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A day at Ulriksdal Palace
2008-06-14 12:37:44
Just a few kilometres away from home is the royal Palace Ulriksdal, it is situated at the brink of Edsviken just east of Bergshamra (where I live). As a student at the Osteoarchaeological research laboratory (OFL) at Stockholm University I spent two years here as the laboratory at that time was situated in one of royal stables. Today OFL is no longer at Ulriksdal and can now be found at the Wallenberg laboratory, Stockholm University campus. In this building OFL was situated until 2003. The surroundings hold many scenic spots both of cultural historic importance and due to beautiful nature scenery. As one walks from Bergshamra one passes a cemetery for soldiers that became invalids during wars between 1788-1814. King Karl IV Johan made Ulriksdal available for veterans that had been injured during these wars, thus Ulriksdal served as a nursing home between 1822-1849. In total 383 officers, soldiers and enlisted men lived and were taken care of at the castle. The cemetery was founded


An oddity in FMIS
2008-06-06 21:21:57
Is an UFO landing site an ancient remain or monument ? - Yes, according to the National Heritage Board (NHB). As I read through some old posts at arkeologiforum.se (A Swedish forum on Archaeology) I ran into a post I previously missed. David, a fellow forumer, delivers an unlikely register post in FMIS, the NHB’s database over ancient monuments and remains, that describs a landing site for an UFO; Strövelstorp 47:1, SkÃ¥ne (Scania) near Ängelholm. The information text goes as follows: A monument, consisting of an inclosed, level surface, 22 meters in diameter. In the center of the area is a model of a space craft (a flying saucer) made out of concrete and bronze. The model is made in the scale 1:8 according to information received. In the area are cast concrete placed in the markings left by the space craft while landing and starting may 18th 1946. The informant claims to be an eyewitness of the event.  Check out the photos here and here. When one studies large databases o


Rune stones and other scenic spots in Västergötland visited in 2005 part 2
2008-06-03 15:08:17
At this trip I also visited two monumental prehistoric burial sites; Skalunda mound and Stenkullens cairn. Skalunda mound is situated on a ridge in KÃ¥llands plains; it is one of largest mounds in Sweden with a diameter of 65 meters and measures 7 meters in height. It was investigated with the use of subsurface radar and an earth drill in 1994. The result gave evidence for a dating to the 8th century AD. It also showed that the mound held an inner cairn that has been over layered by several layers of turf.   Next to mound is a circle of erect stones a so called domarring. These are normally dated to ca 400-550 AD in Västergötland. Unfortunately I don’t seem to have a picture of this. Stenkullens cairn is most probably from the Bronze Age (ca 1800-500 BC). Today it is ca 60 meters in diameter and measures ca 7 meter in height and is one of the largest in Sweden. It has originally been larger than this but through out time stones has been taken from the cairn of the locals.


Rune stones and other scenic spots in Västergötland visited in 2005 part 1
2008-05-29 00:14:46
As I searched for some pictures the other day I found some that I would like to share from a trip to Västergötland 2005.    Stop number one was at Levene church that according to ledged is from the 11th century though it has been added to and rebuilt several times, mainly during the 17th century. It is said that the jarl HÃ¥kan Röde (Hakan the red) is buried here; he was presumably born ca 1045 AD and died in 1079 AD. It is also said that he had the church built or moved to Levene.   Silly enough I didn’t take any notes on this head stone; I do believe that it is a medieval, or possibly from the 16th century, grave-stone that has originally been part of the floor inside the church before being walled in. Anyhow it’s gorgeous!   In the vestry are two liljestenar, though I photographed one of them for some reason. Liljestenar is medieval carvings in Romanesque-style; they are often carved into flat tartar stones and mainly found in or close by medieval churches. I als


The castle Brahehus
2008-05-27 01:39:27
The ruin of the castle Brahehus is situated by the highway E4 some miles north of Gränna. Its demise is accentuated by the modernity that has been allowed to overtake the area rather than be integrated in the ruin site. The ruin feels out of place when seen from the rest stop, where the highway and the modern structures seem to surpass the ruin. The pathway to the ruin runs under the highway and seems to further suppress it; one almost feels like walking the path of the doomed to face the ruins of yesterday. The highway seems to diminish Brahehus. Brahehus seen from the reststop. The pathway under the highway that leads to Brahehus. But all that ends as soon as one comes up to the ruin and sees the grand view over lake Vättern, Gränna and the island Visingsö. At this time the ruin or castle is the centre and the highway is but a parenthesis in my subconscious. One can feel how right the castle was placed in the landscape. The view from one of the window frames, down below is t


