The resurgence of the Nidaros Pilgrimage, St. Olaf's Way, due to climate change was not on my bingo card... www.bbc.com/travel/artic...

Here is a follow up from the Economic Museum, with some info. Read it! shm.se/blog-article...

Here is the first more in-depth article on the truly breathtaking discovery of a 6 kg silver hoard, containing thousands of late 1100s AD coins and ample Viking Age jewelry, found near Stockholm. Paywalled, but surely not the last you will hear of this. www.dn.se/sverige/hon-...

“Det handlar om en välbevarad silverskatt med mynt från sent 1100-tal, baserat på att man funnit mynt från Knut Erikssons regeringstid.” www.svt.se/nyheter/loka...

There's a thousand good causes out there, but please do consider sending a dime or two the way of my good friend Chris and his family. www.gofundme.com/f/support-wi...

Almost a decade after I wrote my BA dissertation on the herring oil factories of the 18th century, I'm returning to the Swedish West Coast to excavate one. Starting tomorrow, we'll spend two days digging for Anders Jerpsson's tryworks on the island of Lilla Askerön. 🐠⚓️🪔

Spent part of Long Friday walking through a centuries-old apotropaic stone labyrinth in the fishing village of Kuggörarna, hoping to ward off bad luck. Stone labyrinths were introduced to Scandinavia in the Late Middle Ages and originally built by Catholic seafarers.

Trying to find parallels or comparative dating examples for this piece of medieval spolia, once placed on a church. Anyone?

My office space was refurbished today. It is guarded by this wonderful wooden reproduction (not 1:1 by any means) of the Helgö Buddha (see photos below), a gift from my parents for my PhD thesis defence. The original, found in Sweden, was made in India around the 6th century AD.

A newfound, rather magical treasure, found just recently and announced today (in Swedish): an Iron Age gold torque, found embedded in riverine clay, in a very important area. Not yet cleaned and conserved, but still fantastic. Check out the photos! www.lansstyrelsen.se/vastra-gotal...

Calling all Romanists - I need some help! Attached are some awful images (one with the handles reconstructed) of a bronze vessel found in Sweden. It is c 28.5 cm tall, mouth is c 7.5 cm wide. Allegedly it is Roman. I want to know anything you can say about it! Questions below.

A rather wonderful discovery; a 1920s self-portrait by Oscar Färdig, a rural autodidact photographer, my great great grandmother's brother. He is standing by the great Iron Age menhirs of Stenehed (appropriately meaning "Stone Heath", likely refering to the monuments).

Ett bra exempel på varför arkeologer behövs (från rapport av @antonyaolarsson.bsky.social) - Ledningsdragning invid registrerat gravfält - men en grav låg inte inom den yta som markerats i Kulturmiljöregistret och hade sannolikt grävts sönder utan sakkunnig medverkan. pub.raa.se/visa/dokumen...

Check out this open access paper by my friend, the excellent PhD student Emma Maltin, on Early Modern foodways: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

In 1878, Ture Malmgren founded Bohusläningen in my hometown Uddevalla. He said that the newspaper was to be "a lantern, welcoming to those who wish to see, inconvenient for those with something to hide". Now, in 2025, it will become digital only, no more print issues. RIP!

Need a book on the cultural heritage of past hazards and disasters in your reference library? My PhD thesis "Landslide Archaeology" can now finally be bought as print-on-demand from Stockholm University's web shop. Link: webshop.publit.com/webshop/5542

Delighted to have been offered an extended contract as an archaeological fieldwork project manager.

Medieval Bishops of Greenland lived at the cathedral site of Gardar (now Igaliku). Here are the ruins of the bishop’s great hall, which could seat over 100 guests. In use 12th-late 14thC I took this photo last August while visiting Greenland #greenland #viking #vikings #igaliku #gardar

nature.com/articles/s41467-024-55216-8 "Sincere thanks are also due to ... Anton Larsson for finding the Slåttersill advertisement." I made it into Nature Communications in a rather roundabout way. Check out this fascinating paper on the genetic diversity of the Baltic herring!

Heading back home to Stockholm after spending Christmas on the West Coast, we finally made a visit to Gränna Museum, which hosts a fantastic exhibit on the failed 1897 Arctic hot air balloon expedition of Andrée and his two young companions. Their deaths remain a breathtaking mystery.

”upkastad stenmuhr såsom en Skantz eller Borg…” Fornborgen på Borgberget ett par kilometer norr om Söderköping är en av Östergötlands största. Anlagd för över 1500 år sedan. Vid karteringen 1734 mätte lantmätaren in de mäktiga stenvallarna i öster och väster. Branta berg avgränsar borgen i övrigt!

Varje år firar 300000 svenskar jul ensamma. Allt fler dör också utan någon vid sin sida. Varför är det så, och vad gör detta med oss? Jag gick och bowlade ensam för att söka svaren på den västerländska ensamhetens gåta. När vände vi oss från varandra? www.expressen.se/kultur/joel-...

