– I never thought it would be so old, says the ten-year-old from Flisa about the special find. In August, he and his father Mathis Briskerud were out on Glomma by boat to swim, and found a sandbar in the middle of the river. – Then I saw something resembling a root in the sand, he says. Erik thought it strange that a root should lie all alone in the sand, so he decided to take a closer look. – I went and picked it up, and eventually found out that it wasn’t a mess. The wooden object was stuck in sand, so he and his father decided to rinse off all the sand to see what it really was. – When we had removed all the sand it looked like a bowl, he says. It turned out to be not just any bowl, but one of the most special bowl finds in Norway ever. HAPPY: Archaeologist Mildri Een Eide is happy that Erik Briskerud and his father Mathis Briskerud decided to bring the wooden bowl. Photo: Vibecke Wold Haagensen / news 1,000-year-old bowl The father thought perhaps the wood had been sanded by the sand in Glomma, but the son was optimistic. – How were you sure it wasn’t any scrap wood you could just throw away? – I saw that some kind of tool had been used on it, because there were such nice edges in the bowl, says the attentive ten-year-old. VERY SPECIAL: Considering its age and condition, this wooden bowl is most likely the only one of its kind. Photo: Vibecke Wold Haagensen / news They had it sent to Innlandet county council, which then took a tiny bit of the bowl which they sent on to Florida in the USA for dating. The answer came just a few days ago: Rooted in the sand turned out to be an 800-1,000-year-old wooden bowl dating from later Viking times. – I think it’s very cool. I didn’t think it was entirely from the Viking Age. Quite amazing that it is so old, says Briskerud. – Very special find – It is almost difficult to explain how special this find is, says archaeologist at Innlandet county municipality Mildri Een Eide. Some wooden bowls have previously been found in Norway from the Viking Age, but they are often only in small pieces or fragments. – So this one is very special. Considering the age, we do not know of any other finds of this kind in Norway, she says. ROUGH: The fact that the bowl is roughly carved may indicate that it belonged to ordinary Viking Age people. Photo: Vibecke Wold Haagensen / news – We think it is most likely made from a ball of wood, or a wooden knot found on many trees, and hollowed out. – We had to pinch ourselves a couple of times. We guessed the 18th century, but it turned out to be much older. She explains that the bowl is also special because it is roughly carved, which may indicate that it does not originate from the richest or most powerful. – It is rare to find objects that belonged to ordinary Viking Age people. This is not an ornamental object, says Een Eide. The bowl will now be sent on to the Cultural History Museum in Oslo, which will look after it for posterity. The sand has taken care of the bowl The reason why the bowl is so well preserved is most likely due to the sand. – There is quite little oxygen in the sand in Glomma, so it has been lying safely and well in the sand. A bit like a marsh corpse. But how it ended up there is not known. – Glomma may have looked different, or it may have come with the flow. TAKE CARE OF: Archaeologist Een Eide promises ten-year-old Erik that the cultural history museum in Oslo will take good care of the bowl. Photo: Vibecke Wold Haagensen / news She thinks the probability of finding more in the sandbank is small. In addition, it is challenging to dig in water. – So it probably won’t happen at first. She praises ten-year-old Erik for realizing that this was something special. – So we owe him a big thank you, says Een Eide.
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Erik (10) found a very special object from the Viking Age when he was going to bathe – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
