Today archaeology in Jonkoping, tomorrow Visingsö

I’ve used my days in Jonkoping to catch up with friends and local archaeology. I’ve visited Jonkoping County Museums excavation of the medieval road Eriksgatan, the road the Swedish king or queen had and still have to travel after his or hers coronation to visit the different parts of his or hers kingdom. A tradition that goes back to the 13^th century when the kingdom Sweden became a kingdom. In every province the king was to be accepted by the local government, the trip started at Mora stenar in Uppland went through Södermanland to the east shore of lake Vättern in Östergötland to Jönköping at the south end of lake Vättern, in Småland, then north through Västergötland, Närke and Västmanland and finally returning to Uppland. At Jonkoping County museum are some pictures of finds and info concerning the excavation (link in Swedish).

The open trench wherein a part of Eriksgatan is visable, it’s well preserved and one can see where the wagon wheels once traveled. If you’re in the neighborhood hurry by! I think it’s really cool to be able to experience a part of a road that is so intimately connected to Swedish history and the beginning of Sweden as a kingdom, a symbol for the nation then and now. Just imagine that one of those wheel tracks belonged to king Magnus Eriksson (1319-1364) in 1335, the first king we now for a certainty  made the trip.

I also visited the excavation of Svenska maden (Swedish maden), where the national heritage board (RAA) is excavating. Svenska maden is an area in the outskirt of 17^th century Jonkoping, where Swedish workers worked and lived (link in Swedish). At the time the area wasn’t very nice as this was wetlands, it was continually filled up with sand to make it habitable, though probably still wet, damp and probably not that nice. A few years back Tyska maden (German maden) was  excavated with very interesting results. At Tyska maden german workers lived under similar conditions.

Tomorrow I plan to visit the island Visingsö, the whole island is a paradise for archeobuffs; large grave fields, medieval castle ruins, historic castle ruins, medieval churches etc. I’ve worked on several materials from the island during my studies at Stockholm University and as always when you study something you get sidetracked. These sidetracks are often left unfinished as they don’t fit the essay or the work you currently do. This time I aim to pick up such a sidetrack and see if can transform it into a small article. No matter what a few pictures are bound to find its way to this blog in a few days.

Magnus Reuterdahl

On a shopping spree

The paycheck is burning a hole in my pocket so I went on a small shopping spree and bought some fantastic hand colored 17^th century prints from the book Antiquae urbis splendor (1612-1628) by Giacomo Lauro (1583-1650). It’s quite fantastic to realize that you’re holding a sheet of paper from the 17^th century in is such good condition and that the colors are so alive after more than 400 years. I’ve excavated much younger artifacts in much worse condition than these, though, obviously, not made of paper.

Here are a few of the prints – enjoy!

De Copiis Romanorum maritimis

Thermae Titi Vespasiani

On the back of each print is a text in Latin, German and French

Templum Honoris et Virtutis

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Four Stone Hearth #95

The Anthropology Blog Carnival Four Stone Hearths 95^th edition is up and running at Afarensis. Number 96 will hosted here by yours truly on Wednesday July 7^th if you want to join, write a post and send me the link or recommend something that you recently read to inventerare[delete this][at]hotmail[dot]com.

Magnus Reuterdahl

Happy Midsummer 2010

Midsummer’s eve is once again upon us, this Friday. For many Swedes this is one of the big holidays, and a time for celebration and feasting amongst family and or friends.

I’ll spend this midsummer in the small community Långban, in Värmland. Långban is a small mining community. The mining probably started as early as during the Middle Ages (1050-1520 AD). During the the 18^th century mining started in a more industrial form that was more or less shut down in 1933. Today there is a museum in the historic buildings from the mining days, well worth a visit. From the beginning the mining foremost concerned iron ore but in the second half of the 1800′s they also began to mine manganese and dolomite. Lesser mining was done during the mid1950s until the latest closure of the mine in 1972 for dolomite.

Not only the museum is interesting, the small community Lesjöfors, a few km north of Långban is also interesting as well as it is somewhat of a ghost town. It’s not abandoned but several houses are empty as well as industrial building from the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s that stand as hollow reminders of what once was.

Back to the midsummer tradition – me I’ll celebrate with my finance, her sister and her husband and thier children and possibly her parents in a small croft not far from the mining area. For most this weekend is about two things: food (pickled herring, fresh potatoes, schnapps and beer) and meating family and or friends. For me, who do not eat pickled herring, it becomes instead grilled meat and good wine and some schnapps. As tradition bids a midsummer pole will be made; a pole, or rather a cross, dressed in flowers and leaves, around which ring dances are preformed, prefrebly by children with garlands of flowers on thier heads. This really isn’t, and never was, my thing – but the children, at least some, loves it, or are more or less forced to be part of it – and so the traditions lives on.