Two castle ruins and a grave field at lake Roxen
2008-05-23 00:20:20
Besides the ruins of Vreta cloister there are a lot of other interesting ruins to been seen around and near lake Roxen in Östergötland. During our trip a few weeks ago we visited two; Stjäntorp castle and the castle ruin of Ã…l (Eel). Stjärntorp castle was built between 1655-1662 by Nicodemus Tessin the elder for Field Marshal Robert Douglas. A fire in 1789 destroyed much of the castle. The chapel was renovated and turned into a church and the wings were restored, obviously the main building wasn’t. Stjärntorp castle and church seen from southeast   The main building seen from south The main building seen from southwest The main building gate tower seen from west The church of Stjärntorp seen from south Just outside the castle is a 3 km long ravine. There are tracks for hiking in the ravine though we didn’t have time to explore it.   This is a nice scenic spot that holds several interesting elements, the castle wings, the church, the ruin and the ravine. Th


Is Jurassic Park becoming reality?
2008-05-20 16:54:11
For the first time scientists has been able to study restoration of extinct non-coding DNA and examination of its function in vivo (experimentation done in or on the living tissue of a whole, living organism). In other words ancient DNA from an extinct spice has come alive. This is described in the article Resurrection of DNA Function In Vivo from an Extinct Genome written by Andrew J. Pask, Richard R. Behringer and Marilyn B. Renfree, published at Plosone they have successfully been able to resurrect a genome of an extinct marsupial, the Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus or thylacine), obtained from 100 year-old ethanol-fixed tissues from museum collections, in a mice. By using a transgenic approach, they managed to resurrect the DNA function in a transgenic mouse. As I understand it a transgenic animal is one that carries a foreign gene that has been deliberately inserted into its genome, more information on transgenic animals can be found here. The authors write that the info


Vreta cloister ruins
2008-05-13 15:03:49
About a week ago I was in Östergötland while there I visited the cloister ruins of Vreta kloster. Vreta cloister was founded in the ca 1110 as a Benedictine nunnery by King Inge the younger and his queen Helena. It is the oldest nunnery in Sweden. In 1162 it was converted into a Cistercian nunnery. The ruins and the church give us a chance to revisit the middle ages. Unfortunately the church and the museum were closed when I visited it so there are no indoor pictures from the church or pictures from the museum. A reconstruction of how the area might have looked at its prime. The cloister was excavated between 1916-1926 and the church was renovated between 1914-1917. Her are some pictures of the cloister ruins and the church.   Convent workroom   The Parlour   The inner garden   The kitchen   The oldest wall with “Opus Spicatum“   Close up “Opus Spicatum“ On part of the oldest wall one can se traces of a building style called “Opus Spicatum&r


Time seems to fly when you’re busy
2008-05-12 13:59:45
The last few days I’ve tried to update my PhD application, this time it’s Uppsala University who has a spot open. As I have had my head filled with other projects as well as my day time job I am not sure if it gotten it any clearer or better than my last one, though I would like to hope so. Anywho it’s away! Magnus Reuterdahl  


Brunneby medieval church
2008-05-11 14:06:41
Brunneby medieval church is a beautiful little church that does not seems to be medieval at a first glance. The church was erected in the 14th century and abandoned in 1826 and restored in the end of the 1970’s. Though both the interior and exterior of today isn’t all that medieval there are several visible signs that tell tales of its medieval past such as the Romanesque window recesses… Window recess on the south wall Window recess on the north wall …and the traces of the southern Romanesque portal…   …and parts of the medieval paintings on the west and north walls. Paintings behinde the altar   Paintings at the northern wall An interesting thing is that the roof stole is open, which I for one think is a treat. The environment surrounding the church is a bit unusual, one feels almost as one is stepping into a garden of sorts rather than a churchyard as the church is situated within Brunneby manor that also holds Brunneby Musteri (a p


No worries
2008-05-10 13:48:05
Testimony has been a little low on posts recently due to a harsh workload at the moment, no worries though I have a few posts coming up next week. Magnus Reuterdahl


