– At first I thought there were some aluminum gutter hooks, but they weren’t. It is powerful and heavy stuff. Håvard Børvik says so. He actually works on a service boat in a farming company, but has a hobby of using a metal detector. Early in August this year, in a grazing area at Vinjen on Engeløya in Steigen, he and his friend Einar-Arve Lagård found something special. About 7 cm below the ground, he found three bracelets or bangles in silver. – A dream – They were one and a half centimeters wide, and perhaps suitable for women’s wrists, at least the ones I got out of the ground, says Børvik. This is what the first three bracelets that Håvard Børvik and Einar-Arve Lagård found when they were out with a metal detector look like. Photo: Privat And add: – These are the kinds of finds you hope to find when you go looking. Finding such things from the Viking Age is a dream, says Børvik. Børvik said that they could still see that there were at least four more bracelets further down in the ground. Håvard Børvik actually works on a service boat in a farming company, but has a hobby of using a metal detector. Photo: Private – It was the first day I have walked in that area. It was very fun. It is an area where there has actually been a lot of rubbish. When Børvik found this, he did what everyone should do when you search with a metal detector and find something, he reported the find to the county council. – We are required by law to make contact and report the find after one working day. The discovery caused the archaeologists to throw themselves around and go to see what else was hiding under the ground. Here the archaeologists dug up the rest of the silver treasure on Engeløya. Photo: Lars-Bjørn Martinsen / news On Engeløya in Steigen, the past is close by. Here lies Northern Norway’s largest burial mound, a strange military facility and a tall building from the Iron Age. Just under a month after Børvik and Lagård dug up the first silver bracelets, several archaeologists from Nordland and Troms came to the site in Steigen to investigate and map the site. – Unique find It did not take long before the archaeologists were able to establish that there were several bracelets in the ground. The silver treasure is buried behind a large boulder. – So far, it looks like it is a depot. In other words, someone has left valuables in the field. Maybe because they would come back later and get it. Or to hide it away from someone who would get hold of it, says archaeologist Anna Roth Niemi. Finding several well-preserved objects of precious metal in the ground is not an everyday occurrence for archaeologists. Håvard Børvik says the bracelets are one and a half centimeters wide, and probably fit a lady’s wrist. Photo: Private – It is quite unique that we can come here and pick them up where they are. The last time it happened was at Niemi, I say that the bracelets that have already been dug up have so-called stamp decoration – which was used to make jewelery and objects prettier. – We recognize the same decoration from other silver objects from the Viking Age. The Vikings were very interested in silver. It was sought after, says Niemi. Before the silver has been examined, it is difficult to determine the exact age, explains Niemi. – But we know that the Viking Age lasted from the year 800 until after the millennium. We hope to find more datable material at the discovery site, which means that we may be able to establish the time when this was put in the ground. There is a lot of history that can be uncovered in connection with such a discovery. – The discovery here on Engeløya can say something about society here. About power relations, war and discord. Tor-Kristian Storvik, archaeologist at Nordland county council, says that he was also elated by the find. – We guessed what we saw the contours of. The size here is probably so unusual. Here in Nordland, we have probably never come across anything like this before. The archaeologists will investigate whether the bracelets were buried at the same time or over time. – We are very interested in documenting the context in which the find is located. So that we understand what happened when the objects ended up in the ground. The silver treasure will now be taken to the Cultural History Laboratory at Tromsø Museum. Here, the jewelery must be secured so that it is not exposed to degradation. Keth Elisabeth Lind, senior advisor, Norway’s Arctic University Museum, Anja Roth Niemi, head of management archaeology, Norway’s Arctic University Museum, Tor-Kristian Storvik, archaeologist, Nordland County Municipality, Anna Kuukua Buduson, conservator, Norway’s Arctic University Museum. Photo: Lars-Bjørn Martinsen / news The objects will then be studied. Then they disappear into the magazines, and become available to researchers. A Viking eldorado Håvard Børvik says that the whole of Engeløya has a lot of Viking history. It is nevertheless the first time he has found something from the Viking Age. – But I have found an ax head which has been dated to the year 500 to the 16th century by archaeologists. – Do you spend a lot of time on this hobby? – Not as much as one would like. You have to wait until it is suitable for landowners, and that there is no cultivated land or that animals roam there. There have been perhaps 10–12 trips this year. The find is behind a large rock. This is probably how those who dug it down would find the piece of jewellery. But it didn’t work out that way. Photo: Lars-Bjørn Martinsen / news He started with a metal detector a year ago. On the first day he found a silver coin from 1765, and then he was no less excited. – Finding such things from the Viking Age is a dream. It’s so unlikely, it’s almost impossible, says Børvik and adds: – I’m very interested in history and why it ended up there, but we’ll probably never find out.
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Unearth three silver bracelets – news Nordland
