Ny Björn Gustafsson
@nybjorn.bsky.social
Swedish archaeologist (PhD, Arch Sci).
Finds specialist (Iron Age through Medieval per.)
Surveyor of islands in the Baltic Sea.
😍LiDAR-spotting!
Papers etc: https://raa.academia.edu/NyBj%C3%B6rnGustafsson
Finds specialist (Iron Age through Medieval per.)
Surveyor of islands in the Baltic Sea.
😍LiDAR-spotting!
Papers etc: https://raa.academia.edu/NyBj%C3%B6rnGustafsson
The Pilgård stone from mid-eastern Gotland (G 280):
Brightly painted, this stone was raised by Hegbjarn and his brothers Rodvisl, Austain and Emund.
They have raised stones in memory of Ravn south of Rufstain.
They came far in Aeifor.
Vivil was in command.
Brightly painted, this stone was raised by Hegbjarn and his brothers Rodvisl, Austain and Emund.
They have raised stones in memory of Ravn south of Rufstain.
They came far in Aeifor.
Vivil was in command.
November 8, 2025 at 7:39 PM
The Pilgård stone from mid-eastern Gotland (G 280):
Brightly painted, this stone was raised by Hegbjarn and his brothers Rodvisl, Austain and Emund.
They have raised stones in memory of Ravn south of Rufstain.
They came far in Aeifor.
Vivil was in command.
Brightly painted, this stone was raised by Hegbjarn and his brothers Rodvisl, Austain and Emund.
They have raised stones in memory of Ravn south of Rufstain.
They came far in Aeifor.
Vivil was in command.
November 6, 2025 at 7:59 PM
November 3, 2025 at 3:44 PM
A Viking-period brooch, allegedly found in Ljungby, Småland (mid-central southern Sweden) in the late 19th Century. Sold to Kalmar County Museum in 1895.
More here: digitaltmuseum.org/021021470571...
All 📸: Kalmar County Museum
#FindsFriday
More here: digitaltmuseum.org/021021470571...
All 📸: Kalmar County Museum
#FindsFriday
October 31, 2025 at 1:12 PM
A Viking-period brooch, allegedly found in Ljungby, Småland (mid-central southern Sweden) in the late 19th Century. Sold to Kalmar County Museum in 1895.
More here: digitaltmuseum.org/021021470571...
All 📸: Kalmar County Museum
#FindsFriday
More here: digitaltmuseum.org/021021470571...
All 📸: Kalmar County Museum
#FindsFriday
Meanwhile, over on Portable Antiquities Scheme…
finds.org.uk/database/art...
Found at St. Edmundsbury, Suffolk in May 2025.
📸: Suffolk County Council (CC BY)
finds.org.uk/database/art...
Found at St. Edmundsbury, Suffolk in May 2025.
📸: Suffolk County Council (CC BY)
October 30, 2025 at 6:26 AM
Meanwhile, over on Portable Antiquities Scheme…
finds.org.uk/database/art...
Found at St. Edmundsbury, Suffolk in May 2025.
📸: Suffolk County Council (CC BY)
finds.org.uk/database/art...
Found at St. Edmundsbury, Suffolk in May 2025.
📸: Suffolk County Council (CC BY)
Book release tonight here in Visby - Dan Carlsson presents 50 years of thoughts and facts on Gotlandic early-medieval silver - hoards, depots and stray finds.
🏺
🏺
October 23, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Book release tonight here in Visby - Dan Carlsson presents 50 years of thoughts and facts on Gotlandic early-medieval silver - hoards, depots and stray finds.
🏺
🏺
Got a new pin, straight from Kœnugarðr…
-Razom do peremohi!
-Razom do peremohi!
October 19, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Got a new pin, straight from Kœnugarðr…
-Razom do peremohi!
-Razom do peremohi!
A 28 mm high amber gaming piece from Harby in Ljungby parish, Kalmar county. Probably from the Viking Period, based on style.
Found as a stray find in 1873, now in the collections of Kalmar County Museum (inventory no. 904:1:3).
More here: digitaltmuseum.org/021021168191...
#FindsFriday
Found as a stray find in 1873, now in the collections of Kalmar County Museum (inventory no. 904:1:3).
More here: digitaltmuseum.org/021021168191...
