Owner: Testimony of the spade URL:http://inventerare.wordpress.com/ Join Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2007 17:06:46 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: This is a Swedish blog about Archaeology, Osteology and Cultural heritage. Site statistics:Click here
Back at the office! 2007-06-25 03:11:53 Monday morning and my vacation is over for this time. The first part of the project is done; I have visited all the sites and monuments that we worked on last year. In general the result is fine, on some sites new damages have come up due to the storm Per in 2007 and due to reforesting. Within this project I will also visit and try to describe how the immediate surroundings around rock carvings have been affected, how cultural and ancient monuments close to small roads in storm afflicted areas has been affected and I will also visit some areas with fossilized acres to describe how the reforesting has affected the relics within these areas.
A monumental cairn in the north part the Borlanda grave field, in Söraby parish, raa 26.
Finally we have some money for at least one grave field where we would like to make an effort at restoring it so it once again can be accessible for the public.
The midsection of Borlanda grave field. In the background the cairn, by the trees one can catc Read more:office
Rune stones in Kronobergs County 2007-06-27 07:02:56 Now available for those who are interested in rune stones is a folder regarding the ca 150 rune inscriptions that are spread out over Kronobergs County
, “Runor Runes Runen”. The folder is printed in English, German and Swedish and can be ordered from the County administrative board of Kronoberg, the folder is free of charge within Sweden and I think its free of charge otherwise aswell (but I can’t promise) it is also available on the tourist bureaus around the county.
Fill in the form, if you want one for free!
First fields: Antal = quantity, Name, e-mail, address etc (I think you understand)
In the last field called “meddelande” (message) fill in the name of the folder “Runor Runes Runen”, if you are from outside Sweden you can add a question if its free for you as well.
This folder contains some nice pictures and information concerning ten rune stones, some information in general regarding the runic inscriptions in the county and a map, se
Four Stone Hearth XVII 2007-06-26 12:23:40 Don’t forget the blog carnival now featured at Hominin Dental Anthropology on line since the 20th.
Magnus Reuterdahl
Read more:Stone
Carl von Linné is 300 years old and here are his roots 2007-06-26 12:14:36 As I wrote in my previous post I went along for a day following in the footsteps of Carl von Linné. Carl von Linné was born in the farmstead of Råshult in Kronoberg County in 1707 therefore there is a celebration this year on his 300th birthday (year).
Carl von Linné 1707-1778
Carl von Linné then Carl Linnæus was born on Råshult, after ca 18 months he and his family moved to a nearby farm called Stenbrohult only 18 months after his birth as Carls father became a minister there. Neither of the estates have any buildings from Carls time still standing.
Stenbrohult church.
Our trip started at Stenbrohult where we visited the church, built in 1828-1830. By then the medieval church in which Carl von Linneus father and then brother had been minister in had been torn down and this new one had been built. Today only a few objects are saved from the old church: A medieval crucifix hangs on the north wall, on the wall in the porch there are paintings that was originally placed upon a ga Read more:roots
In the footstep of Carl von Linné 2007-06-26 03:32:40 Today I am going on a tour, with my employee and the staff of department I work in at Kronobergs County board, to Carl von Linné’s Råshult, the farmstead where he was born and lived for the first years. Nothing of the original structures exists today. Around the now standing structures there is an ongoing project to show how the landscape and a farm might have looked like in Linnés days, in other words a kind of museum.
Carl von Linné was born in 1707 and died in 1778. He is one of the most famous scientists from Sweden both in his time and today, more info about Linné can be found here.
This is my first visit so I’ll give a few comments later today and put up some pics.In the mean time you can visit the homepage of Råshult here.
Magnus Reuterdahl
From Drev to here 2007-07-02 12:59:01
Today I’ve been journeying throw the northern parts of Växjö municipality. My main goal has been to observe rock carvings and their immediate surroundings. In Småland most rock carvings are made up by cup marks . These carvings are normally dated to the Bronze Age but are probably also usual during the Iron Age and later. There are a few sites that have figurative or geometric carvings as well but these are quite uncommon in these parts, in total 27 out of 497 known rock carving sites in the County.
Close up at Cup marks, Raa 52, Berg Parish.
Close up at cup marks, Raa 11 Drev parish.
Raa 11 Drev Parish.
