Author Archives: Shane Graham
Why Lios Mòr’s Rediscovered Monastery Changes The Pre-Viking Map Of Western Scotland
A newly published archaeological study has transformed Lismore in western Scotland from a monastery known mainly through medieval texts and local tradition into one of the strongest archaeological candidates for a major early Christian centre in the kingdom of Dál … Continue reading
Why Oslo’s Rediscovered Franciscan Choir Changes The Map Of Medieval Oslo
A nearly complete church choir hidden beneath Oslo Hospital has given archaeologists a sharper map of one of medieval Oslo’s least visible religious complexes. Ground-penetrating radar surveys carried out in 2018 and 2023 traced the choir of the former Franciscan … Continue reading
Why A 1,300-Year-Old Textile Grave In West Jutland Could Change Viking Clothing History
A grave excavated at Skonager near Varde is giving Danish archaeologists something the Viking Age rarely preserves: clothing still attached to the ornaments that once held it in place. The burial, uncovered in 2024 by Arkæologi Vestjylland, contained a pair … Continue reading
Why Bergen’s Vågen Seabed Turns Harbor Waste Into A Viking-To-Medieval Archive
Bergen’s Vågen seabed turns harbor waste into a Viking-to-medieval archive because the same mud that holds pollution also preserves centuries of discarded life. On June 15, 2026, NIKU, the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research, reported that the cleanup of … Continue reading
Why Á Sondum’s Rare Faroe Runestone Needs Careful Reading Before Big Claims
Á Sondum’s rare Faroe runestone needs careful reading before big claims because the first visible runes have appeared before specialists have finished the work that gives an inscription historical meaning. On July 22, 2026, Tjóðsavnið, the National Museum of the … Continue reading
Why Sweden’s Fragile Runestones Need Conservation Before New Interpretation
Sweden’s fragile runestones need conservation before new interpretation because every reading depends on a surface that weather, lichen, cleaning, repainting, visitor pressure, and older repairs can change. The Swedish National Heritage Board, Riksantikvarieämbetet, warned in its November 6, 2025 article … Continue reading
Why Anundshög Makes Viking-Age Power Visible In Mounds And Ship Settings
Anundshög makes Viking-Age power visible because its landscape turns authority into scale, alignment, road control, burial memory, and stone-built display. Sweden’s National Heritage Board lists Archaeology Day at Anundshög for Sunday, August 30, 2026, from 10:00 to 16:00, at Anundshög … Continue reading
Why The Rold Treasure Changes Denmark’s Viking Gold Story
The Rold Treasure changes Denmark’s Viking gold story because it turns six intact arm rings into evidence for elite power, political connection, skilled goldsmithing, and deliberate deposition during the late Viking Age. Nordjyske Museer reports that a resident of Himmerland … Continue reading
Why Norway’s Oldest Runestone Fragments Rewrite The Early Rune Story
Norway’s oldest runestone fragments rewrite the early rune story because they move runic writing on stone into a far earlier and better-dated context than scholars usually get. A 2025 open-access study in Antiquity examines inscribed sandstone fragments from the Svingerud … Continue reading
How Aurlandsfjellet’s Reindeer Trap Reveals Pre-Viking Hunting Systems
Aurlandsfjellet’s reindeer trap reveals a side of pre-Viking Scandinavia that is easy to miss when history begins with ships, swords, and raids. High in the mountains of Vestland County, Norway, archaeologists from Vestland County Municipality and the University Museum of … Continue reading