#FindsFriday
October 17, 2025 at 7:53 PM
A 28 mm high amber gaming piece from Harby in Ljungby parish, Kalmar county. Probably from the Viking Period, based on style.
Found as a stray find in 1873, now in the collections of Kalmar County Museum (inventory no. 904:1:3).
More here: digitaltmuseum.org/021021168191...
#FindsFriday
Found as a stray find in 1873, now in the collections of Kalmar County Museum (inventory no. 904:1:3).
More here: digitaltmuseum.org/021021168191...
#FindsFriday
It's always good to keep an eye open for anomalies in LiDAR - but this previously unregistered Iron-age cemetery with (at least) 6 flat burial cairns is clearly visible even via ordinary aerial photos.
🏺in Horn, northern Öland, Sweden - here, in FornPunkt:
fornpunkt.se/lamning/AnqW...
🏺in Horn, northern Öland, Sweden - here, in FornPunkt:
fornpunkt.se/lamning/AnqW...
October 16, 2025 at 12:20 PM
It's always good to keep an eye open for anomalies in LiDAR - but this previously unregistered Iron-age cemetery with (at least) 6 flat burial cairns is clearly visible even via ordinary aerial photos.
🏺in Horn, northern Öland, Sweden - here, in FornPunkt:
fornpunkt.se/lamning/AnqW...
🏺in Horn, northern Öland, Sweden - here, in FornPunkt:
fornpunkt.se/lamning/AnqW...
Brilliant autumnal weather here on Gotland today - perfect for a visit to an Iron-age cemetery or two.
This one for example - in Dalhem parish.
pub.raa.se/visa/objekt/...
This one for example - in Dalhem parish.
pub.raa.se/visa/objekt/...
October 11, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Brilliant autumnal weather here on Gotland today - perfect for a visit to an Iron-age cemetery or two.
This one for example - in Dalhem parish.
pub.raa.se/visa/objekt/...
This one for example - in Dalhem parish.
pub.raa.se/visa/objekt/...
A late Viking-period/early-Medieval stirrup mount from Sanda in Fresta parish, north of Stockholm. Found in the early 1990's in a mixed settlement deposit. Now in the collections of Swe History Museum.
samlingar.shm.se/object/326ab...
But what does it depict; an anteater? Beats me...
#FindsFriday
samlingar.shm.se/object/326ab...
But what does it depict; an anteater? Beats me...
#FindsFriday
October 10, 2025 at 4:49 PM
A late Viking-period/early-Medieval stirrup mount from Sanda in Fresta parish, north of Stockholm. Found in the early 1990's in a mixed settlement deposit. Now in the collections of Swe History Museum.
samlingar.shm.se/object/326ab...
But what does it depict; an anteater? Beats me...
#FindsFriday
samlingar.shm.se/object/326ab...
But what does it depict; an anteater? Beats me...
#FindsFriday
It is always good to look at things from new angles.
Yesterday I stumbled upon an ornamented fragment which is depicted in “Birka Studies 2”. When turned correctly it is evidently a piece of a Kazakevièius IIb-scabbard chape.
To my knowledge the first trace of one from Björkö/Birka.
#FindsFriday
Yesterday I stumbled upon an ornamented fragment which is depicted in “Birka Studies 2”. When turned correctly it is evidently a piece of a Kazakevièius IIb-scabbard chape.
To my knowledge the first trace of one from Björkö/Birka.
#FindsFriday
October 3, 2025 at 6:06 AM
It is always good to look at things from new angles.
Yesterday I stumbled upon an ornamented fragment which is depicted in “Birka Studies 2”. When turned correctly it is evidently a piece of a Kazakevièius IIb-scabbard chape.
To my knowledge the first trace of one from Björkö/Birka.
#FindsFriday
Yesterday I stumbled upon an ornamented fragment which is depicted in “Birka Studies 2”. When turned correctly it is evidently a piece of a Kazakevièius IIb-scabbard chape.
To my knowledge the first trace of one from Björkö/Birka.
#FindsFriday
Bloody 😈!
Went to Wikimaps for a look at where Wiki Commons-photos are geographically positioned at St Karlsö, W off Gotland.
Found two in an awkward position…
THEY WERE MINE, captured & uploaded last year but plotted ~800 m too far to the NNE. Probably caused by GPS-jamming from Königsberg.
