Jan Bartek AncientPages.com – Norwegian museum researchers recently discovered a unique prehistoric artifact, potentially representing an archaeological breakthrough. Archaeologist Jørgen Johannessen unearthed a Bronze Age axe near Arendal, marking the first metal object from prehistoric times found in Norwegian waters.
The well-preserved bronze hollow axe was located at a depth of 12 meters outside a reef, nestled among small beach-rolled flint lumps on the seabed. This discovery is particularly significant due to its location and preservation state.
It’s important to note that between the 16th and 19th centuries, it was a common practice to dump flint as ballast to stabilize ships approaching the coast. Initially, the flint deposit itself was not considered remarkable. However, the presence of the axe among these flint remains caught the researcher’s attention.
Upon closer examination, Johannessen determined that the tool definitely did not originate from the same time as the flint remains.
Frode Kvalø, who is a researcher at the Norwegian Maritime Museum explains that the archaeologists from the Norwegian Maritime Museum have successfully dated the axe to approximately 1,100 B.C. This discovery is significant as it marks the first time a metal object from prehistoric times has been found in Norwegian waters.
The Bronze Age axe could reveal the location of a shipwreck. Credit: Adobe Stock – threesixnine.io
The research team from NMM presented two hypotheses about how the hollow axe could have ended up there: the shipwreck hypothesis and the ballast hypothesis. The shipwreck hypothesis suggests that the axe is the remains of a shipwreck over 3,000 years ago, possibly from a boat crossing from southern Scandinavia or a local boat sailing along the coast. If correct, this would be the first known shipwreck site from the Bronze Age in Norway.
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The ballast hypothesis assumes that the axe was part of the ballast on a ship in the sailing age. It may have been shoveled out with flint on the way to the port in Arendal, where a new load was to be picked up. In this case, the axe would have ended up on the seabed a few hundred years ago, either directly from an area in southern Scandinavia where flint is common along the coasts or via ballast depots in other ports. This scenario would make the axe a loose find with no context other than the ballast flint it was found with.
The first hypothesis is the most intriguing. If true, there may be more preserved from the shipwreck at the site, which further investigation must take into account.
Written by Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com Staff Writer
