Emily Chan
A family in Norway got more than what they bargained for after a search for a missing gold earring turned up some Viking-era artifacts.
The Aasviks live on Jomfruland, a small island on the southeast coast of Norway. They had ventured into their yard with a metal detector, and within moments, the machine picked up a signal near the base of a large tree behind their house.
When they dug down into the ground, expecting to uncover the modern piece of jewelry, they discovered two ancient relics instead—brooches made from bronze and traces of gold, indicating that they were once gilded.
Vibeke Lia, the lead archaeologist from the Vestfold and Telemark County Municipality, determined that the brooches were from the ninth century.
They were likely part of a Viking burial for an aristocratic woman. Brooches were often found in the graves of Viking women.
One of the brooches was oval-shaped and used to pin shoulder straps to the front of Viking halter dresses.
The other was a circular dress brooch. Its design and decoration are associated with the early Viking town of Ribe, Denmark, since it matches the molds archaeologists have found that date back to sometime between 780 and 850 C.E. They were both engraved with intricate carvings of animals and geometric patterns.
The finds are significant for being the first evidence from the Viking Age, confirming that people were present on the island at that time.
Previously, historical records of Viking settlement only went as far back as the early Middle Ages and made no mention of people living on Jomfruland.
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