The cup marks are often found on big boulders or on flat rocks. Evan when you know where they are supposed to be it’s not always easy to find them. Evan though the boulders often are big the grass grows high, luckly I got a GPS with me.
In the northwest area of Drev in Drev parish there are a few other monuments that are well worth seeing. For example a tripod ston
To Neolithic China and back! The Yangshao project. 2007-07-08 10:22:12 A few days ago Benbiten, the Swedish Osteological Society’s periodical, number one 2007 arrived. In this one my first article on the Yangshao culture is published. A teaser can be found on the blog Yangshao projektet. The article will be published on the blog in its full length at a later date due to the fact that it has been divided into two parts in the Swedish Osteological Society’s periodical Benbiten. When the article has been published there in its full format it will be made available on-line on this blog, sometime this fall.
Magnus Reuterdahl
Read more:China
A rune stone in Hjortsberga parish, Sm 5 2007-07-12 04:30:13 On the front of the rune folder that I presented in a previous post is the rune stone Sm 5 (Småland number five according to the book Smålands runinskrifter) or Raa 35:1 in Hjortsberga parish, Alvesta municipality.
The rune stones form does remind of the erect stones I presented in my last post, but there are differences if you look at the wide part in the bottom of the stone. Another difference is the obvious one, the runes.
The inscription is as follows:
kotr : sati : sten : þana : eftR : ketil : sun : sin : han : faR : mana : mesr o:niþikR : eR a : eklati : ali : tunþi
In English:
“Gautr placed this stone in memory of Ketill his son. He was the most unvillainous of men, who forfeited his life in England.”
The latest interpretation is made by runologist Helmer Gustavson 2005: “Göt satte denna sten efter Ketill, sin son. Han var av män mest rättrådig. Han slöt sitt liv i England.”
The pic on the left shows the south and the east side of the ston
Erect tombstones, grave fields and such. 2007-07-11 11:50:36 When you travel an area for enough times you begin to discover things that stand out, in this case I do surveys regarding ancient monuments. In previous posts I’ve written about the special Iron Age dolmens, this time I thought that I would put a special form of erect stones on display.
Erect
ed stones are markers for prehistoric graves, they are found on grave fields and standing all alone or in small groups. They can also stand on mounds, in Sweden it is generally so that erect stones represent male graves and round stone sphere represent female graves. This hypostasis is general and absolute and is referred to regarding mounds and in some cases filled stone settings from the Iron Age.
Inglinge mound
An example is Inglinge mound; this example is though a bit extreme. The great mound that had been called Inglinge mound has both an erected stone and an ornated stone sphere. Around this massive mound, these giants are often referred to as a kings or queens mound, a varied grave fi
The Testimony in Spanish 2007-07-15 04:17:23 As I checked my blog statistics for yesterday I came across a new one for me, http://translate.google.com/translate. Using this tool one can translate a webpage into another languish, in this case someone translated it to Spanish
, and in Spanish the name of my blog becomes: Testimonio de la espada; El Archaeology es impuestos bien vividos! Though my Spanish is awful at best I could detect that there were some translation errors, for Example regarding the name Ebba During where her last name was translated to Ebba “durante“.Cool tool though, if you are interested in reading my blog in Spanish do it here.
On another note you can look forward to some pictures of Bronze Age rock carvings from an area just south of Enköping, Uppland, and a couple rune stones. While visiting a friend, who has a summer house there, this weekand we did a small photo safari amongst the ancient monument and remains in the area.
Magnus Reuterdahl
Read more:Testimony
New header 2007-07-18 12:08:01 As you might have noticed I have changed the header
, I thought it was about time it looked at bit archaeological.
The grave field seen on the photo is Kånna högar in Kånna parish Ljungby municipality, more pictures and some info can be found here. It is dominate grave form is mounds, and it is dated to the Viking age. Magnus Reuterdahl
Today I bought a… 2007-07-17 12:28:33 I have needed a new camera for a time, as mine has been singing on the last verse for all to long. Today
I bought my new baby, a Nikon Coolpix S500.
The result of the photos will have to wait ‘til Saturday, when I return to Stockholm and can install the camera and the software on my computer.
