Seven gold pendants were buried in the Norway clay, the precious jewellry most likely a sacrifice meant for the gods. Those same pendants, called bracteates, have now been recovered near the municipality of Råde in Østfold County. A metal detector enthusiast first uncovered four pieces in a plowed field, and archaeologists from the University of Oslo later found three more during a follow up excavation. Researchers date the hoard to the sixth century.
Researchers classify the Råde hoard as a mix of C type and D type bracteates, which helps date the burial to the sixth century.
Items were connected to aristocratic communities within a Germanic elite in Scandinavia. The pendants likely acted as visible symbols of status and alliances. Only people with considerable wealth could afford to bury so much high purity gold in the ground and walk away from it.
Tree ring records and glacial data point to a sharp cooling after a series of volcanic eruptions in the years 536 and 540. A study links those eruptions to a veil of volcanic dust that dimmed sunlight, reduced plant growth and brought food insecurity and hungar. Norse stories tell of a legendary Fimbul winter, a long season of darkness and hunger.
Charon's obol is a term for the coin placed in the mouth of the dead before burial.
Literary sources specify the coin as an obol, and explain it as a payment for Charon, the ferryman who conveyed souls across the river that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead. Examples of these coins have been called "the most famous grave goods from antiquity."
Charon and Psyche (1883) An obol was originally a small silver coin, valued at one-sixth of a drachma. After the Greeks were absorbed into the Roman empire, obol was used to describe any low-value bronze coin.
The custom is primarily associated with the ancient Greeks and Romans, though it is also found in the ancient Near East. In Western Europe, a similar usage of coins in burials occurs in regions inhabited by Celts of the Gallo-Roman, Hispano-Roman and Romano-British cultures, and among the Germanic peoples. In Latin, Charon’s obol is sometimes called a viaticum, which in everyday usage means "provision for a journey"
Greek and Roman literary sources from the 5th century BC through the 2nd century AD are consistent in attributing four characteristics to Charon’s obol: it is a single, low-denomination coin; it is placed in the mouth; the placement occurs at the time of death; and it represents a boat fare.
In Greek mythology, Charon is the ferryman of Hades who carries souls of the newly deceased across the rivers Styx and Acheron that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead. Those who could not pay the fee, or those whose bodies were unburied, wandered the shores for one hundred years.
Charon is often depicted in the art of ancient Greece. He holds his ferryman's pole in his right hand and uses his left hand to receive the dead.
A skull found in the cemetery of the ancient city of Lato is one of the most spectacular exhibits at the Agios Nikolaos museum in Crete. The skull of a crowned athlete with a gold wreath in the shape of a laurel branch still attached to it is perhaps one of the most impressive exhibits in Greece. The flesh disintegrated after 2,500 years, but the wreath stuck and remained on the skull. Inside the mouth, a silver coin was found. It is a payment to Charon, who in Greek mythology was the ferryman of Hades who carried the souls of the newly deceased to the underworld.
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town near modern Naples.
When Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, Pompeii was burned and buried in ash, while nearby Herculaneum was destroyed by the pyroclastic flow. The area was buried under 4 to 6m (13 to 20 ft) of ash and pumice from the eruption. Pompeii was lost for 1500 years until its rediscovery in 1599 and broader rediscovery almost 150 years later in 1748. Discoveries continue to this day.
The objects that lay beneath the city have been well preserved for thousands of years.
Marble statue with traces of gold-plating from the Temple of Isis, Pompeii.
Helmet of a ‘Thracian’ (Thrax) gladiator. Bronze, from Pompeii.
Mosaic (detail) from Pompeii.
Apollo as an Archer
A gold bracelet bears an inscription. On its inside face are the words 'dominus ancillae suae'– from the master (dominus) to his slave-girl (ancilla).
Archaeologists uncovered at least 20 ancient wooden coffins in the southern city of Luxor in 2019.
Archaeologists found the coffins in the Asasif Necropolis. The necropolis is located in the ancient town of West Thebes and includes tombs dating back to the Middle, New Kingdom and Late Periods (1994 B.C. to 332 B.C.)
Researchers cracked open the spectacular wooden coffins and found perfectly preserved mummies. The find is being described as the most important in a century. The coffins are estimated to be 3,000 years old.
The coffins were found sealed and intact, featuring vibrant color inscriptions and well-preserved engravings, both inside and out. Inscriptions suggest the coffins were for children and priests.
A Byzantium-era gold coin that was discovered in the mountains of southern Norway is a mystery. The coin is a Byzantine histamenon nomisma. These were introduced in Byzantium around 960 AD in what was then the eastern part of the Roman Empire. One side of the coin is stamped with an image of Christ holding the Bible. On the other side, the two emperors Basil II and Constantine VIII.
The two brothers jointly ruled in Byzantium for almost fifty years from 976 to 1025. The coin bears two inscriptions. In Latin, it says Jesus Christ, King of those who rule, and in Greek, it reads Basil and Constantine, emperors of the Byzantine Empire. Struck in gold, standard weight is around 4.4g, though quality and fineness decreased in the 11th century, transitioning to electrum.
It was possibly part of the treasures that Harald Hardrada amassed after serving in the Varangian Guard for the Byzantine emperor in 1034. The Varangian Guard consisted of Scandinavian mercenaries, who served as bodyguards and were known as being fearless. Hardrada was King of Norway from 1046 to 1066. He unsuccessfully claimed both the Danish throne until 1064 and the English throne in 1066. It was customary at that time for the guards to loot the palace when an emperor died, and during Harald’s time in Byzantium, three emperors had died.
Some historians believe that Harald’s demise at Stamford Bridge in 1066 is the end of The Viking Age and deem him the Last Viking. Harald Hardrada, the King of Norway, was killed on September 25, 1066, at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, ending his invasion of England. Caught off-guard by King Harold Godwinson’s forces, Harald was struck in the throat by an arrow while fighting without his chainmail.
Basil II, the 'Bulgar-Slayer,' solidified the empire through military victories.
Basil II (r. 976–1025) and Constantine VIII (r. 1025–1028) were brothers of the Macedonian dynasty who reigned for a combined 66 years, bringing the Byzantine Empire to its zenith. Constantine VIII acted as a nominal co-emperor, largely ignoring statecraft for a life of luxury.