The midsummer festival has pre-Christian roots and is celebrated at the summer solstice, the tradition has evolved over time; the Christian Church chose to celebrate John the Baptist’s birth at the same time and today it is as previously said more about food and meeting family or friends. The oldest surviving Scandinavian scriptures concerning the midsummer celebration are the Icelandic and Norse sagas, dating to at least the 13th century, where it is stated that Olav Trygvason abolished the sacrificial beer and celebrated with the people at Christmas, Easter, Midsummer and at Michael’s mass.

I’ll post some pictures and notes of our celebration during and after midsummer’s eve.

All in all happy midsummer where ever you are!

Magnus Reuterdahl

En riktig arkeolog gräver?

Normaly I don’t post in Swedish but this post is written for DIK’s (the Swedish union for archaeologist, antiquarians, librarians etc.) summer blog. It concerns my situation as an archaeologist in Sweden and what I do for a living and some thoughts concerning that – most has been posted at one time or another here before.

Kvartsbrott i Medelmad

Detta inlägg finns också publicerat på DIK-medlemmarnas sommarblogg!

Mitt namn är Magnus Reuterdahl, jag är arkeolog och osteolog och arbetar på ett Sveriges privata arkeologföretag: Arkeologicentrum AB, i Östersund. Vi arbetar över i princip hela Sverige vilket ger en fantastisk möjlighet att se och uppleva stora delar av vårt vackra land men också att få möjligheten att se skillnader och likheter mellan de spår som våra förfäder avsatt och de spår vi avsätter idag.

2010 är lite speciellt för mig, det är första året sedan jag tog min examen 2004, som jag har möjlighet att ta ut en riktig sammanhängande sommarsemester. Som arkeolog är sommaren normalt sätt arbetstid – och anställningsformen normalt sätt projektanställning eller vikariat. Men sedan den 1:a januari är jag tillsvidareanställd och har därmed också möjlighet att likt vanliga människor ta ut semester. Från midsommar och två veckor därefter får jag med andra ord uppleva det som de flesta tar för givet – en sammanhängande ledighet, egentligen den första sedan 1999 då jag likt de flesta studenter inte hade råd att ta ledigt på sommaren under min studietid. Då jag är en fornnörd kommer dock en hel del av min semester tillbringas i sällskap med fornlämningar, vilka kommer fotas och kommenteras på min blogg Testimony of the spade.

En jordkällare i Västergötland

Så hur mycket gräver jag? Svaret är ibland! För det mesta jobbar jag med utredningar, frivilliga utredningar eller särskilda utredningar (beställda via en länsstyrelse), med vilket menas att man inventerar av mindre områden. Vi besöker kända lämningar: fasta fornlämningar (t ex gravar, gravfält, boplatser, fossila åkrar, järnframställningsplatser m m.) och övriga kulturhistoriska lämningar (torplämningar, fossila åkrar, tjärdalar, kolbottnar m m.) för att lägga till information och eventuellt justera utbredningen av dessa samt för att finna lämningar som inte tidigare registrerats i Riksantikvarieämbetets databas för FMIS/Fornsök inför exploatering av olika slag såsom husbyggen eller vindkraftverk. I FMIS kan du hitta vad som registrerat på din tomt eller mark,  en annan intressant sida är Lantmäteriets historiska kartor där du i bästa fall kan hitta kartor över din egendom från 1600-talet och framåt. Tidigare har jag arbetat på länsstyrelserna i Kronobergs och Norrbottens län, läns museerna i Östergötland och Nordbotten m fl.

Utsikt från Storumans utsiktsplats mot fjällen

Som arkeolog lever jag oftast, liksom min sambo (särbo) med en kontinuerligt packad kappsäck redo att ta mig an nästa grävning eller landsända, att sova på nästa vandrarhem eller inhyrd sommarstuga, att ta nästa tåg eller buss för att hitta ”nya” lämningar eller äventyr. Om du upplever denna text som en klagan har du missuppfattat det hela, att vara arkeolog är världens bästa yrke – när du har jobb – det finns ständigt något nytt att uppleva eller lära – men det är också slitigt – man träffar sin sambo i bästa fall en gång per vecka, man jobbar sannolikt mer än man bör och är ständigt på språng. Man blir lite som en legosoldat i kulturhistoriens tjänst.