Magnus Reuterdahl
Read more:hellip
Amongst Runes, ships and foot soles in Uppland 2007-07-17 12:05:34 This weekend I visited a friend who has a summerhouse just south of Enköping in Uppland. In the area surrounding his “estate” are many interesting ancient monuments and remains, among them some fantastic rock art. In this case rock carvings from the Bronze Age (c. 1800-550 BC). We also stopped at a couple of rune stones; two that are used as stones in a church wall and one is a rune stone without runes.In Upland there are over 800 known rock carving sites, most of them can be found in the vicinity of Enköping. Many pictures are painted which makes them easy to spot.
A ship at the site Brandskogsskeppet.
A human at the site Brandskogsskeppet.
First stop was at Brandskogsskeppet (The Brandskogs Ship), which is one of Upplands, most famous rock carvings. The carvings were discovered in 1925. The carvings are made upon flat rock; there are the big ship (c. 4 meter), several smaller ships
, foot soles and cup marks. The foot soles have been interpreted in different ways, a
RAA’s information sign at Ale stenar 2007-07-23 09:34:53 In Sweden the debate regarding the new information
sign at Ale stenar, a stone ship monument in southern Sweden (Scania) published by RAA (The National Heritage Board) continues. Martin Rundkvist at Aardvarchaeology gives a good overview regarding the critique in his two posts (here and here). Martin has promised to publish pictures of the sign on his blog as soon as possible. The discussion is also running at Arkeologiforum, though mainly in swedish. But there are one intresting post in english regarding the finds that were made by the Technical unit (UV Teknik) of the Archaeological Excavation Department (UV) of the Swedish National Heritage Board (RAA) conducted in autumn 2006 georadar and magnetometer measurements in and around Ales Stenar.
I do agree with Martin that the signs should display “the best available science, making clear what the consensus among professional researchers is“. But I am sorry to say, many information signs do not hold up to that standard.
Bones of wild boar (Sus scrofa) 2007-07-23 06:27:44 This weekend I took the time to prepare a shoulder of pork from a wild boar that we’ve been given by friend. Besides the meat it also contained the bones, an scapula, a Humerus, an Ulna and a Radius. As the Osteologist that I am I wanted the bones for my bone collection, so after preparing the meal I started on the bones. The meal was baked in the oven. To make the bones clean I boiled them twice to get rid of residues of meat, marrow and tendons. This is not the best way to do it, but I have found that it works farly well if the bones have been baked in the oven before hand, another metod is descirbed in the Bone room. This wild boar is quite young which you can see on the photos, as the bones have not fully ossified.
The Scapula
The distal part of the Scapula, here one can see that the bone have not fully ossified.
Connected to the Scapula is the Humerus (the bone in the upper part of the arm).
The Humerus
The Humerus and to the right the not yet ossified trochlea.
H Read more:Bones
Tools of the trade 2007-07-22 07:41:09 In my current employment at Kronobergs County administrative board my main focuses is on access and describe the conditions on ancient monuments and archaeological sites. Some of these are easily found as they resides near roads or are marked by signs, most however aren’t quite as easy to find without some tools.Step one concern which monuments or sites to visit. To determine this I first have to do a prediction on which are interesting. In this case I use a program called ArcView where I can ad several data sheets on top of each other; for example a map, the placements of ancient monuments, rectified photos taken from the air (ortophoto) etc. I also use a data sheet complied by the Forestry board regarding where they access that the storm Gudrun made damages. By combining these data I get a somewhat of a prediction where I should seek monuments interesting in this case.
ArcView; a map in this case ca 1:10000 with a the sheet of ancient monuments and The Forestry boards accessm Read more:Tools
Four signs read, still not a happy camper! 2007-07-25 10:03:12 I present a brief summery of the signs
in the order they are displayed at K-blogg.Sign number 1: New technology can provide new knowledge!
On this sign there is information of the background; i.e. historic evidence regarding this site. Then there is an explanation regarding nondestructive methods within archaeology such as the use of magnetometers and ground penetrating radar, due to the surveys made here in 2006 using these methods. The last piece concerns “New hypothesis” where some of the results of the 2006 survey is presented.
This sign is interesting enough; it shows what archaeologist has done over the last years on some of their results. There are a few unclear statements such as “around the ship there are traces that can be dated from Stone Age to the Middle ages, but there is no explanation regarding what traces and if theese in any way are connected to Ale Stenar and if so in what way. As an Archaeologist I can read between the lines here, but for the ordi
I am Northbound 2007-07-25 02:24:02 Seems like I am going to Kalix in September. Kalix can be found in the nothern parts of Sweden, close to the Finnish border.
