Dr Martin Rundkvist is a Swedish archaeologist, journal editor, public speaker, skeptic, atheist, lefty liberal, bookworm, and father of two. This is the world's #1 archaeology blog according to 
Just a note about yesterday's metal detecting at the Baggensstäket battlefield. We worked for less than four hours, but I got lucky and ran into the burnt remains of wooden fortifications on a seaward slope. Loads of nails and spikes in one place, and thanks to the fire, some were in pristine shape. Beautiful smithwork: octagonal cross-sections, square heads with bevelled edges -- all clearly taken from army stores (or the royal shipwharfs in town?) when news of the Russian approach arrived. Also charcoal and fire-cracked stone. I'd like to see an excavation there.
Bo Knarrström had modded his White detector with a smaller antenna coil and programmed it for hyper-sensitivity. Also, he wore no head phones. As a result, wherever he went he gave off sounds like a really tortured, unstructured, pilled-up free-jazz saxophone solo. I had brought my C-scope, and it served me well, though my headphones didn't work and the others said I sounded like an irate wasp.
The fieldwork at Baggensstäket is part of research performed by the Battlefield Team at the National Heritage Board of Sweden.
Comments
"I had brought my C-scope, and it served me well, though my headphones didn't work and the others said I sounded like an irate wasp". I know how you sounds, MArtin, but how did your metal detector sound?
Posted by: Lars L | April 29, 2007 1:49 PM
My detector is a Metal Detector and it ROCKS HARD.
Posted by: Martin R | April 30, 2007 6:10 AM
:-)
Posted by: Lars L | April 30, 2007 3:09 PM
I dug about 0.5 m3 of what is to be our potato-growing patch yesterday. I must also have unearthed wooden fortifications or something like that, since I unearthed 20 nails in various stages of rustiness. ;-)
Posted by: Hans Persson | May 2, 2007 9:06 AM
That does it. Your potato patch is now a scheduled ancient monument. Excavations start as soon as you have amassed the necessary funds.
Posted by: Martin R | May 2, 2007 9:11 AM
Hm. Having someone else remove the masses of weeds there doesn't sound like a bad idea at all...
Posted by: Hans Persson | May 2, 2007 10:48 AM
Aha, you're growing weed, not potatoes? You're such a stoner, Hans.
Posted by: Martin R | May 2, 2007 1:29 PM