Went to Wikimaps for a look at where Wiki Commons-photos are geographically positioned at St Karlsö, W off Gotland.
Found two in an awkward position…
THEY WERE MINE, captured & uploaded last year but plotted ~800 m too far to the NNE. Probably caused by GPS-jamming from Königsberg.
September 27, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Bloody 😈!
Went to Wikimaps for a look at where Wiki Commons-photos are geographically positioned at St Karlsö, W off Gotland.
Found two in an awkward position…
THEY WERE MINE, captured & uploaded last year but plotted ~800 m too far to the NNE. Probably caused by GPS-jamming from Königsberg.
Went to Wikimaps for a look at where Wiki Commons-photos are geographically positioned at St Karlsö, W off Gotland.
Found two in an awkward position…
THEY WERE MINE, captured & uploaded last year but plotted ~800 m too far to the NNE. Probably caused by GPS-jamming from Königsberg.
An older but nonetheless very nice Norwegian find for #FindsFriday:
An ornamented (and burnt) bone fragment from Reistad in Levanger, Trøndelag. Found 1935 in a burial mound. The pelleted body implies Mammen-style (c. ~1000 CE).
More here: www.unimus.no/portal/#/thi...
(📸: CC BY-SA 4.0)
An ornamented (and burnt) bone fragment from Reistad in Levanger, Trøndelag. Found 1935 in a burial mound. The pelleted body implies Mammen-style (c. ~1000 CE).
More here: www.unimus.no/portal/#/thi...
(📸: CC BY-SA 4.0)
September 26, 2025 at 7:07 AM
An older but nonetheless very nice Norwegian find for #FindsFriday:
An ornamented (and burnt) bone fragment from Reistad in Levanger, Trøndelag. Found 1935 in a burial mound. The pelleted body implies Mammen-style (c. ~1000 CE).
More here: www.unimus.no/portal/#/thi...
(📸: CC BY-SA 4.0)
An ornamented (and burnt) bone fragment from Reistad in Levanger, Trøndelag. Found 1935 in a burial mound. The pelleted body implies Mammen-style (c. ~1000 CE).
More here: www.unimus.no/portal/#/thi...
(📸: CC BY-SA 4.0)
Every day gets a fair bit brighter by a good look at what I normally call the Bamberg casket, and others “the casket of Empress Cunigunde”.
Mammen-style, mainly. Fantastic in every sense of the word!
(📸: CC BY-NC-ND - more here: www.bayerisches-nationalmuseum.de/en/collectio...)
Mammen-style, mainly. Fantastic in every sense of the word!
(📸: CC BY-NC-ND - more here: www.bayerisches-nationalmuseum.de/en/collectio...)
September 24, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Every day gets a fair bit brighter by a good look at what I normally call the Bamberg casket, and others “the casket of Empress Cunigunde”.
Mammen-style, mainly. Fantastic in every sense of the word!
(📸: CC BY-NC-ND - more here: www.bayerisches-nationalmuseum.de/en/collectio...)
Mammen-style, mainly. Fantastic in every sense of the word!
(📸: CC BY-NC-ND - more here: www.bayerisches-nationalmuseum.de/en/collectio...)
Ett annat kulturarv - fick med lite lock och pock rull på den 85-åriga militärcykeln jag köpte för åratal sedan. Trög i starten, därefter svårstoppad!
🚴
🚴
September 7, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Ett annat kulturarv - fick med lite lock och pock rull på den 85-åriga militärcykeln jag köpte för åratal sedan. Trög i starten, därefter svårstoppad!
🚴
🚴
Heureka!
I re-found the large historic “Saga map” I bought when I lived in Iceland in the 90’s.
It’s fabulous!
I re-found the large historic “Saga map” I bought when I lived in Iceland in the 90’s.
It’s fabulous!
September 5, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Heureka!
I re-found the large historic “Saga map” I bought when I lived in Iceland in the 90’s.
It’s fabulous!
I re-found the large historic “Saga map” I bought when I lived in Iceland in the 90’s.
It’s fabulous!
Here’s a little coin fragment for the numismatists of Bluesky…
Found 2014 at the Viking-period harbour site Paviken on western Gotland, but uninterpreted.