During September I will participate in the excavation of an Iron Age settlement on the behalf of Norrbottens museum. The excavations have been on-going due to the construction of a railway called Haparandabanan (The Haparanda line). So far at least seven settlements from the Bronze and Iron have been or are being excavated during 2006 and 2007. Information of this can be found on their blog (in Swedish): Arkeologi vid Haparandabanan 2007. More news on this as I get it.
Magnus Reuterdahl
Ale stenar yet one more comment… 2007-07-24 12:53:26 After I posted my previous contribution I saw that K-blogg (The National Heritage Board’s blogg (RAA)) has published all the signs, there are obviously in total four signs. I will read these tomorrow and come back with some comments. It is possible that these three other signs gives another picture.
Martin Rundqvist has also written a new post regarding RAA’s policy in the matter.
Perhaps I need a good nights sleep to ponder over its content and what I really think about it.
Magnus Reuterdahl
Read more:hellip
I see the sign… 2007-07-24 12:19:33 &hellip
;at Aardvarchaeology. Martin Rundkvist have made good of his promise and he has published a photo of the now infamous info sign at Ale stenar, oddly enough it seems to be printed only in Swedish. Most signs nowadays are printed in Swedish, English and German. So I will ask Martin if this is the whole sign or only a part printed in Swedish? How does this go along with RAA’s goal of availability?
On The National Heritage Board’s (RAA’s) homepage under the headline: Accessible, Useful and Vital, RAA writes:
Heritage belongs to everyone… At the core of what we do is the vision of a heritage that is accessible, useful and vital for people everywhere.
My questions are:
How is it accessible to people everywhere if it is only printed in Swedish?
How and for who is the information useful it is not based on scientific fact or cumulative knowledge?
How and for who is the information vital it is not based on scientific fact or cumulative knowledge?
The text star
Hulta klint and Singoallas grotta 2007-07-31 12:53:36 The other day I visited two lovely scenic spots: Hulta Klint: a high cliff, and Singoallas grotta: a cave. These can be found at Lädja just north of Berg. To get to Hulta klint there is a ca 500 m walk up a hill. From here the view is spectacular, on a clear day you should be able to spot seven church towers. Ca 350 meters from this height on the eastern slop is Singoallas cave. Singoalla is a fictional character in Viktor Rydbergs novel by the name Singoalla.
The view from Hulta Klint.
Viktor Rydberg (1828-1895) was one of Sweden’s most important authors in the 19th century. He was also a publicist, translator and poet. For a period of 20 years, he was one of the most notable cultural persons in Sweden.
The view just above Singoallas cave.
The climb down is steep, luckily there are some natural stairs that are improved by iron bars.
The view from Singoallas cave, below lies lake Klintsjön which in folklore is said to be bottenless. In reality it has been measured to
Rune stone Sm 19 2007-07-29 11:35:56 The other day I passed a rune stone in the village Stojby, that is situated just north of Växjö in Gårdsby parish, Sm 19 (Raa 134:1/Gårdsby 134:1). It is dated to the Viking Age and stands just west of the road that stretches through Stojby.
The inscription is as follows:
þurluf * raisþi * stain * þana * eftiR * ala * auk * etu * hialbi * kuþ * aut * þaiRa
In translation:
“Þorlôf raised this stone in memory of Áli/Alli and Etta. May God help their spirits.“
Magnus Reuterdahl
Check out the Four Stone Hearth nr. 20 2007-08-02 03:07:07 Now ye old blog carnival Four Stone
Hearth is up and running again, this time hosted by Afarensis: anthropology, evolution and science .
Lots and lots of intresting posts, among them (sorry havn’t had the time to read em all yet!) is a post on a Whalebone mask.
If you are intrested of hosting the carnival or posting go here.
Magnus Reuterdahl
Read more:Check
A lewd place name! 2007-08-03 14:28:05 Just as the people living in Arkland (A swedish blog) I in my work have traveled a lot, as you travel around your bound to find place names that are fun, unintelligible, stupid or lewd. Arkland found the name: Snorrslida. Which could be interpret as snorr(e)[willie]- slida-[vagina]. Another interpretation is the “backdoor”, besides these there are probably a more professional interpretation as well. I feel that I found another place name that is more lewd than Arklands though: Horkoneryd.
