have made the sacrifice to come into contact with the powers and appease the gods, gain control of the forces of nature.

According to Forskning.no, the Fimbul winter is not a myth, and about half of the people in Norway and Sweden died as a result of many years of bad years and tragedies. And it is precisely at this time that archaeologists believe that the sacrifice took place on the Seut River.

– Archaeological, this is rarely found. It’s the needle in the haystack, says McGraw.

– And it is rare that we have carried out investigations of finds in deposits. There were a lot of things that happened in the 19th century, when people worked more with the land, says Simonsen.

But in the last hundred years, such discoveries have almost never been made.

According to Per Ditlof Fredriksen, associate professor in the Department of Archeology, Conservation and History at the University of Oslo, the early part of this historical period corresponds to an eerily quiet time in Norway; there are very few archaeological finds from the years 550 to 650, he points out in the article One Hundred Years of Silence on Norgeshistorie.no.

Fact box

• Gullbrakteater a special type of pendant in the form of loops with loops that have a mark or motif on only one side and are dated to the time of migration (approx. 400-550 AD).
• About. 900 finds of bracts are known and they have been found in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and England.
• From Norway we have 160 finds of bracts from before. These are from both deposit finds, tomb finds, and individual finds
• When two or more bracteates close together, it is called a deposit finding. In Scandinavia, more than 90 deposit finds with bracteates have been found. Deposit findings are understood as a victim closure
• Gold bract can be divided into five different groups called bracts A, B, C, D and F. The oldest, called type A, are imitations of medallions of the Roman emperor with a human head in profile and characters in the form of letters. . A distinctive Nordic tradition is gradually developing with other motifs, but still with elements of old models.
• From the Nordic motifs appear both human figures, animals, symbols and runes, runic signs and imitation of Latin inscriptions
• The figures or stage representations can be linked to mythological figures known from pre-Christian Norse theology. It is first of all Odin, but also Tyr, Balder and Loki who are in the photo. Some bracteates may have shamanic representations.
• Probably used as a form of amulets, perceived as magical, protective and evil items.
• From the animal figures appear four-legged animals, similar to horned horses, as well as birds and other band-shaped animal figures.