A new week in the field awaits. Last week we managed to do a lot of work but there’s still plenty to do. We’ve dug a lot of search pits, ca 5-10 m in length 1,5-2 m in width and 0,4-0,5 m in depth, to delimit two grave fields. Between these grave fields earlier archaeological investigations has identified urn graves, urns filled with cremated bones, charcoal etc and dug into the ground. We’ve rediscovered these and found a few more. One thought was that these two grave fields might have been one but there seems to be an area ca 50-75 m in between with no graves, though this is just a preliminary assessment as we still have some search pits to dig before we are done.
In another parts of the area we’ve done search pits in order to find a possible settlement, in the first we’ve found nothing but in the other a few interesting finds have been done. More on that as it develops.
For me this week will be one in company with a Rover (network RTK) from Trimble (R8) as there are a lot of test pits to be measured.
As you can see on my boots they tend to become rather heavy as the mud sticks to them as glue.
Now, all I hope for is decent weather but it doesn’t look all that promising. So its another week in rain gear and long underwear.
Magnus Reuterdahl
Now what is Mellingeholm and perhaps more important where is it? Mellingeholm is a property ca 65 km northwest of Stockholm and a few km south of Norrtälje in Frötuna parish.
At the moment I participate in a archaeological preliminary investigation, step two in the Swedish exploratory archaeological process. During which our aim is primary to delimit monuments and relics and to determine their function by excavating and surveying. We are also asked to answer certain questions such as the age of a certain monument or to map a monument in detail or document it etc.
In Mellingeholm there are several monuments and relics such as graves from the Iron Age, settlements from the Iron age and possible the Bronze Age, Fossilized acres from prehistoric and historic times, crofts etc. It has also been used as a military shooting and practice range since the 40’s so there are also a lot of remains from their activity such as trenches and other defence remains that we’re suppose to document.
Yesterday it was raining all day long and only a few degrees above zero which left us all cold to bone. Cold and dampness really causes fatigue – I fell over in my bed last night. Today it was a bit better wheather though still cold. The first few hours it was below zero but then came the sun and it became a lot easier, it’s incredible how some sunlight and warmth makes the day just fly away.
I’ll get back with some pictures.
Magnus Reuterdahl
In the mail today came the book; To wake the dead – a renaissance merchant and the birth of archaeology by Marina Belozerskaya (2009). Published by W.W. Norton & Company.
I’ve yet to read it but it seems an interesting read about archaeology’s birth during the Italian renaissance and its “father” Cyrianus of Ancona (15th century merchant). Cyrianus of Ancona is news for me so it is with interest and curiosity I’ll read this book – I’ll get back to you with some words on the book in a few weeks.
This week and at least yet another I’ll work just north of Stockholm in Mellingeholm outside of Norrtalje.
Best wishes
Magnus Reuterdahl
Tomorrow and the day after I’ll attend a two day seminary on GNSS and SWEPOS® held by Lantmateriet (the Swedish mapping, cadastral and land registration authority) in Gävle.
GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) is the standard term for satellite navigation systems, exampel of such systems are the US NAVSTAR GPS (Global Positioning System) (GPS) and the Russian GLONASS others that are in progress are The EU’s Galileo positioning system and Chinas’s Beidou navigation system.
SWEPOS® is a Swedish network of permanent reference stations for GPS.
Magnus Reuterdahl
Then the excavation at Raa 225 and 226 in Holm parish, Medelpad is finished and we’re back in Ostersund.
This was a special dig, not many quartz quarries have been excavated so it was exciting. Quartz has been used at all times. During the Stone Age and fourth; arrows, knives and scrapers, etc was made. As you might see on the pictures, below, the quartz vein is situated above ground on the slope of the mountain making it easily accessible, from which they chopped or broke off pieces. The remains of this is what we call a quartz quarry.
Quartz has also been used during historical times in the manufacture of glass, as raw material for porcelain and as a key ingredient in ceramic glazes. In modern times quartz is used because of its interesting piezoelectric properties to make components in computers, cell phones and radios, etc.
The quarry is situated beautifully on a small rock just by the water. The quartz core is rather big, ca 10 x 2 m and when the sun hits it, it lit up the mountainside. It’s evident that someone has extracted rather large amounts of quarts there.
Unfortunately we didn’t find many artefacts so its difficult to date the quarry but a settlement nearby suggests that it’s Stone Age. We did find a lot of chips and a hammer stone and it’s possible that we find more as we clean and study the quartz chips.
On our way back we made a stop at Liden’s medieval church and enjoyed it as well as the dramatic landscape.
