A hiker recently found a 1,500-year-old gold sword scabbard fitting in Sandnes, Norway. The sword it was mounted on likely belonged to an important chieftain.
by SashSegal
A hiker recently found a 1,500-year-old gold sword scabbard fitting in Sandnes, Norway. The sword it was mounted on likely belonged to an important chieftain.
by SashSegal
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The hiker found the fitting at the base of a hill named Riaren where a tree that had fallen years earlier caught his eye. He poked at a mound under the roots with a stick and suddenly saw the glint of gold. It was a small rectangle, 6 cm long by 2 cm wide (2.4 x .8 inches), weighing an unexpectedly heavy 33 grams (1.2 oz).
The ornamentation consists of a stylized animal motif created in looped and knotted gold ribbons with finely beaded gold threads overlaid on some of the lines. This filigree required a high degree of skill and is rare in works from the period.
This is the third elite artifact found in the marshes at the base of Riaren. A silver necklace with gold decorations was unearthed during ploughing in the 19th century, and a large Roman bronze cauldron manufactured on the Rhine around 300 A.D. was found on a farm in 1907. All three are believed to have been deliberately deposited as offerings to the gods in hard times.
[https://www.forskning.no/arkeologi-ntb/turgaer-fant-1500-ar-gammel-sverdslire-av-gull-oddsen-er-minimal/2659353](https://www.forskning.no/arkeologi-ntb/turgaer-fant-1500-ar-gammel-sverdslire-av-gull-oddsen-er-minimal/2659353)
[https://www.forskning.no/arkeologi/1500-ar-gammelt-gull-beslag-til-sverdslire-man-ser-raskt-en-nese-og-en-hodeprofil/2659424](https://www.forskning.no/arkeologi/1500-ar-gammelt-gull-beslag-til-sverdslire-man-ser-raskt-en-nese-og-en-hodeprofil/2659424)