This entry was first published over the cell-phone network on my old site, without pix, on Tuesday 10 April.
Our Kaga site was very good to us today as well. 26 person-hours of metal detecting, six 1st Millennium brooches: four small equal-armed of the later 6th century, one disc-shaped with inlay socket of the 6/7th century, and part of a 5th century large equal-armed relief brooch. The latter has non-animal-art decoration in the Nydam style, a rare and exclusive piece of jewellery, fits nicely with the foil figure model. Also a High Medieval annular brooch. I'm crap at metal detecting: found only a piece of typically ugly late-1st Millennium pottery by eye and a 17th century coin. But I'm happy anyway. Lovely site!
After finishing in Kaga we went to Varv in a beautiful sunny evening, metal-detected for eight person-hours around a classic find-spot and found jack shit. Took a look at the village churchyard, abandoned in the 1850s when the Medieval church was torn down (bastards!). Cool to see a churchyard untouched since then, all tussocks and leaning headstones, none of the boring 20th century ones that dominate active rural churchyards.
Close-up pix below the fold.
[More blog entries about archaeology, Sweden, jewellery, darkages; arkeologi, Linköping, Östergötland, järnåldern, smycken.]
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Congrats on your great finds, I didn't believe that Östergötland could be so fruitful.
The first century findings makes Swedish antiquity suddenly very cool. It feels like it was Mayans living here then, considering the exotic finds.
Thanks! Yes, the relief brooch does look a bit like Mayan stone reliefs.
Congratulations! They are beautiful! I wonder... do you know how these would have been worn, and by whom? Would they have been worn by women in the manner of the oval brooches from the viking times?
Thank you!
I believe the small equal-armed ones were worn pairwise at the clavicles in the manner of Viking Period tortoise brooches. In some cases, two different brooches were worn, including such as the disc-shaped one.
The relief brooch was worn under your chin, closing your outher garment, shawl or cloak. I don't know how the annular brooch was worn -- it's after my period.