Fornvännen - Journal of Swedish Antiquarian Research

Book mount converted into a pendant found at Birka, and part of a book mount found at Adelsö. Photo: Sven Kalmring

Part of a paten from grave 632 converted into a pendant

#OpenAccess
Gustaf Trotzig (2025) "Böcker i Birka." [Eng sum: Books in Birka]
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Christian influence in the #VikingAge town of #Birka as seen through manuscripts as well as finds of book parts reworked as jewelry.
#Medieval #Archaeology

A polished human bone from Borstahusen that was found in one of the layers of the wetland that could have been used for preparation of skin. Photo: Felicia Hellgren, National Historical Museums, Sweden

#OpenAccess
Hellgren et al: Bronsåldersliv vid en våtmark: Profana och rituella aktiviteter i Borstahusen, Skåne, under mellersta bronsålder
[Eng sum: Bronze Age life by a wetland: Profane and ritual activities c. 1200–800 BC.]
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#Archaeology #BronzeAge

Bokomslag för Anna Andréasson Sjögrens avhandling "Från kål till Paradis: Medeltidens trädgårdar inom dagens Sverige."

Bokomslag för Jenny Nybergs avhandling "Förgängligheten och evigheten: Samhällselitens förhållande till döden genom omhändertagandet av de döendes och dödas kroppar i det tidigmoderna Sverige ca 1500–1800."

Bokomslag för Charina Knutssons avhandling "Indigenous Archaeology in Sweden: Aligning Contract Archaeology with National and International Policies on Indigenous Heritage."

#OpenAccess
Jes Wienberg, Jonas Monié Nordin och Martin Hansson recenserar tre nya avhandlingar av Jenny Nyberg, Charina Knutsson respektive Anna Andréasson Sjögren:
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#Archaeology #History #Sami

Gold foil round pendant, with a central horse motif, surrounded by runes.

In 2009 an early 6th Century gold bracteate was discovered in Trollhättan, Sweden, with a #runic inscription around its border. In a short report (Swe) Staffan Fridell suggests a the last name should be read backwards.
#OpenAccess #Archaeology #Linguistics
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Excavation plan of the oldest part of the church, by Christina Rosén

Plan of what the church looked like around the year 1600.

#OpenAccess
Rosén, C.: "Kyrkan i Nya Lödöse: dess byggnadshistoria med några paralleller." (Eng sum: The Nya Lödöse Church: Building history and some parallels)
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Archaeological excavations of a 16th church revealed grand plans that had to be scaled down
#Archaeology #History

View of the castle from the north side. Reconstructions and extensions were executed mainly during the 17th century. At the beginning of the 19th century the castle was given the exterior in Renaissance style that can still be seen today. The medieval part of the castle is clearly defined in the western part of the building. Photo: Herman Andersson

Detail of the Crucifixion showing the robber Gestas whose soul is taken by the devil and two angels collecting the blood of Christ. Photo: Anna Flarup

#OpenAccess
Andersson, H. (2025). "Medeltida kalkmålningar på Wanås slott." (Eng sum: Medieval wallpaintings at the castle of Wanås)
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#Medieval wallpainting with biblical motifs were discovered in 2005 at the castle of Wanås, Sweden.
#History #Iconography

Herslev metal goad with a figure of a horse attached, an x-ray showing the goad’s construction, and a reconstruction of the zoomorphic spur it was once part of . Photos by Museum Vestsjælland. Figure by Leszek Gardeła

The ‘visual grammar’ of the Western Slavic animal style in Poland, with horses, cattle and snake figures on jewelry and horse equipment. Image design Leszek Gardeła.

#OpenAccess
Gardeła, L., & Borake, T. L. (2025). "The Spur Goad from Herslev: tracing the Legacy of a Western Slavic Rider in Viking Age Denmark."
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On #VikingAge zoomorphic spurs and #Slavic iconography from Poland.
#IronAge #Medieval #Archaeology

The eagle claw from Gamla Skogsby. The claw measures 27 mm from the joint surface to the tip. Photo: Linn Karlsson Reinhold

Plan of the Iron Age longhouse oriented in east-west direction, with the find spot of the raptor claw marked by the middle of the northern wall. By Magdalena Svensson-Frey

#OpenAccess #Archaeology
Papmehl-Dufay, L., Karlsson Reinhold, L., & Ericson, P. G. P. (2025). En rovfågelsklo från Gamla Skogsby på Öland.
[Eng sum: A raptor claw from Gamla Skogsby and what it reveals about the elites]
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#IronAge #Osteology #MigrationPeriod

Book cover showing a Saami drum stick in horn with ornamental carvings

#OpenAccess
Review in Swedish by Jonas Monié Nordin of "Decolonising Medieval Fennoscandia: An Interdisciplinary Study of Norse-Saami relations in the medieval period" by Solveig Marie Wang
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The book is also Open Access:
www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
#Saami

