Schoolchild Finds Sword | Pompeii Victim’s Shield | Prehistoric Beaver Hunters | Huge Roman Statue | Crannog’s Neolithic Roots
Sharp Eyed: Vendel or Early Viking-Age Sword Found by Schoolboy
A six-year-old Norwegian schoolboy has found a well-preserved 1,300-year-old sword.
The boy, named Henrik, was on a class trip to Brandbu, Innlandet, when he saw the handle protruding from the ground in what appears to be a recently ploughed field. The find was immediately reported to archaeologists from Innlandet council.
The single-edged sword, which dates to the AD 700s and the late Vendel Period or possibly the early Viking Age, is being taken to the Kulturhistorisk Museum in Oslo.
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Kulturarv i Innlandet: Facebook post, with images (web translation available)
Avisen Hadeland: Video of Henrik and the sword at the site (Facebook, in Norwegian)
Pomp-AI: Vesuvius Victim with Improvised Mortar Bowl Helmet Reconstructed
Archaeologists have used artificial intelligence to help reconstruct a Pompeian's final moments: the man, killed in the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, appears to have attempted to use a terracotta mortar bowl to shield his head as he fled the debris.
Notably, the man’s actions mirror Pliny the Younger’s account, in which he describes those fleeing the eruption shielding themselves with objects such as pillows:
‘With rags they tie pillows placed over their heads’ (cervicalia capitibus imposita linteis constringunt) - Ep. VI 16
The man - who was also carrying a lamp and money - was discovered just outside the city walls. He was found near another victim who died in a later pyroclastic flow of burning ash and toxic gas; together, these bodies provide new insights into the evolving nature of the danger and the routes chosen by those fleeing.
That the bowl, or mortarium, used as a helmet was fractured also suggests the force of the falling volcanic ejecta. The lamp, meanwhile, is a potential indication of the darkness enveloping Pompeii.
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Pompeii: Il rinvenimento di due vittime dell’eruzione fuori porta Stabia a Pompei: prime analisi antropologiche e archeologiche (pdf, Italian) | News (web translations available)
Fur Enough: Neolithic Beaver Hunters
Pre-construction surveys for the SüdOstLink transmission line near Alsleben, Saxony-Anhalt, have unearthed a Neolithic pit containing the remains of at least 12 beavers, likely killed for their fur.
The small pit was filled with animal bones, with the characteristic orange-red-brown beaver teeth allowing for early identification. The feature was dated via two methods: analysis of a flint tool - likely used to process the carcasses - that was found in the pit and radiocarbon dating of the bones, the latter producing a date of c. 4,935 to 4,787 BC.
That 12 or more beaver skeletons were deposited in a pit suggests the hunting of the animals for their fur and, thus, offers an insight into the clothing worn by early Neolithic communities in the region.
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State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt: Pelzherstellung in der Jungsteinzeit – Rund 7.000 Jahre alte Grube mit Überresten von Bibern bei Alsleben entdeckt (web translation available)
Huge Roman Statue of Athena with Medusa Detail Discovered
Archaeologists working at the ancient city of Laodikeia in Türkiye have uncovered a monumental marble statue of Athena.
The headless fragment of white marble stands to a height of two metres. It was unearthed in the remains of the stage building of the three-storey structure known as the Western Theatre.
Analysis suggests that the statue itself, originally part of the theatre’s decorative scheme, dates to the Augustan period, when the city was part of the Roman Empire.
Placed on a round pedestal, the sculpture depicts Athena wearing a draped garment known as a peplos and a cape. Her breastplate (aegis) features the head of Medusa.
The work on the site continues, with hopes that the missing head can be found.
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Ministry of Culture and Tourism: LAODIKEIA’DA TARİHÎ KEŞİF! 2 METRELİK ATHENA HEYKELİ GÜN IŞIĞINA KAVUŞTU (web translations available)
Prehistoric Roots! Neolithic Wooden Platform Underpinned Man-Made Island
Excavation of a prehistoric man-made island (crannog) at Loch Bhorgastail on the Isle of Lewis has uncovered a Neolithic timber platform beneath the stone superstructure.
Researchers from Southampton and Reading universities surveyed the crannog above and below the waters of the loch, revealing the foundational layers of wood and brushwood used to support the stone capping that ultimately formed the artificial island’s surface.
It appears that the Loch Bhorgastail crannog was originally established with an initial, Neolithic, phase consisting of a circular wooden and brushwood platform built over five thousand years ago. Around two thousand years later, in the Middle Bronze Age, more brushwood and stone were added to the Neolithic structure, before further additions in the Iron Age.
Hundreds of fragments of Neolithic pottery surround the crannog. On this and crannogs more generally, the University of Southampton’s Dr Stephanie Blankshein noted:
‘While we still don’t know exactly why these islands were built, the resources and labour required to construct them suggests not only complex communities capable of such feats, but also the great significance of these sites. Large quantities of pottery, often still containing food residue, and worked stone found on and around the islands, suggest their use for communal activities such as cooking or feasting.’
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University of Southampton: Archaeologists reveal secrets of prehistoric human-made island
HISTORY HIGHLIGHTS
These gems caught the AWLOH eye!
History Hit Originals
Heritage After Conflict: Libya (£)
How can heritage survive brutal conflict? Since 2011, Libya has endured upheaval and civil war, leaving vast neighbourhoods shattered. In History Hit’s new documentary Heritage After Conflict: Libya, Dan Snow visits Benghazi and Cyrene to explore how cultural preservation aids societal rebirth.
Produced with the World Monuments Fund and the British Council, this film highlights visionary locals who recognise that heritage is not merely for tourists, but a vital part of daily life and communal identity. By reclaiming their past, these visionary people are demonstrating that conserving history is a cornerstone for rebuilding a stable, meaningful future in a post-conflict world.
History Hit Podcasts
Dan Snow’s History Hit: From Katanas to Cannons: Japan’s Great Transformation
The Ancients: Shocking DNA Study Reveals The Plague Is Prehistoric, with Tristan Hughes and Laura Spinney
After Dark: How The Master Scammer “Princess Caraboo” Was CAUGHT, with Maddy Pelling
History Hit YouTube
We Tested Every Era’s Deadliest Weapon, with Dan Snow et al.
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Book
Cat Tales - A History, by Jerry Moore
For as long as cats have coexisted with humans, they have been feared, revered and respected. They appear as dynamic hunters in Palaeolithic carvings and cave paintings; were venerated as gods in ancient Egypt; and still have the power to fascinate and frighten us…
Exhibition
Under Propaganda - Archaeology between war and peace
Archaeology uncovers history and sometimes even becomes history itself. Between 1920 and 1972, political systems used archaeological finds and excavations in South Tyrol to reinforce their own ideologies. Fascist-influenced Italian scientists presented Roman relics as evidence of the region’s “Latin origins,” while Nazi researchers interpreted their finds as confirmation of a “Germanic” past.
This is how science got caught up in the maelstrom of politics: finds were overinterpreted, excavations appropriated, and research ideologically distorted. And even once the Second World War had ended, this “clash of civilizations” left ripples that lingered long afterwards.
TODAY IN HISTORY
Victory in Europe Day
On this day in 1945, the Allies formally accepted the surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
These Viking ‘lead inset’ bullion weights feature fragments of Insular (British/Irish) metalwork that were likely looted from ecclesiastical and secular sites.
Seemingly a late 9th-century innovation originating in Viking army overwintering camps in Britain and Ireland, they were probably used to weigh ‘hacksilver’ cash within the silver-focused bullion economy introduced by Viking forces.
Mostly found in Insular contexts, some made it to Scandinavia, like these examples from Denmark.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