The church was built 1483-1510 by the Dominican monk Josephus. It was in use till the 1860’s when it was abandoned and partly destroyed as a new church was built. The church was then restored 1911-1928.
In the back is Liden’s new church and just in front of that the medieval one.
Magnus Reuterdahl
It’s getting colder and winter is approaching though I hope we still have some fine days left as the outdoor season is till open. We are experiencing temperatures in different ways, on the one hand it’s great that it becomes a bit chilly when you’re on the move in nature, on the other hand, it is nice to be indoors when the north wind blows.
I read recently that in 1883 there was a company in Sweden called Ebbes Bruk (Factory) which produced an express-heating device. If this machine was mounted in a church and fired up 3 hours before the church service, they ensured a pleasant indoor temperature of 8-10º Celsius during the winter months. Now I guess that in 1883 that was ok. But this shows that our need and our requirements for, for example heat is something that varies not only due to activity but also over time and space.
Tomorrow I go north again after a short trip to Aix-en-Provence, pictures and a few posts are pending, in France. Unfortunately I ate something bad and got a food poisoning due to which I’ve spent the last couple of days in a bit of haze. No worries I’ve gotten better by the hour but I’ve missed out on a few days of excavating. At present we (Arkeologicentrum) do an archaeological excavation in Holm parish of a Quartz quarry (Holm 226) some miles NW of Sundsvall.
I’ll get back to you on the excavation in Holm parish and on the trip to France.
best wishes
Magnus Reuterdahl
Project fill my already overcrowded shelves with more books continues…
A few weeks ago I bought a few ”new” books. One of the books is Mysteriernas bok : kulturhist. framställning af alla tiders och folkslags hemliga samfund och ordnar by Otto Henne-am-Rhyn (1828-1914), printed in Stockholm by Ulrik Fredriksson 1891. The English title is History of the Secret Doctrines and Mystic Rites of Ancient Religions and Medieval and Modern Secret Orders. The book was originally published in Switzerland.
I’ll get back to you with some notes on the book.
This week I’ll be in Ostersund on Monday till Wednesday working on some reports and then I’ll go to Aix-en-Provence for some work and just a pinch of holiday. Unfortunately I won’t have time for museums or excursions and such while visiting as the schedule is tight, though I know we’ll visit a vineyard and some scenic spots so there might be some cultural history for the blog to present. The week after that it seems like I’m off to excavate part of a quartz quarry for about week, together with my fiancée. She’s also an archaeologist but we’ve seldom have had the chance to work together so we’ll look forward to this. I’ll get back to you with a few facts on the quarry excavation when I know more.
Magnus Reuterdahl
I’ve begun reading Åsa M Larssons (Ting & Tankar) thesis; Breaking and Making Bodies and Pots: Material and Ritual Practices in Sweden in the Third Millennium BC.
400+ pages makes for a thick and heavy book and academia normally isn’t a light read but this is quite an easy read for an academic work. This is in part due to a good flow and good usage of language and in part due to a good disposition of the book where each chapter has a clear beginning and end and is well marked off. A lot of nice pictures and graphs gives some rest to dreary eyes but are also and more importantly illustrative to the text.
Some first notes; I’m not sure I agree with Asa in naming it a monster (at least not a growling one), at a first glance it’s more of slowly building crescendo of pitted ware data; background information, descriptions and syntheses mixed with some fun facts and good writing. Quite a pleasent read.
I’ve started with the osteological parts of the thesis on which I’ll posts some notes later on, as I read it through a little bit more in detail.
Magnus Reuterdahl
Congratulations!
I had the pleasure to attend Åsa M Larssons dissertation and she passed with flying colures, and she was kind enough to thank me personally in the thesis as well as some other bloggers, thanks!
Cheers! Åsa a few seconds after she got the message that she was officially a PhD!
As a present we (me and my fiancée) gave her a 19th century print of craniums from the Swedish fauna and a comic book of one of my fav’s Sergio Aragonés Groo the Wanderer (Groo Svärdsbäraren) and as a message of wisdom I passed on a word of wisdom from Groo’s matser (translated by me) “No one wander so far as the empty headed in his or hers hunt for words“.
Magnus Reuterdahl
Today is the day of truth for Åsa M Larsson at Ting & Tankar as she puts forward her thesis Breaking and Making Bodies and Pots. Material and Ritual Practices in South Sweden in the Third Millennium BC. I haven’t yet read the thesis but I’m looking forward to do so and to meet a lot of fellow archaeologist and osteologist.
Magnus Reuterdahl
