The Bronze Age ax is the first metal object from prehistory ever found in the Norwegian sea.
Norwegian Maritime MuseumThe head of the Bronze Age axe incur off the Norse seashore .
Archaeologists from the Norwegian Maritime Museum recently made a noteworthy discovery : a socketed axe from the Bronze Age , found at a deepness of about 40 metrical unit off the seacoast of Arendal , Norway .
This first - of - its - kind find was made during a routine sight for the Norwegian Coastal Administration , provide archaeologists “ stunned . ”
Norwegian Maritime MuseumThe head of the Bronze Age ax found off the Norwegian coast.
The Discovery Of The Bronze Age Ax
In an interview withScience Norway , Norse archeologist Jørgen Johannessen described finding the Bronze Age ax during a unremarkable investigation of the realm .
The Norwegian Coastal Administration had plan to shell away subaqueous reefs off the Arendal slide , but call for that the region first be checked for any ethnical heritage sites . As part of the effort , Johannessen carry an underwater survey , during which he find a big bucks of ballast that captured his tending . harmonize to Johannessen , ballast “ was used to stabilize [ a ] ship during the ocean trip , particularly in rough weather conditions . ”
Panama hat would lade their ships with heavy , weighted materials like stones or George Sand before setting sail to keep the ship steady . Then , they would typically throw the barretter overboard near the seacoast . “ It was a elementary and practical way to get free of it before loading cargo such as planks , ” Johannessen excuse .
Cultural HeritageAn example of a socketed ax, or “celt,” used during the Bronze Age.
This praxis was particularly common from the 1500s to the 1800s , so Johannessen initially believed this ballast batch amount from that time period . However , as he look the arena , he fleck something much older : a five - column inch - long bronze ax .
“ I immediately knew that it was something special , but the visual effects of the water can deceive you , ” he say . “ When I came up and lay it on the boat deck of cards , everyone went completely silent . ”
A First-Of-Its-Kind Discovery From 1100 B.C.E.
Cultural HeritageAn example of a socketed axe , or “ celt , ” used during the Bronze Age .
The ax Johannessen establish date back to sometime in the middle Bronze Age , more or less around 1100 B.C.E. It was a special character of pecker known as a socketed axe , or “ celt , ” a hollow axe used throughout the Nordic Bronze Age from 1800 to 500 B.C.E.
As for how this axe wound up in the sea near Arendal , there are two hold hypothesis . The first is that the axe was throw overboard as part of the ballast resistor of a sailing ship , in all probability sometime in the nineteenth century .
“ The axe in all probability rest in a grave accent since the Bronze Age or was lost on the beach . When they were gather ballast resistor for the ship , they might have picked it up without noticing , ” Johannessen said .
The other theory is that the ax came from a wreck that would have taken place roughly 3,000 geezerhood ago . If that is the case , researchers say , it would be the first Bronze Age wreck ever find in Norway .
investigator scoured the bottom of the seabed , cautiously disentangle it with a metal detector and trowel to verify they did n’t miss any other potential discovery before the Norwegian Coastal Administration could commence blare away the Rand . interrogatively , they found nothing else of note , meaning the ax had been lie there alone .
Whether or not the axe come from a Bronze Age shipwreck , however , it is still a unique breakthrough .
“ The socketed bronze axe is the first metal artifact from prehistorical times we ’ve found in the ocean in Norway , ” said fellow archaeologist Frode Kvalø .
Now , archaeologists design to continue their probe of the area , with hopes that more discoveries lie below the depths .
After reading about the Bronze Age axe found off the coast of Norway , teach more about Norwegian history by reading about the legend of theKraken . Then , see our list of fascinatingViking fact .
