Norwegian scientists have announced the discovery of the world’s oldest runestone, which may be up to 2,000 years old. According to archaeologists, the sandstone tomb with an inscription, measuring 31 by 32 cm, was created several hundred years earlier than other known objects of this type.
According to the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, radiocarbon dating shows that a grave in Hole with a runestone, located northwest of the Norwegian capital, dates from 1-250 AD.
“We thought the first runestones appeared in Norway and Sweden in the 4th or 5th century AD, but now it turns out that they may be older and could have been created at the time of Jesus -Christ” – emphasizes Prof. Kristel Zilmer from the Museum of Cultural History.
According to the expert, the discovery “offers new insight into the development of runic script and its use in the early Iron Age”. The inscription “idiberug” is visible on the stone. “The text probably refers to a woman called Idibera, and the inscription may mean + for Idibera +” – believes Prof. Zilmer.
A burial with a runic rock was discovered in Hole in autumn 2021 during archaeological work in the Iron Age cemetery, carried out as part of the expansion of the rail and road infrastructure. The dating of the find has been ongoing ever since.
Several thousand rocks with runic inscriptions have been preserved in Scandinavia, but mostly from the Viking Age. Only about 30 runestones from the Roman period and the Migration period (up to about 550) have been found in Norway.
The oldest runestone in the world, named after the place where it was found, Svingerudsteinen, will be open to visitors at the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo from January 21. (PORRIDGE)
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