Oslo (AFP) - A hiker has stumbled across a 1,200-year-old
Viking sword in remarkably good condition in Norway's mountains, archeologists
said Thursday, in what could be another sign that global warming is benefitting
archeology.
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Hordaland County Mayor Anne Gine Hestetun (C), with arts and
culture director Anna Elisa Tryti (L) and county curator Per Morten Ekerhovd in
an undated photo received October 29, 2015, exhibits a recently discovered
Viking sword dated to the year 750 (AFP Photo/Bjarte Brask Eriksen)
|
The 30-inch (80-centimetre) wrought iron weapon dates
"from the beginning of the Viking era, around the end of the eighth
century," according to archeologist Jostein Aksdal in the western town of
Bergen where the sword will go on display.
"At this time, all the swords were very valuable
because it was a weapon for people of high rank," Aksdal told AFP.
"Most (Vikings) had to get by with a simple knife or an
axe."
The hiker found the sword three years ago but only recently
turned it over to archeologists.
Experts don't know why the sword would have been left in the
mountains.
"Maybe there is a grave there, or was it left there by
a trader? Was it hidden there for one reason or another? The only limits are
our imagination," Aksdal said.
"Did someone die there? Or was there a fight, a theft,
a murder or something else? We can't say."
A more thorough study of the site will be carried out next
spring when the snow has melted.
The cold dry weather in the mountainous region of southern
Norway probably helped to keep the object in good condition.
There, "temperatures remain below zero for six months
of the year," Aksdal said.
While climate change has many negative implications for
planet Earth, it is proving beneficial to archeologists.
"The melting snow means that a growing number of
ancient objects are seeing the light of day," Aksdal said.
Source: Yahoo
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