The speech of Neanderthals
2008-04-20 13:38:08
Through the a Swedish forum for discussions concerning archaeology, Arkeologiforum, I found this newsflash: Do you want to hear how the Neanderthals talked? In an article in NewScientist one can read about the research and results made by Robert McCarthy, an anthropologist at Florida Atlantic University. He has found that the Neanderthals voices were not as guttural as has been believed but more nasal and shrill. Here you can listen to McCarthy simulate an “E”.   Magnus Reuterdahl


A Seminar concerning castles and ancient fortresses
2008-04-17 18:52:25
Tomorrow (Friday 18th) I plan to attend a seminar about castles held by the Swedish Association for castle studies (Link in Swedish). The program promises some interesting seminars such as: Professor Ulf Näsman will talk about ancient fortresses on the southern part of the Island Öland and the societies that built them. One example of these ancient fortresses is Ismantorps borg, read more here. Next in line is Fil.Dr. Anna Lihammer will speak on the subject Trelleborgar in their context. Trelleborgar: Trelleborgar are large round ancient fortresses of a type mainly found in Scania and Denmark dated to the Iron Age.   Fil.Dr. Peter Carelli will speak of the castle of Helsingborg during the middle ages. The castle is a made out of a large tower, dated to the 13th century. Link to a picture here. And finally Mats Sandin and Tom Wennberg from Gothenborg city museum will speak of the excavations at the middle age castle Älvsborg. I will take some notes though not so detailed as those co


The exterior of the dome of Linköping and then some
2008-04-16 18:01:23
In my last post I showed parts of the interior of the dome now to the exterior. The history of the dome of Linköping begins before the dome; it probably is predated by a small wooden church, maybe built during the 11th century. The first stone church was built during the first half the 12th century. The foundation of this church was excavated in 1915-1916. During the beginning of the 13th century the bishop Bengt (1220-36) started to make expansions. He built a new chancel as well as a transept nave. These parts are still a part of the dome as well as the altar. Since the church has been rebuilt, added to and renovated. A dome can be seen as a constant work in progress, though these days there are mostly renovations and changes of the interior design.   One interesting detail is the sundial, it can be found on one of the exterior pillars of the chancel. It is dated to 1512 and one of the oldest in Sweden. As you can se in the photo below it is a square with lines and inscriptions


Proud to be one!
2008-04-17 00:58:06
A few days ago, on the 10th, the spade had given testimony for one year. During the first 365 days I’ve posted 148 posts and have had more than 12500 visits. I feel pleased with my first year with the spade. I missed my birthday with a few days but better late than never.   I use this opportunity to share some photos I haven’t shared before. One of my big interest is Ostoeology so this time around it got to be photos of bones, in this case craniums.   As I went through my digital photos I found these pictures that I took as I worked at the Osteoarchaeological Research Laboratory (OFL), Stockholm University, in preparing a move from the royal castle Ulriksdal to the Wallenberg laboratory in 2005.   The photos of these craniums have been taken for different reasons. These are examples on how disease can leave traces on bone. On this skull we see what osteosarcoma, a type of malignant bone cancer, looks like.                   This photo where taken as an exa


Gunillaberg
2008-04-14 11:31:24
The last stop was at the manor Gunillaberg just outside of Bottnaryd, Jönköping County, Småland.   The manor building was built somewhere during the second half of the 17th century by Johan Prinz (1592-1663). Johan Prinz is perhaps best known for his time as governor of the Swedish colony New Sweden, Delaware, USA during 1642-1653. He later on became commandant for the castle of Jönköping (1657-1663) and county governor for Jönköping County (1658-1663).   The manor is built in the Karolin style, named after the Karolin era, 1654-1718 during the regency of King Karl X Gustav, Karl XI and Karl XII. On of the trait of the style are the strict symmetries. The left wing The main building is more or less unchanged and it built by timber. There are also many interesting details indoors, as the hand painted tapestry from the 18th century. The two wings were built in the 18th century. A beautiful older farm building at Gunillaberg. The sundial is from 1796 and made out of marble fro


Runes, graffiti, marks and inscriptions in the dome of Linköping
2008-04-14 12:56:46
In the dome of Linköping as in many old churches one can find a lot of inscriptions. Some are carvings for graves or memorials others in the form of graffiti or stone cutter marks. Here are a few of the inscriptions and marks me and my fiancé found as we visited the church last Sunday.   For me runes are the most fun and we found a runic inscription. It is located to on the right side of the stone fundament that encloses the altar section.       The runic inscription can be transliterated into knuts. The second rune is a bindrune, the rune stave is used for more than one run, in this case N+U. I don’t know the signum of this inscription as I haven’t found it in the database of runic inscription: samnordisk runtextdatabas.   Update 2008-04-14: I’ve got word that no runic inscriptions from the Dome of Linköping are published in samnordisk runtextdatabas as yet, this does not means that they are unknown just not published in the sources currently used such as Sveriges


