Lennart Bondeson

Peculiar hybrid brooch with Thuringian head and Frankish foot found in Uppåkra. In the autumn of 2014, a gilded silver brooch set with garnets was found in Uppåkra during metal detector surveying of the plough soil as part of a fieldschool excavation project. Showing both Thuringian and Frankish traits of design-with a head plate of Zangenfibel type and a foot plate ended by a stylized bird's head in profile-this brooch has few parallels on record, all being grave finds from Central Europe. Based on historical circumstances and stylistic elements, the authors suggest that the hybrid brooch found in Uppåkra was created on the Continent during the 50-year-period AD 531-c. 580; i.e. after Thuringia was invaded by the Franks and before the Zangenfibel type of design fell out of fashion. English translations of sections in the article dealing with typological features, dating, parallels and origin of the brooch presented are available on request.

The purpose of this brief presentation is twofold. Firstly, we want to draw attention to a field of research where the legal detector hobby in Norway has provided radically new knowledge in recent times. Secondly, we want to flag up the emergence of an intriguing type of brooch with Balt traits, found by hobby detectorists in the Norwegian inland.

In AD 536, some kind of natural catastrophe(s) darkened the sun by what has been called a mystery cloud or a dust veil. The darkening of the sun lasted for over a year and initiated dramatic changes of the climate in the Northern Hemisphere, resulting in a series of cold 'years without summer'. This climatic disaster has been linked to the so-called Migration Period crisis in Scandinavia, a time of population decline and reforestation of agricultural land. The extent of these changes and the relative importance of possible factors involved are matters in dispute; failed harvests and famine, plague, war and social changes have been discussed so far. The present comment puts forward the hypothesis that epidemic ergotism due to widespread contamination of food and fodder by poisonous ergot (Claviceps purpurea) also may have been a contributing factor. The main reason being the extreme weather conditions, which became exceptionally favourable for growth and spread of this highly toxic fungus in crops and pastures for several years in a row after the AD 536 event. It is pointed out how the ecological and toxicological characteristics of ergot are consistent with an irregularly distributed depopulation, a need of several generations for recovery, an extensive reforestation of agricultural land and migration of settlements from lowlands to higher grounds. It is also argued for the possibility that the wording in two verses of the Old Norse poem Völuspá actually was inspired by long-time memories of illness due to ergotism.

When the intriguing phenomenon of Balt influence on the design of Migration Period brooches in certain parts of Norway was paid attention to in 2001, in the first and so far only comprehensive study of this subject, just four specimens of such cruciform or square-headed brooches with star- or spade-like foot had been recorded in Denmark. Since then, the number of Danish finds of this type has quadrupled, to judge from scattered examples occurring in print or posted on the web. In the present article, eleven such examples compiled from various sources, and two previously unpublished finds made in 2019 by one of the authors while metal detecting in collaboration with Danish museums,
re reported and commented on. Whether these finds in Denmark represent Norwegian “exports” or a direct Balt influence on Danish design is at present an open question. Both alternatives might be valid in view of other archaeological finds, as exemplified in the article.

In the autumn of 2014, a gilded silver brooch set with garnets was found in a field under cultivation at Uppåkra in southern Sweden during metal detector surveying of the plough soil as part of a field-school excavation project conducted by the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History at Lund University (see the concluding paragraph for a comment on the site of the find). Showing both Thuringian and Frankish traits of design – with a head plate of Zangenfibel type and a foot plate ended by a stylized bird’s head in profile – this brooch has few parallels on record, all being grave finds from Central Europe (more exactly from present-day Switzerland, Germany and France). Based on historical circumstances and stylistic elements, the authors suggest that the hybrid brooch found at Uppåkra was made on the Continent during the 50-year-period AD 531 – c. 580; i.e. after Thuringia was invaded by the Franks and before the Zangenfibel type of design fell out of fashion.

This article comments on the historical context of an English military button found by metal detector on Zealand, where it was lost in 1807 when England launched a massive surprise attack on Denmark – a neutral country at the time – and used terror bombing of civilians in Copenhagen to seize the Danish fleet, making sure that Napoleon could not get hold of it.

In August 2015, metal detecting revealed an Egyptian dirham in a field at Gammel (i.e. Old) Lejre, near Roskilde on Zealand in Denmark. Struck in Misr (the oldest part of present-day Cairo) in AH 180 (AD 796/7), this silver coin is a rarity from the reign of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, who has been handed down to posterity by his occurrence as a prominent figure in modern computer games as well as the ancient but still printed tales of Thousand and one nights. In these tales, the caliph usually is accompanied by his eventually executed best friend and vizier, Ja’far, who also is named on the coin. Interestingly enough, he is named together with his patronymic – bin Yahya – which is a numismatic peculiarity with few known parallels, making the coin even more exclusive. It remains an open question how this Arabian rarity ended up in Lejre, a central place of great importance during the latter half of the first millennium, extensively documented by excavations and metal detecting. As regards possible routes taken to Lejre by the dirham under discussion, historical sources indicate two interesting alternatives to “the usual suspect” – eastward Viking trade with the Abbasid caliphate through present-day Russia. Firstly, it is known from Christian as well as Islamic chronicles that Vikings plundered in North Africa during the 800s. Thus, one conceivable alternative to eastward trade is that the coin represents booty from this African expedition, which is reported to have reached Alexandria – situated close to the mint of Misr in Egypt. Another possible alternative is that the coin represents a souvenir or an amulet brought back from the Holy Land – also close to Misr – by a Frankish pilgrim, who was to become one of the men chosen to Christianize the Danes during the 9th–10th centuries, as discussed in the article on the basis of written sources. These include Thietmar of Merseburg’s Chronicon from 1012–18, in which Lejre is pointed out as a capital and a heathen cult center where human sacrifices were performed – a target worthy the most daring of missionaries.

In AD 536, some kind of natural catastrophe(s) darkened the sun by what has been called a mystery cloud or a dust veil. The darkening of the sun lasted for over a year and initiated dramatic changes of the climate in the Northern Hemisphere, resulting in a series of cold ‘years without summer’. This climatic disaster has been linked to the so-called Migration Period crisis in Scandinavia, a time of population decline and reforestation of agricultural land. The extent of these changes and the relative importance of possible factors involved are matters in dispute; failed harvests and famine, plague, war and social changes have been discussed so far. The present comment puts forward the hypothesis that epidemic ergotism due to widespread contamination of food and fodder by poisonous ergot (Claviceps purpurea) also may have been a contributing factor. The main reason being the extreme weather conditions, which became exceptionally favourable for growth and spread of this highly toxic fungus in crops and pastures for several years in a row after the AD 536 event. It is pointed out how the ecological and toxicological characteristics of ergot are consistent with an irregularly distributed depopulation, a need of several generations for recovery, an extensive reforestation of agricultural land and migration of settlements from lowlands to higher grounds. It is also argued for the possibility that the wording in two verses of the Old Norse poem Völuspá actually was inspired by long-time memories of illness due to ergotism.
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Please contact the author if interested in the full article.