Medieval gaming piece with runic inscription found in Norway - Medievalists.net

When archaeologists from The Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research conducted a last-minute excavation in Trondheim last year due to a broken sewer pipe, a surprising find was made: a soapstone gaming piece bearing a runic inscription.

Much of the remains of medieval Trondheim, located in central Norway, have been excavated or otherwise removed many years ago, but there is still plenty left. Due to the broken sewer pipe, a four-metre-long strip of these historic layers had to be excavated – and it turned out to contain more than anticipated.

“Underneath what appeared to be a stretch of timbers from a street was a deep pit,” adds archaeologist Dag-Øyvind Engtrø Solem. The bottom of this pit, four metres below today’s surface, had a layer of birch bark that has been dated 1000-1150 AD. A sample from a layer of charcoal near the top of the pit has been dated to 1030-1180 AD. These date the pit to the end of the Viking Age or the early Medieval period in Norway.”

Amazing!
#medieval #archaeology

https://www.medievalists.net/2023/06/medieval-gaming-piece-with-runic-inscription-found-in-norway/