A man found something incredible while hiking in Sandnes, Norway, that offers a glimpse into life during the sixth century.
The University of Stavanger announced earlier this month the man had stumbled upon a 1,500-year-old gold sword fitting that dates to the country’s Migration Period, Fox News reported Thursday.
The hiker said he was exploring the area when he noticed a downed tree and decided to take a closer look.
“I saw a slight rise in the soil under the tree and poked at it with a stick,” he recalled. “Suddenly I saw something gleaming. I didn’t quite understand what I had found.”
A photo shows the small item while another image shows a closer look at its intricate details:
Officials said the fitting may have come from a sword that belonged to a chieftain who ruled at Hove, noting it would have adorned a scabbard on a belt.
“The condition of the discovery also surprised archaeologists. Unlike other sword scabbard fittings from the era, this one is particularly worn, suggesting an elite, powerful chieftain wielded the weapon for a long time. But other clues suggest that even this well-respected warrior was forced to reckon with the hardships of sixth century Norway — the fact that the item was likely buried in a rock crevice suggests it was offered as a sacrifice to the gods,” Smithsonian Magazine reported.
The fitting will be displayed at the university’s Museum of Archeology, and authorities said only 17 others have been discovered in Northern Europe.
According to archaeologist and University of Stavanger professor Håkon Reiersen, it was extremely rare to find such a piece, calling it “spectacular.”
When it comes to ancient weapons, officials in 2024 said archeologists found a sword that may have belonged to the army of Pharaoh Ramses II, whom Moses liberated the Israelites from in the Old Testament Book of Exodus, per Breitbart News.
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