Tomorrow is the day off to break all days off in Sweden, because traditionally #christmas Eve is the big feast day here, and it is explicitly understood as extremely rude to go visiting on Christmas Day, when nothing happens at all. Have a Cool #yule!

Publication time! Connecting People: Saints, Relics and Communities in the Early Medieval World - In Memory of Janneke Raaijmakers, ed. Diem, De Jong & Van Renswoude. Fully open access for you to enjoy (and remember). trivent-publishing.eu/home/197-369... #MedievalSky

This image, Kelly Latimore's 'Christ in the Rubble,' made me stop my scrolling and take the time to reflect. It is all too easy to shut out the craziness of what is going on around the world. But we shouldn't forget quite so quickly. Here's to hoping we can effect change, small and large, next year!

Christmas coal

Fältkartan över ödegården Lönhults åkrar i småländska S Unnaryd - mitt första inlägg på Bluesky! Gården övergavs på 1300-talet, åter i bruk 1590-1620 och sedan öde igen för gott. 230 stenrösen, en halv kilometer terrasser m m, uppe t v lagda på 1816 års karta över utmarken. Ett museum i granskogen!

Daily dose of #runes: The inscription on this sixth-century gold #bracteate from Fredrikstad, Østfold has been read in different ways, such as u͡duuz or h͡duuzi. But the direction is not clear, and it is uncertain which shapes and lines might actually belong together. #runology

Today we said goodbye to our beloved cat Grafit. After years of struggling with one health issue after another, her asthma finally proved too much, and she declined rapidly despite intense medication. We loved her dearly. A piece of my heart is missing.

Fornvännen Journal is now on BlueSky to help highlight the many great contributions to our now 119 year old publication, which was made Gold #OpenAccess this year. #Archaeology, #Medieval, #History, #ArtHistory, #Runes All of our issues can be found on the DiVA platform: raa.diva-portal.org

Visiting the sepulchre of King Gustav Vasa (and his queens) in Uppsala Cathedral is always a special experience.

PhD position announced in Classical Archaeology and Ancient History at my department, University of Gothenburg. Plz spread the word. And do apply! web103.reachmee.com/ext/I005/103...

Today I have learned that the Esperantists of 1950s–1960s Francoist Spain were undefeated experts at graphic design, as seen here in these postcards advertising Esperanto congresses.

Drone photograph taken for a project of mine, showing the ruins of Dragmark Abbey, a monastery of the Premonstratensian Order founded in the mid-1200s by King Haakon the Old of Norway. Photo: Paula Molander (2024).

"Pope being hailed by warriors, unidentified artist (Italian), likely early 19th century". National Museum of Norway. If we only knew more!

Rusty shadows. Can you see the stain of the long-removed drain pipe (seen here in a photo from 1914) on the left side of this wonderful 12th century tomb slab (today walled into Brastad New Church)?

Some weekend reading (if you know Swedish...): my short article about the long-lost Neolithic tomb at Desarehult, beautifully depicted on an 18th century map, is now out in open access: raa.diva-portal.org/smash/record...

It's out - paper by Mark Hall (mainly), myself and James Graham-Campbell on the Lindisfarne playing pieces (amongst other examples). Archaeological Journal. Open Access From Durham Uni / DigVentures excavations on Holy Island www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Hi! I'm a Swedish historical archaeologist (late medieval/early modern). Contract arch, research, teaching. Landscape history, people-landscape interactions, subaltern perspectives. Posts may contain traces of gardening, textile crafts, climate anxiety. Cats may appear 🐱 Posts mostly in Swedish.

Sending out a renewed call for aid. Any religious art historians out there? Trying to date and identify this piece (only one extant photo sadly). What is it? Church provenance, Sweden. Traditionally claimed to be 13th century but that is clearly impossible, has to be post-medieval.

Illustrating a natural disaster on an #earlymodern #broadside: After the #landslide of 1618 in #Piuro (then a city within the Three Leagues, Raetia) that wiped out the city and killed thousands, a Swiss printer came up with this idea: using a liftable flap that offers a before and after scenario.

Back on BS after many months.

My wife and I are spending our last few days in her hometown sick as dogs... Luckily my father-in-law is able to take my parents and brother to all sorts of fantastic places (that I have already been to during previous visits). Leaving China two days from now.

We met a very handsome 猫 in Yangzhou's beautiful Heyuan, a Late Qing Dynasty garden complex, amid ponds and rockeries.

this is probably a longshot, but do we know any hair microscopy experts? Especially in terms of species differentiation. 🧪

Just a lil guy I saw at Nanjing Museum today.

A fantastic new year's eve, big part of which was spent wading through an immense crowd here in Nanjing to get to the Confucius Temple. Happy new year all!

Wonderful visit to Jing'an Temple today, with the burning of incense and many impressions from a calm sanctuary in the bustling heart of Shanghai.

Made it to China yesterday to visit family, first time in four years. My wife, a dedicated LEGO builder, was very impressed today in this Shanghai store.

Subfossil oak from Sweden. The annual rings are dendrodated and cover the period 1635-1481 BCE. (Before the Common Era). #dendrochronology #Quercus #Peatland