Archaeologists' most exciting finds:
"No one today can replicate the quality from Roman times"

Once upon a time, in the early 1990s.

Søren Diinhoff, originally from Denmark, had been working in Norway for about four years. He was employed by the University Museum of Bergen, tasked with archaeological excavations.

This was early in my career, says the experienced archaeologist.

"Since then, there have been many other major finds and impressive results," he says.

But when asked by Science Norway to name the most exciting find of his career, it's this particular story that comes to mind.

A challenge from a colleague

The assignment was typical: A road was to be built through a large burial ground in Nordfjord, Western Norway, and archaeologists had to excavate the area first.

Diinhoff was in charge of the fieldwork.

Most of the graves were from the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. These usually do not contain any artefacts.

But then Diinhoff came across a burial mound that was different. It looked like it might be from the Roman period, which meant there was a greater likelihood of finding something.

Before he could begin digging, Diinhoff had to accompany a colleague, Tore Bjørgo, on a quick assignment.

"We were sitting in the car, and he asked what I was working on," he recalls.

Diinhoff told him about the grave he believed was from the Roman period.

Bjørgo asked if he had any idea whether it was a man's grave or a woman's grave.

"I guessed it was a woman's grave," says Diinhoff.

"Ok," said Bjørgo.

He said that in that case, you have to find a gold pendant for me.

A glint of gold

The likelihood that Diinhoff would find a gold pendant was close to zero.

These tiny gold pendants from the Roman era are exceptionally rare in Norway, the archaeologist explains.

"At that point, about 20 of them had been found in Eastern Norway. No one had found any gold pendants for a long time," he says.

But of course, he promised that he would find one.

"The next day, I began the task of cleaning the sand beneath the flat stones the grave was built with. And then this gold item appeared," he says.

Is it a prank? No, it's real!

His first thought was that it was his colleagues were playing a prank on him.

"But then I realised, no, it's not possible to create a replica of this quality. It wasn't a prank," he says.

Overwhelmed, Diinhoff had to set down his tools and take deep breaths.

"I had to go for a long walk across the field and collect my thoughts so I could speak again," he says. "When I came back and cleaned the area a bit more, it was clear that this was definitely a gold pendant."

Masterpieces of craftsmanship

Gold pendants like this are extraordinary artefacts, says Diinhoff.

They are extremely rare, weigh only a few grams, and represent some of the finest craftmanship one can achieve in gold.

While they were used as earrings in Roman culture, in southern Scandinavia they were repurposed as pendants for necklaces.

"No modern goldsmith can recreate these with the same quality as in Roman times," says Diinhoff.

"Not because they wouldn't be capable of it, but because it would take so many years of training before you could make them properly. The value of this craftmanship is immeasurably high, and even in those days, only a few people in Scandinavia could make them," he explains.

The elite's magnificent jewellery

More of these gold pendants have been found in northern Germany and southern Scandinavia, says Diinhoff. They typically appear in wealthy graves associated with elite or princely circles. The women buried there wore luxurious dresses fastened with silver fibulae – brooches that held the dresses up at each shoulder – along with gold pendants.

"These dresses were of very high quality, which signalled that the women were members of society's uppermost class," he says.

According to Diinhoff, the women buried with such jewellery in Eastern Norway may have married into powerful families in southern Scandinavia. Their graves date to the same period as those wealthy princely burials further south.

The three finds of gold pendants in Western Norway, including the one Diinhoff discovered, are from a slightly later period. He believes these may not be directly connected to the same southern networds.

I found it, I found it

Diinhoff called his colleague Bjørgo to let him know he had kept his promise.

"He was impressed, but then he demanded that I find two silver fibulae," he says.

And the next day, Diinhoff didn't find just two silver fibulae – he also uncovered a silver-plated bronze fibula.

"I believe the woman buried there was dressed in a style similar to what we’ve seen in graves from southern Scandinavia and Eastern Norway," says Diinhoff.

"The ultimate discovery"

Since starting at the University Museum of Bergen in 1989, Diinhoff has made many other major discoveries.

"I am the oldest active field archaeologist in Norway," he says. "I haven't spent my time sitting in an office, I've been standing in front of an excavator for 36 years. The plan is to stop doing fieldwork now. It takes a toll on the body. But it's been incredibly fun."

One of the highlights of his career was the excavation of a large Roman-era farmstead in Gloppen, Western Norway, dating to the transition into the Migration Period. It was home to one of Norway's wealthiest chieftains of the time, who was also buried there.

Another was the pagan temple in Møre og Romsdal, where people worshipped the Norse gods, like Thor and Odin. It was the first discovery of its kind from the Viking Age in Norway.

"But that gold pendant was the most unexpected of them all. For me, it was the ultimate discovery in a completely impossible situation," he says.

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Translated by Alette Bjordal Gjellesvik

Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no

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