Se investiga si la zona puede ser una vieja ruta comercial o un cementerio.
Una espada vikinga de hace 1.200 años y en buen estado de conservación fue encontrada en el oeste de Noruega por un montañista y se investiga si la zona puede ser una vieja ruta comercial o un cementerio.
"Un hombre la halló entre unos acantilados mientras pescaba en la región montañosa de Haukeli, a unos 1.100 metros de altura", explicó el arqueólogo Jostein Aksdal a la agencia DPA.
Al parecer, el hombre la guardó durante algún tiempo hasta que un desconocido le dijo que podría tratarse de una espada antigua, y entonces la llevó a un museo.
Según Aksdal, está previsto que un equipo de arqueólogos investigue la zona, por si pudiera tratarse de una antigua ruta comercial. "Esperamos que el invierno sea suave o, de lo contrario, tendremos que aguardar hasta el próximo año", manifestó.
Este tipo de espadas, con una hoja que mide unos 70 centímetros de longitud, pertenecían normalmente a gente acaudalada por lo que en el lugar del hallazgo podría haber tumbas, señaló el arqueólogo.
Hiker Finds 1,200-year-old Viking Sword in Norway
A hiker has stumbled across a 1,200-year-old Viking sword in remarkably good condition in Norway’s mountains, archeologists said Thursday, in what could be another sign that global warming is benefitting archeology.
The 30-inch (80-centimetre) wrought iron weapon dates “from the beginning of the Viking era, around the end of the eighth century,” according to archeologist Jostein Aksdal in the western town of Bergen where the sword will go on display.
“At this time, all the swords were very valuable because it was a weapon for people of high rank,” Aksdal told AFP.
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“Most (Vikings) had to get by with a simple knife or an axe.”
The hiker found the sword three years ago but only recently turned it over to archeologists.
Experts don’t know why the sword would have been left in the mountains.
“Maybe there is a grave there, or was it left there by a trader? Was it hidden there for one reason or another? The only limits are our imagination,” Aksdal said.
“Did someone die there? Or was there a fight, a theft, a murder or something else? We can’t say.”
A more thorough study of the site will be carried out next spring when the snow has melted.
The cold dry weather in the mountainous region of southern Norway probably helped to keep the object in good condition.
There, “temperatures remain below zero for six months of the year,” Aksdal said.
While climate change has many negative implications for planet Earth, it is proving beneficial to archeologists.
“The melting snow means that a growing number of ancient objects are seeing the light of day,” Aksdal said.
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