Bookcover showing of part of a building with the name Specks Hof carved in stone

#OpenAccess
Review (in Swedish) by Birgitta Hårdh of Claus von Carnap-Bornheim's "Kriegsbedingt zerstört – wissenschaftlich rekonstruiert: Die PrussiaSammlung aus dem Königsberger Schloss."
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Chart with radiocarbon dates from three passage gaves showing use also in Late Neolithic and early Bronze Age

#OpenAccess #ShortReport
Anna Tornberg: "Chronological perspectives on Scanian passage graves: new radiocarbon dates from Gillhög, Öllsjö 7 and Carlshögen."
Evidence of burials in #Megalith #PassageGraves in Late #Neolithic and #BronzeAge #Sweden
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Ceramic resurrection egg from Sigtuna, Uppland. Cracked, tarnished but completely preserved, revealing a small clay ball inside, in order to create a rattling sound when shaken. One of the two Sigtuna eggs which, according to ICP clay analysis, was manufactured in Kiev. Photo: Sigtuna museum

The same egg when closed. Bottom glaze light grey, curly brackets glaze light yellow. Photo: Sigtuna Museum

These 11th C glazed resurrection eggs were made by Byzantine speacialists who moved to Ancient Rus. Very few have been found in Scandinavia, most in the town of Sigtuna in East Sweden, and also on the island of Gotland.
#Archaeology #Medieval #Byzantium #EarlyChristianity #Ukraine

Ceramic resurrection egg from Sigtuna. Glossy, with a chestnut-coloured bottom glaze and light yellow glaze pattern of curly brackets. Size: 44 mm. Rattles when shaken. Swedish History Museum, Stockholm. Photo: Ola Myrin

Happy Easter!
In the latest issue Edberg et al use ICP/MA-ES analysis on the ceramic eggs found at Sigtuna and strengthen their origin to Kiev and Ukraine
"Glazed ceramic resurrection eggs found in Sweden and their Slavic origins."
#OpenAccess #Medieval #Archaeolgy
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Oscar Montelius in 1910. An old man with a prominent moustache, dressed in dark coat and black tophat. Standing behind a model of a dolmen megalith and in front of a dispay of stone axes in a glass case covering the whole wall. Source: Stockholmskällan archive https://stockholmskallan.stockholm.se/post/4548

Andersson, Adam: "The evolution of Oscar Montelius: a critical historiographical analysis on his academic legacy, and the influences that shaped his later research."
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#OpenAcess #Archaeology #History
On the impact that Kossinna had on Montelius' work btw 1910-1921.

Map of Stockholm’s Southern Early Modern suburb before town plan regulation about 1640. Dark green overlay representing streets that the oldest plan and the regulation work plan agree on. Greyish black overlay represent streets that can be located precisely with the aid of the work plan, but not with the oldest plan. Light green overlay represent streets that can be located reasonably precisely with the aid of the oldest plan, but which have no equivalents on the work plan. Map by Wramler

Rundkvist, M & Wramler, A: "Vägnät och kvartersindelning på Stockholms malmar före 1600-talets stadsplaneregleringar."
[Eng sum: Street networks and block division in Stockholm’s Early Modern suburbs prior to the town plan regulations of the 17th century]
#OpenAccess
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Distribution map of registered bloomery sites for iron production in Sweden. Large clusters from southern Småland to Jämtland, but also as far up North as Norrbotten.

One of two KDE_plots divided into the different regions of the study. KDE_plot creates more compressed curves where green and red boundary marks the beginning and end respectively. Evidence of bloomeries in especially Central Sweden, but also northernmost, in the Bronze Age around 1000 BCE.

#OpenAccess
Hennius, A. et al. 2025: "Järnframställning i blästugn: en uppdaterad kronologi." [Engl sum: An updated chronology of iron production in bloomery furnaces in Sweden]
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Evidence of #IronProduction in late #BronzeAge #Sweden through 1250 14C-dates.
#Archaeology

Fornvännen 2025/1 Nummer 2025:1 av Fornvännen med artiklar, fakta och recensioner har nu nått alla prenumeranter. Fornvännen finns också att låna på bibliotek. För nya prenumerationer mejla order@bokorder.se . Fornvä...

Issue 2025:1 #OpenAccess
#Archaeology #History #Medieval #IronAge
vitterhetsakademien.se/publikatione...

And for those with further interest in Dirhams I recommend this short note from 2024 in @fornvannen.bsky.social on “Dirham Background Radiation”
👇

raa.diva-portal.org/smash/get/di...

Fyra får medalj av Vitterhetsakademien - Nättidningen Svensk Historia Kungl. Vitterhetsakademien delar varje år ut ett antal medaljer för värdefulla och förtjänstfulla insatser och har nu utsett 2025 års mottagare: Tor Broström, Karin Helander…

Kungl. Vitterhetsakademien delar varje år ut ett antal medaljer för värdefulla och förtjänstfulla insatser och har nu utsett 2025 års mottagare: Tor Broström, Karin Helander, Barbara Törnquist-Plewa och Elina Antell. svenskhistoria.se/fyra-far-med... #svhist

Book cover for the book Erkebispegården, showing photo of the Medieval houses of the bishop's manor, with drawings of now lost structures

Book cover for First Farmers on the Island of Bornholm, photo of eight large polished flint axes.

