Archaeologists baffled over ‘bizarre’ Viking discovery

A TEAM of Irish archaeologists is puzzled by the "bizarre" discovery of a 1,150-year-old Viking necklace in a cave in the Burren.

Besides being the largest by far – up to 12 times longer than previous finds – the team is puzzled by how such a "high-status" Viking treasure came to lie in the Burren, an area never settled by the Norsemen.

The site where the necklace was found at Glencurran Cave was described by team leader Dr Marion Dowd of Sligo IT as a "treasure trove" for archaeologists.

Read the rest of this article...

Viking treasure found in cave baffles experts

IRISH archaeologists have been left baffled by the 'bizarre' discovery of a 1,150-year-old Viking necklace in a Burren cave.

The necklace is the largest Viking necklace to be discovered in Ireland.

Dr Marion Dowd, of Sligo IT, is leading the excavation of Glencurran Cave in the Burren National Park, which she described as a "treasure trove" for archaeologists.

The necklace was one of the major items discovered in the dig and is described as a "stunning piece of jewellery" by Dr Dowd.

Read the rest of this article...

Runic Seminar at Aberdeen

There will be a one-day seminar on Runes in Context: Runes, Runic Inscriptions, Early Scandinavian Society and Early Germanic Languages at the University of Aberdeen on 3 May. I don’t have very much information about it, but the speakers have been confirmed–assuming the volcano stops doing its dirty work–as:

Read the rest of this article...

Social Networks for Archaeology

The power and importance of social networks are growing all the time, not least in the field of archaeology.

I thought that it would be useful to compile a list of these sites for archaeology. The list as it stands at the moment can be found here….

Obviously, this list is very incomplete at the moment, so if you know of any archaeological social network site that should be added, please give details on the form here…

Ireland promotes the Viking Triangle of Waterford as a tourist destination

Ireland's government has announced that funding of almost €9 million has been provisionally allocated under Fáilte Ireland's Tourism Capital Investment Programme for the development of museums and other tourist attractions in the centre of Waterford, known collectively as the Viking Triangle.

The objective of Waterford City Council is to create within the Viking Triangle an iconic heritage based tourist attraction to be titled ‘The Viking Triangle - A Thousand Years of History in a Thousand Paces’. The Viking Triangle forms one part of a larger overall project, the other being the development of the new Waterford Crystal Experience. This significant investment reflects the Government's determination to support tourism which the Government has identified as a vital export-oriented service industry.

Read the rest of this article...

Archeology: When did the First Settlers Come to Iceland?

One of the things that makes Iceland unique in Europe is the fact that Icelanders know the year the first settler, Ingólfur Arnarson, came to Iceland from Norway. The Icelandic script, Íslendingabók (Book of Icelanders), written by Ari the wise, tells of the first men coming to Iceland on explorations.

Three expeditions came to Iceland, but the first men who came to Iceland to live there permanently were Ingólfur and Hjörleifur. The two came to Iceland in 874. Hjörleifur was killed by his slaves, which only left Ingólfur and his wife Hallgerdur Fródadóttir. They settled in Reykjavík, now the capital of Iceland. An excavation in the center of Reykjavík seems to indicate that this story might be true. It shows that the remnants of building stem from the year 871+/-2 years. That website is worth examining. It has a number of interactive features and recreates the 871 environment.

Read the rest of this article...