NORWEGIAN ARCHAEOLOGISTS CLAIM TO HAVE FOUND THE WORLD’S OLDEST RUNESTONE

Thu 19 January 2023:

In Norway, archaeologists discovered a flat, square block of a brownish runestone, which they claim to be the world’s oldest due to its over 2,000-year-old inscriptions. The stone measures 31 by 32 cm in size (12.2 inches by 12.3 inches).

According to the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, this runestone may be the first instance of written words in Scandinavia. According to AP, this brown runestone is the oldest datable in the world and one of “the oldest runic inscriptions ever found”

THIS is what we @Kulturhistorisk have been working on for over a year – bubbling with excitement. Now the cat’s out of the bag! Follow the news in Norway & social media. Later today, I’ll be posting a thread here on a unique #runic find from Norway. pic.twitter.com/iDDZwKxxUx

— Kristel Zilmer (@Kristel_Zilmer) January 17, 2023

Kristel Zilmer, a professor at the University of Oslo said, “This find will give us a lot of knowledge about the use of runes in the early iron age. This may be one of the first attempts to use runes in Norway and Scandinavia on stone.”

The runestone was initially found in late December 2021 during an excavation of a grave near Tyrifjord, in West Oslo, but is being announced now because the team needed time to analyse and date it, added Zilmer.

The excavation site at Tyrifjorden. (Photo: KHM)

The stone has several types of inscriptions but does not make all linguistic sense.

Other items in the cremation pit included burned bones, and charcoal, indicating that it might have been inscribed between AD1 and AD250.

Zilmer called the discovery “the most sensational thing that I, as an academic, have had.”

There is still a lot of research to be done on the rock, dubbed the Svingerud stone after the site where it was found.

“Without doubt, we will obtain valuable knowledge about the early history of runic writing,” Zilmer said.

The runestone will be exhibited for a month, starting on Jan. 21, at the Museum of Cultural History, which has Norway’s largest collection of historical artifacts, from the Stone Age to modern times.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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