Recensioner av "Erkebispegården ved Nidarosdomen" av Øivind Lunde och "The First Farmers on the Island of Bornholm" av Poul Otto Nielsen & Finn Ole Sonne Nielsen.
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Grey rock outcrops with white markings of a large number of small cup marks

#OpenAccess Kort meddelande
Odebäck, K. (2024). "Besynnerliga lämningar av sten: vända skålgropsblock, vallar och terrasser i Norvik."
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Radiocarbon datings from the two features in the mire indicates that the wood was cut down over a relatively short period, 3950–3650 cal BC

#OpenAccess Short report [Swe]
Carlsson, T., Bergman, J., Vanhanen, S., & Palm, F. (2024). "Ännu en träkonstruktion i Alvastra källmyr." [Wood construction at Alvastra mire]
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Mångvetenskaplig analys av en nyligen upptäck konstruktion nära Alvastra pålbyggnad

Gotlandic picture stones from the late Scandinavian Iron Age. a) Outer shapes of the picture stone types A, B, C, D, E and the cist stone. b to d: real examples of the types.

Examples of thickly bedded limestone types which were used as raw materials for picture stones. Picture stone details showing characteristics of these limestone types

#OpenAccess
Hänsel, P., Oehrl, S., Widerström, P., Ideström, L., & Munnecke, A. (2024). "The raw material preferences for producing picture stones on Gotland."
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#IronAge #Archaeology #RockArt #Geology

Altar frontal from Höfdi church, western Iceland from the 15th or 16th century, showing the Crucifiction and two women on either side of Christ.

16th century altar frontal from Kalfafell church, north-western Iceland. The central motif of a bishop is embroidered with silk and metal threads, and the surrounding decorative pattern is of wool yarn

#OpenAccess
Skoglund, G., Suomela, J., & Wright, K. (2024). "Icelandic church embroideries on flax and hemp linen: local or imported bast fibers?"
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#Paleobotanical analysis of plant origin of textiles at National Museum of #Iceland. #MiddleAge #History

Drawing of the famous ancient monument Newgrange in Ireland by Louisa Beaufort in 1828. The mound then covered the megalithic tomb almost completely.

Today the #midwinter sun entered Newgrange. In our latest #OpenAccess issue Nicklasson shines a light on the hidden women in 19th C antiquarian research. E.g. Louisa Beaufort who drew and wrote about the monument in 1828:
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[Swe/Eng sum] #Archaeology #WomenHistory

Kulturreservatet Stensjö by söker ny lantbrukare! www.vitterhetsakademien.se/kulturfastig...

If, like me, you geek out for #Viking metrology and particularly those weights (like the cubo-octahedral, oblate spheroid and lead-inset types) seemingly designed to work better with the weighing of increasingly fragmented hacksilver and dirhams of the 860s and 870s+, then do I have a book for you!

2. Christmas, a time for family… and killing - Ragna's Islands: A New Saga Given the number of festive passages in the saga, some only passing references to the time of year, we know that Christmas loomed large and punctuated the year. It was, as we have seen, a time for great lords to show generosity and to be seen showing that largess. In one passing reference to Christmas ...

Continuing its exploration of #Christmas in the #Saga of the Earls of #Orkney, @ragnasislands.bsky.social notes that it is of course a time for family...and what else? blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/ragnasisland...

Two four-legged animal figurines in bronze, one missing a head

Closeup of the hooves of one of the figurines, showing they are split like those of deers, unlike a horse's hooves.

Close-up of rock-carving from Bohuslän, Sweden, showing a male deer with antlers and possibly a female deer withour antlers. Also cupmarks, a big round figure and a small ship.

Fornvännen 2024:4 - #OpenAccess
Ullén, I., & Hydman, H: "Bronsåldershästarna från Tågaborg i nytt ljus." (The Bronze Age horses from Tågaborg revisited)
Compelling evidence that the #BronzeAge "horse figurines" were actually deer (cervids). [Swe/Eng sum]
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#Archaeology

A close-up view of a necklace. The necklace is circular and composed of numerous small, beads strung on a thin, light-colored metal wire. The beads exhibit a variety of shapes and colors, including orange-red amber beads. They are predominantly present at the top sections of the circle. There are also yellow,turquoise, blue, green, and multicoloured beads The arrangement of beads appears uniform, strung in a continuous, circular pattern. The metal wire that holds the beads is visible. The background is a plain, dark gray/black color, drawing attention to the necklace's design and colors.

Colorful beads were very popular in the early #medieval period, particularly during the 6th and 7th century. This necklace was found in the grave of a woman in Donaueschingen-Neudingen. It consists of more than 50 beads made of amber and glass.
Dating ca 525-550 AD. 🧵1/2

📷 me

🏺 #archaeology