Horkonaryd can be found in the southeast part of Tingsryd municipality, Kronobergs County.Â
I’m sorry to say that this is the best sign I could find, the sign above states a road name which is connected with the place name. Today Horkoneryd is made up by a barn (webpage in Swedish), where different activities of an adventurous sort are being played out, though nothing smut; according to the webpage they host residential courses, conferences, parties etc.
The place name Horkonery
Nisse the smith’s rune stone (sm 170) 2007-08-08 10:47:46 In a public park called Skansen in Ljungby Nisse the smith’s rune stone stands. The name comes from the fact that it was found when Nisse the smith’s cottage was demolished in 1954. The cottage was built in 1861 and some of the material in the cottage was from the old (the medieval) church in Ljungby, the rune stone probably came from there.
The inscription is not complete, as the stone is not, but it is as follows:
* uefus * s(a)ti * stin * ef… … …biurk * þiRa * sustur …–…
In translation to English:
“Véfúss placed the stone in memory of … …-bjôrg, their sister … “
Raa 57:1 in Ljungby parish (Ljungby 57:1), Kronobergs County, Småland.
Magnus Reuterdahl
A mix of different pasts 2007-08-06 12:27:36 There are different
kinds of ancient remains, a few months ago I was in Slätthög parish in Alvesta municipality to check out a stone setting, raa 83:1, and a mile stone raa 82:1. To my surprise I found an additional relic:
One (Iron Age), Two (19th century), Three (20th century )…
Here’s the car or what’s left of it.
I am sorry to say that I can seem to only find the pictures of the car wreck at the moment and not the truly ancient relics. Though I would say that this car falls within the definition of a remain after human activity from ancient times that has originated due to older manners and customs and are lastingly abandoned, see this post. I’ll update this post with pictures as soon as I locate the cd/dvd-rom that contains those pictures.
Magnus Reuterdahl
Present day archaeology 2007-08-06 03:57:56 Ancient remains are often seen as monuments of our forefathers, according to Swedish law (KLM ch. 2 § 1) ancient remains are monuments/remains after human activity from ancient times that has originated due to older manners and customs and are lastingly abandoned (my own translation). There is no absolute time span stated in the paragraph on how long a remain must have been abandoned before it is considered an ancient remain or monument.
A few days ago I passed the Verdandi Park in Älghult a small community in the Northwest part of Kronoberg County. This park does not constitute as an ancient remains just yet as it is still in use, but in another way it is a form of monument of a time that has passed. This is area is very well preserved with structures and a lovely atmosphere and can be seen as mirror into the past. Here is a dance hall and small buildings for sales of beverages, hot-dogs, tickets etc.
The Park was erected in 1931 by the Verdandi section Stridskämpen (the War fig Read more:Present
Traces of cultivation as a fossilized landscape 2007-08-10 11:16:32 The traces of older cultivation at Sävsjö manor domains.
Small cairns made out of stone due to the cultivation
The remains of Sävsjö village are still visible today as a nature’s own museum. A prehistoric grave field from the Iron Age (500 B.C. - 1050 A.D.) shows us who long people have inhabited this place. The oldest written source that names the village is from1494 and around 1640 Sävsjö manor (säteri) is established. The small nearby farmes were evicted and the land was used as pasture land which has conserved a fossilized landscape. Here one can see the narrow fields, the stone fences that dived different areas, cairns due to cultivation, traces of terracing, pastures and different formations made of earth such as banks etc. The oldest traces are dated to around the birth of Christ.
A stone fence.
The area is open for the public and free of charge, there is an information sign (that need to be updated) and there are small paths to walk on. On a sunny day this is f Read more:Traces
You are doing a worse job today than at the start some 400 years ago. 2007-08-10 03:32:40 In today’s Dagens Nyheter several professors, lecturers and writers gives hard critique toward the National Heritage Board (RAA) under the headline: The government shirk their responsibility to care for our National heritage.
In the debate article they write among other things (A short summary of the article):
“You are doing
a worse job today than at the start some 400 years ago. (the National heritage board )“
In Sweden a special cut cultural heritage is available that is unique in the world, 1000’s of written messages are available in the landscape (the rune stones) for everyone to read. With a cultural heritage like this comes a great responsibility to care for and to document this remains for those who comes after us. This is something that has been recognized for hundreds of years but during recent years the National heritage board has seemed less inclined to take its responsibility for our older cultural heritage. Important and highly regarded publications
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