'Bluetooth' treasure found on German Baltic Sea island

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A 13-year-old boy and an amateur archaeologist have unearthed a “significant” trove in Germany which may have belonged to the Danish king Harald Bluetooth who brought Christianity to Denmark.

René Schön and his student Luca Malaschnitschenko were looking for treasure using metal detectors in January on northern Rügen island when they chanced upon what they initially thought was a worthless piece of aluminium.

But upon closer inspection, they realised that it was a piece of silver, German media reported.

Over the weekend, the regional archaeology service began a dig covering 400 sq metres (4,300 sq ft). It has found a hoard believed to be linked to the Danish king Harald Gormsson, better known as “Harry Bluetooth”, who reigned from around AD958 to 986.

BBC: Boy unearths treasure of the Danish king Bluetooth in Germany

Harald Gormsson, who was known as Bluetooth because he had one strongly discolored tooth, reigned over what is now Denmark, northern Germany, southern Sweden and parts of Norway from 958 to 986.

The find suggests that the treasure may have been buried in the late 980s, when Bluetooth fled to Pomerania — an area that today straddles parts of northeast Germany and western Poland — after losing a battle against his son, Sweyn Forkbeard. He died a year later.

(Source)

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@Walter Hinteler,

Source: photos by dpa

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Is that first picture a pin or some kind of clasp?

Do you know the size?

Gorgeous!

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@Walter Hinteler,

Some more links:

Denmark's History - Harald Bluetooth

A unique object from Harald Bluetooth´s time.

Harald Bluetooth`s runic stone:
The Jelling Stone
The certificate of Baptism of Denmark

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@PUNKEY,

I think, it's a fibula (brooch).

I don't know the seize, but but the photo below from the state archaeology office Mecklenburg-Vorpommern might give an idea

Photo source: LAKD M-V/LA

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@Walter Hinteler,

fabulous

thanks for the links

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Thanks for the information, Walter

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@Walter Hinteler,

really neat. They did use metal detectors eh?

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@farmerman,

Those two amateurs, who actually made the discovery, belong to the approximately 150 active honorary ground monument conservators in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania who roam fields in the north-east in their free time with metal detectors and GPS devices - in close cooperation with the stat's archaeology office.
(We've got the same here, in the Westphalian part of our state, without GPS and all metal detectors already since 60's of late century - I was 12 years old, when I took part finding >this<, now in the museum of my native town.)

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@Walter Hinteler,

The silver treasure of Rügen discovered after 1000 years is according to first estimation of the state office for culture and monument conservation very well preserved. The excavation director Michael Schirren told the German Press Agency on Tuesday that he had been "almost blinking" taken out of the ground. There was some mechanical damage caused by the agricultural use of the field. Some pieces are also bent or broken.

The reason for the otherwise very good condition are the high silver content and favourable soil conditions. The treasure, which consists mainly of jewellery and coins with a total weight of 1.5 kilograms, is currently numbered in the Stralsund branch of the office and summarised in find lists. Afterwards it goes to Schwerin, where it will be examined again for restoration.

Translated from a report by the German press agency (dpa).

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Thanks for this Walter.

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@izzythepush,

The more than 1000 year old silver treasure of Schaprode has been brought to the State Office for Culture and Monument Preservation in Schwerin. In total, the treasure, weighing about 1.7 kilograms, consists of 1920 individual pieces, as state archaeologist Detlef Jantzen said on Thursday. Among them are about 250 Danish and 600 Islamic coins and coin fragments as well as about 450 imperial coins. In addition, jewellery and fragments of rings, brooches, necklaces and bangles were inventoried.
The treasure will now be re-evaluated to determine the need for restoration and is then available for scientific processing.

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'Bluetooth' treasure found on German Baltic Sea island

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