I vanliga fall kan ni följa min vardag på bloggen Testimony of the spade (på engelska), mitt forskningsprojekt (tillsammans med Johan Klange) på Yangshaoprojektet, mitt sär intresse, ben, via Osteologiska föreningen och mitt fritidsintresse, vin, på Aqua Vita.

Glad sommar önskar!

Magnus Reuterdahl

Obama got it!

I got this great picture from a friend from facebook the other day (Originally from Pundit kitchen)

Magnus Reuterdahl

I’ve made a “mathematical” discovery

Perhaps “mathematical” discovery is just a bit of an overstatement, but keep in mind that I was a humanities student and math really isn’t my thing, in light of that this is hugh.

As a habitual commuter between Stockholm and Östersund, a journey of ca 550 km by car, I’ve made a discovery. I’ve travelled this route on several occasions the last year using a GPS to optimize the route. As it is quite boring to travel the exact same route every time and due to the fact that the shortest route isn´t necessary the fastest I initially experimented a bit. After awhile I found what I believe is the most effective route and then my eyes began to open.

Now, something strange occurred, I noticed that my car began to drink fuel like a drunk given access to a bar, i.e. in plentitude. Strangely enough this just happened on occasion so I began thinking that something was amiss with my car. But as it only happened on occasion I began keeping a log. After awhile I could see a pattern, my car need about 10 more liters going from Stockholm to Östersund than the other way around, ca 45 l (0,81 l/10km) vs. 35 l  (0,63 l/10km). My first thought was that it might have to with my driving, did I drive faster when going to work than going home (Strange thought – I know)? Therefore, I began a new log keeping a record on my driving time, but no, the driving time was always within a 10 minute discrepancy.

So what is the problem? – The only thing I’ve been able to think of is that going towards Östersund (north) I’m moving up in the world, that is uphill, and going to Stockholm I’m going downhill, and that makes all the difference. In other words it cost me ca 130 Swedish kronor (ca $16,90, €13,65) extra going home than going to work – it’s a bummer but a discovery including math nether the less.

Magnus Reuterdahl

DIK summer blog

DIK is the union for archaeologist, antiquarians, librarians etc. in Sweden – this year they have a summer blog for it’s members, including me. All members are welcome to post on what they do this summer; concerning work, studies or their free time. One of the best propsals I’ve heard from DIK in some time, and of course Testimony of the Spade will participate in a near future – and I hope most archaeologist will as well.

Check it out at http://sommarbloggen.posterous.com/ (I guess most posts will be written in Swedish)

To participate send an e-mail to sommarbloggen@dik.se.

Magnus Reuterdahl

Currently reading

I’m currently reading Strange Loyalties by William McIllvanney, a superb novel about detective inspector Jack Laidlaw (the 3^rd book) in Glasgow. I guess you could call it a detective story or crime-fiction but it’s really more of a novel than suspense story. I’ve read both Laidlaw (1977) and the papers of Tony Veitch (1983) and loved them. McIlvanney writes with a depth and a sharp pen, his language is direct, fluent and realistic – he paints surroundings, environments and portraits that have depth and life. As Cornell Woolrich he paints much of it I a grayscale rather than black and white, he also has a streak of Raymond Chandler’s wisecracks. Though one can recognize different influences McIlvanney is his own man – the language, as mentioned, set him apart, perhaps a streak from his work as a poet, – all in all, I dare say –  though I’ve haven’t finished the book yet, a great read as was it’s processors.

Chapter 1

“I woke up with a head like a rodeo. Isn’t it painful having fun? Mind you, last night hadn’t been about enjoyment, just whisky as anaesthetic… I got up and went on safari for the pain-killers.”

anyone

Time to leave the office for a five hour train ride to Stockholm – which I’ll use to finish this book!

Magnus Reuterdahl

Identity Crisises

I’m not a big fan of Nicolas Cage, but a DVD cover caught my eye, as a quick glance got me thinking that the man on the cover was Alice Cooper… but no, it was Nicolas Cage (The Bad Lieutenant).

Well he’s already done one legend on film, Elvis, so why not do someone he actually has a resemblance of – see the crocked lip, the stare, the slightly titled eyes, the eyebrows?  - Alice Cooper – the movie starring Nicolas Cage

Alice himself might a give a few a pointers on the acting

Magnus Reuterdahl