This summer there was great excitement at Tusseladden Kindergarten in Bodø. Aksel (5) found a rare object. What could it be? A coin? A locket? Or something completely different? Photo: Sondre Skjelvik / news The archaeologists in Nordland were unsure, but after expert help from the Netherlands they concluded that it was a medallion. Specifically, a 600-year-old pilgrim medallion. But an observant news reader noticed something special: – There is a lot that is true here. Why does the news reader think this? He explains that he is above average curious. That’s why he did a “Google image search”. – Quite a lot of information came up. And the button from Dalarna’s museum looked quite similar, he says to news. Exciting! And it is perhaps difficult to disagree with him, they are quite similar, aren’t they? The object on the left is at the Dalarnas museum in Sweden. Photo: DM 28 DALARNAS MUSEUM’S COLLECTIONS/FREDRIK HEGERT / news/Sondre Skjelvik The museum in Sweden has called the object a “sword button”. In addition, they have apparently concluded that the object is from 1863. Have the archaeologists in Nordland been wrong? – Look there, yes. There is a lot that is true here, says Nordland archaeologist Tor-Kristian Storvik to news. – However, I am skeptical that it is classified as a sword button. The sword button should protect the hand of the person using the sword. This was found at Sandbu in Vågå municipality. Photo: Olav Espevoll / University Museum in Bergen Delivered by a priest in the 1860s Storvik explains that a sword knob is also called a pommel or overhand. – I find it difficult to see that the object from Tusseladden, both in shape and motif, can be a sword button. He rather believes that the Swedes are wrong. Aksel (5) shows where he found the object in Tusseladden kindergarten. So, what do the Swedish archaeologists say? Simon Langwagen, antiquarian at Dalarna’s museum, has asked their archaeologists. He explains that the dating is not the age, but the date they received the item. – In our case, it is not an archaeological discovery in the ground. It was delivered to the museum by a priest in the 1860s, says Langwagen. The back of the Swedish object is completely flat, just like the one found by Aksel. Photo: DM 28 Dalarnas museum’s collections / Fredrik Hegert What about the categorization? – In our oldest protocols from that time, it is referred to as a sword button, says the antiquarian and emphasizes: – So an assessment that was made over 160 years ago. An assessment they now, after hearing about Aksel’s findings, believe is wrong. Olav the Holy? A lot has happened in 160 years, so maybe it’s a good idea to make a new assessment? Yep. – Our archaeologists do not believe that this is correct, and we will therefore change this immediately, says Langwagen and adds: – Spontaneously, we now interpret it as if it depicts St. Olav with a crooked staff and an axe. Perhaps it is Olaf the Saint who is depicted on the medallion? Photo: Øyvind Skogmo Hansen / news They now believe, like the Nordland archaeologists, that it is a pilgrim’s medallion. – And there is no doubt that it is from the Middle Ages. Dalarna’s museum has now changed the information on digitalmuseum.se. Tor-Kristian Storvik says, naturally enough, that he agrees one hundred percent with the Swedes that it is not a sword button. However, he is not so sure that it is Olav the Saint who is depicted. – Olav the Saint is often depicted with an ax and apple of the crown. I can’t see this on “our” item. Who do you think is depicted on the medallions? Saint Olav Impossible to say Show result Storvik points out that there are tens of thousands of different pilgrim badges with many different motifs. He still believes that the one Aksel found originates from Germany or the Netherlands. And even five-year-olds and curious news readers can clearly influence a greater understanding of our own history. – That objects that were previously cataloged and, as in this case, wrongly catalogued, are corrected more often today, replies Storvik and emphasizes that such magazines are available to many. – When the objects are accessible to everyone, it also means that mistakes are discovered and corrected.
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Aksel’s medallion led to a museum in Sweden reassessing the object – news Nordland