Sorry for the bad photos, I just had a few moments to snap them in a dim-lighted storage today…
Any ideas?
Found 2014 at the Viking-period harbour site Paviken on western Gotland, but uninterpreted.
Sorry for the bad photos, I just had a few moments to snap them in a dim-lighted storage today…
Any ideas?
September 2, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Here’s a little coin fragment for the numismatists of Bluesky…
Found 2014 at the Viking-period harbour site Paviken on western Gotland, but uninterpreted.
Sorry for the bad photos, I just had a few moments to snap them in a dim-lighted storage today…
Any ideas?
Found 2014 at the Viking-period harbour site Paviken on western Gotland, but uninterpreted.
Sorry for the bad photos, I just had a few moments to snap them in a dim-lighted storage today…
Any ideas?
Oh-la-la!
Apparently this heraldic padlock key with striking birds-of-prey was found during the large-scaled, so-called, excavations of burial mounds in Vladimir Oblast, present-day Russia in the 1850's. Published in 1905.
I've only seen them from Sweden & Finland (e.g. Birka, right pic) before...
Apparently this heraldic padlock key with striking birds-of-prey was found during the large-scaled, so-called, excavations of burial mounds in Vladimir Oblast, present-day Russia in the 1850's. Published in 1905.
I've only seen them from Sweden & Finland (e.g. Birka, right pic) before...
August 26, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Oh-la-la!
Apparently this heraldic padlock key with striking birds-of-prey was found during the large-scaled, so-called, excavations of burial mounds in Vladimir Oblast, present-day Russia in the 1850's. Published in 1905.
I've only seen them from Sweden & Finland (e.g. Birka, right pic) before...
Apparently this heraldic padlock key with striking birds-of-prey was found during the large-scaled, so-called, excavations of burial mounds in Vladimir Oblast, present-day Russia in the 1850's. Published in 1905.
I've only seen them from Sweden & Finland (e.g. Birka, right pic) before...
An interesting piece indeed - that sword reminds a bit of the wolf-beasts on the Lundagård stone (DR 314), though they appears to be equipped with shields as well...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lund_1_...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lund_1_...
August 22, 2025 at 12:13 PM
An interesting piece indeed - that sword reminds a bit of the wolf-beasts on the Lundagård stone (DR 314), though they appears to be equipped with shields as well...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lund_1_...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lund_1_...
Visby’s annual Medieval Week is upon us yet again - but I stick to “Vikings”…
August 4, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Visby’s annual Medieval Week is upon us yet again - but I stick to “Vikings”…
Once again I fail to recognise even the smallest spark of reciprocal stewardship in the attitude towards research among British heritage institutions - i.e. to increase knowledge and combat ignorance.
Do they seriously think that I earn money from doing small finds research in my spare time!?
Do they seriously think that I earn money from doing small finds research in my spare time!?
August 4, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Once again I fail to recognise even the smallest spark of reciprocal stewardship in the attitude towards research among British heritage institutions - i.e. to increase knowledge and combat ignorance.
Do they seriously think that I earn money from doing small finds research in my spare time!?
Do they seriously think that I earn money from doing small finds research in my spare time!?
I finally received my copy of the book. LOADS OF READING! 🥳
July 14, 2025 at 2:38 PM
I finally received my copy of the book. LOADS OF READING! 🥳
An interesting side effect of the great tradition to donate books to research libraries:
In a book, by Finnish archaeologist Ella Kivikoski, which once belonged to the Swedish archaeologist Nils Åberg I found a personal letter from her to him concerning an artefact.
Åberg died in 1957.
In a book, by Finnish archaeologist Ella Kivikoski, which once belonged to the Swedish archaeologist Nils Åberg I found a personal letter from her to him concerning an artefact.
Åberg died in 1957.
July 13, 2025 at 12:57 PM
An interesting side effect of the great tradition to donate books to research libraries:
In a book, by Finnish archaeologist Ella Kivikoski, which once belonged to the Swedish archaeologist Nils Åberg I found a personal letter from her to him concerning an artefact.
Åberg died in 1957.
In a book, by Finnish archaeologist Ella Kivikoski, which once belonged to the Swedish archaeologist Nils Åberg I found a personal letter from her to him concerning an artefact.
Åberg died in 1957.