The grave field Ekornavallen
2008-04-11 23:38:56
Our trip in Västergötland continued and our next stop on the way to Lake Horborga was the grave filed Ekornavallen. Ekornvallen is a grave field with a very long continuity span, from the Stone Age to the Iron Age. The oldest graves are four passage tombs and a stone cist from the Neolithic Age, a great cairn from the Bronze Age, large stone settings, erect stones and stone circles from the Iron Age, besides this element from a fossilized landscape are visible on and around the grave field. Passage tomb Overview from southeast, in the centre at the top lays the big cairn and to the left a passage tomb. A filled round stone setting, 20-25 meter wide Erect stones  Erect stone The oldest graves are in other word ca 4-5000 years old and the youngest ca 1-2000 years old. Spring is the absolute best time to do archeothingy-spotting. Just before nature really awakes the ancient monuments seem to pop up from the ground. All features gets so visable due to the fact that no new grass h


Rune stone Vg 90
2008-04-12 00:09:36
On our way home we made a quick stop at the rune stone Vg (Västergötland) 90 at Torestorp in HÃ¥kantorp parish. Besides the runic inscription there is also the ornamentation, on this stone a cross. It is dated to the Viking Age. As you can see it isn’t all that easy to read it as it looks today. It is high time for the National Heritage Board or the County Administrative Board to repaint the runic inscription as well as make a new information sign.   When I visited the stone this sign produced by Falbygdens museum where at place. It has clearly seen better days and is only printed in Swedish. The inscription is as follows burþiR * sati * stin * þonsi * iftiR * h(i)–o * sun * sin * harþa * kuþan * trik Translated into English: Bróðir placed this stone in memory of <hi–o> his son, a very good valiant man. One could be lead to believe that Bróðir should be translated to brother but it is more likely, in this case, that Bróðir is a name. At the


The passage tombs of Karleby
2008-04-10 18:05:38
The people buried in these graves during the Stone Age lived and farmed this land for a long time, ca 4500-5000 years ago. In Sweden we know of ca 400 passage tombs, ca 66 % of these can be found here in Falbygden. Around Karleby there are 13 passage tombs. A passage tomb has a chamber and a passage way build by blocks of stone, and other blocks are placed as a roof. One deduction is that the passage tombs show traces of an ideological expression of collectivism as in one of the graves more than 80 individuals have been identified. During excavations done 1989-1992 archaeologists found remains of settlements. These remains are postholes, artefacts, animal bones etc. The excavations have given evidence regarding domesticated animals such as cows, sheep and pigs and what crops were cultivated, such as wheat and barley. The archaeological records also show that the settlements and burial grounds were intentionally kept apart from each other. At this particular spot three graves are la


Check it out
2008-04-10 08:54:45
Don’t miss the 38th volume of Four Stone Hearth; The Early Bird Special Edition, hosted by the always interesting blog with a great name “A very remote period indeed“.  Later today I will publish a post about the prehistoric graves I visited this weekend, with some great photos. Magnus Reuterdahl


A trip to Västergötland 2008
2008-04-05 19:29:20
Today I went on a trip to the lake Hornborga (Hornborgarsjön), every year thousands of cranes (Grus grus) gathers there, today it was approximately 12500. At lake hornborgarsjön they rest eat and dance for a week.   On our way there we made a few stops, we saw some Atone Age graves, a prehistoric grave field, a rune stone and finally a manor house from the late 18th century, Gunnillaberg. Gunnillaberg is a manor house build in so called Karoliner-style, named after king Carl XII of Sweden soldiers, Karolinerna.   I’ll update this post in the coming days with pictures and some more precise comments about the ancient monuments and the sites I visited. Magnus Reuterdahl


