Archaeological Find Rewrites Norwegian History
oneiriad
Disclaimer: Vikings does not belong to me. I'm just playing.
Archaeological Find Rewrites Norwegian History
Local archaeologists have uncovered what appears to be the remains of the earliest Christian church in Norway.
A routine archaelogical excavation in the small Norwegian town of Kattegat has yielded what Norwegian historian Kjell Hanson does not hesitate to describe as: "an amazing find, which will necessitate a rewrite of our history books."
When local archaeologists started work at the intended site of Kattegat's new skaterpark, the last thing they expected was to uncover what appears to be the mostly intact remains of an ancient church, safely encased in a small hill locally known as Athshaugen.
Previously, the oldest Norwegian church has been held to have been built by King Olaf Tryggvason (960s – 1000) during his forcible conversion of Norway to Christianity after his ascension to the throne in 995. Preliminary carbon and dendrochronological dating places the construction of the Kattegat church nearly 200 years earlier, around the year 800.
The church itself is a small, one-room building constructed like a smaller version of the period's traditional longhouses. The broad beams are decorated with carvings recognisable as Biblical tales, albeit strongly influenced by traditional Norse myth. At one end stands an altar with a single silver cross of a type otherwise found in late 8th century Britain and Ireland. Behind the altar lies a large, flat stone decorated with a single cross - archaeologists are speculating that it might mark a grave.
While the church itself is an astonishing find, the wooden altar in particular has archaeologists and historians especially excited, primarily because of the rune inscription carved along the top of it: "Ragnar [and] Lagertha had this [church] built. Floki Lokisgoði carved [these runes]."
Local tradition in Kattegat holds that the town was once home to the otherwise traditionally Danish Viking king Ragnar Lodbrok, a legendary figure who according to 12th century historian Saxo Grammaticus at one point was married to a Norwegian warrior princess named Lathgertha. Thus, the find might not only necessiate a rewrite of the history of Christianity in Norway, it is possible that the archaeologists have uncovered hard evidence for the existence of these legendary figures.
Popular Archaeology Today, 26 May, 2013