Don’t touch means don’t touch!
2008-03-29 11:12:19
I read in the newspaper today (Dagens Nyheter) about a Finnish tourist that has damaged one of the Moai-statues at Easter Island. He has reportedly cut of a piece of an ear on one of the statues. The normal punishment for this is a fine for ca 100000 skr (ca 11000€) or a possible jail-time for up to 7 years. The mayor Edmunds Paoa wants to take the punishment a step further. He wants to apply the biblical  law an eye for an eye, an ear for an ear; in other words he wants a piece of Finnish ear. It is good that Cultural Heritage crimes are made visible and taken seriously, it is also important that there are consequences on this kind of misbehaviour. Though I feel the ear thing might be a bit harsh. A problem with statements like the mayors is that the statement might be considered a fun and crazy newsflash and therefore be the news rather than the crime at hand. Magnus Reuterdahl


Excavation at Ottenby Kungsgård 2004
2008-03-26 17:27:42
Here are a few pictures from the excavation at Ottenby Kungsgård (the royal manor Ottenby) 2004 and of a few of the finds. These finds are dated to the Pitted ware culture, a late neolithic hunter-gatherer culture in Scandinavia, dated to ca 3200 BC- ca 2300 BC. Most sites are found along the coasts of Svealand, Götaland, Åland, north-eastern Denmark and southern Norway. The culture has been named after the ornamentation of its pottery. The report on the excavation is available as an pdf-file here (in Swedish). A few pictures of the excavtaion area. As you can see the weather was great, at least some of the days. In this picture you can see the main area of the 2004 excavtions.   This area is just south of the previous, here we dug a number of test pits in an attempt to locate the outer boundaries of the settlement. This picture is taken from the south and shows the main excavation area, in the background are the stables belonging to the royal manor of Ottenby. A few pictures


Notes from the Osteological Associations 2008 symposium part 4
2008-03-11 14:01:25
These are notes that will be edited, I urge you to comment on anything that seems to be out of place or faulty so that I can correct this. The intention is to compress these notes into a far shorter and more focused version to be printed in the Swedish Osteological Associations journal Benbiten during 2008.  The last lecturer of the day was Fil. Dr. Caroline Arcini from the National Heritage Board (RAA), UV Syd. UV is RAA’s department for archaeological excavations, and UV syd is the regional office for the south in Sweden, mainly Scania. Reconstructing daily life in past populations. The future of Paleopathology. Fil. Dr. Caroline Arcini Caroline Arcini started off with a discussion of anthropology and the importance of collaborations to answer questions of what happened, how it happened and why did it happen instead of merely describing what we see. For example how do we determinate if markers from a trauma are due to an accident or to violence? In some cases as in behead


Runica et Mediaevalia
2008-03-05 12:58:23
Today I will attend the annual meeting of Runica et Mediaevalia (website in Swedish). Runica et Mediaevalia is an association that promotes research about runes and medieval languishes, culture and society.  This is done through the publication of the Runica et Mediaevalia series which is divided into the subseries Scripta maiora, Scripta minora, Opuscula and Lectiones. After the annual meeting the traditional lecture is held, this year Anders Cullhed is the lecturer. He will address new observation about Dantes prophecies; The greyhound and 515. The lecture concerns two of the most discussed passages from the Divine comedy by Dante; Inferno 1.97-105 and Purgatorio 33.40-45. Anders Cullhed will present new interpretations regarding these passages. I’ll get back with a few notes Magnus Reuterdahl


OKQ8 Värtavägen, OK Gärdet etc
2008-03-04 17:38:34
In my previous post I mentioned that I would take a few more pictures Notice the skyline of the roof! Photo taken from Furusundsgatan. Photo from Furusundsgatan Photo from Värtavägen  The address to the building is Värtavägen 53 at Gärdet, Östermalm, Stockholm; close by the subway station Gärdet. Magnus Reuterdahl


Memories of a 70 year old petrol station.
2008-03-03 19:45:09
Last Sunday (2008-03-02) an epoch finished as the petrol station OKQ8 Gärdet or OKQ8 Värtavägen ceased its commerce. The building was built in 1938 and has been the home of several petrol stations, among them BP, IC, OK and OKQ8. I have worked here on and off since the mid- 90’s, between jobs, when I studied and so fourth. I must say that I feel a little sad as I always liked working here, sure the station is a bit a run down and there is much need for repairs but the place has a built in charm, such as only old buildings can have. As I did my last day I took a few photos to remember it by, and found that I hadn’t really seen the beauty of the building before. As I said it was built in 1938 and there are still a lot of original details left for example the mosaic on the walls.   The approaches to the second and third floor have some resemblances to Slussen. On the top floors there has been and is still at least in part a garage. An oddity is the tennis court t
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