Category: Clay urn

Razor, hilt, urn, lid B5003/a-d

B5003/c og e
B5003/d

Razor knife with asymmetric wide blade, handle broken and missing. The end is straight and has been damaged. The blade is golden brown and there are marks along the back and edge that correspond to the bronze shroud found in the burial. Similar to Baudou’s type XI B 1a. Length: 6.4 cm. B5003/a.

Thin bronze plate, razor-shaped, the ends folded on three sides. The folds correspond to marks on the planer, which indicates that this is a sheath/case for the planer. Length: c.7.5 cm. B5003/b.

Incomplete clay flat urn. Brown ware, no decoration apart from two holes on one side (face). The urn has been reconstructed from ceramic shards found in the grave. Double conical body and flat bottom. Width: 14.5 cm (bottom), 20 cm (top) Height: c. 18 cm. B5003/c.

Incomplete clay urn. Brown goods, no decoration. The urn has been reconstructed from ceramic shards found in the grave. Double conical body and flat bottom. Width: 15.5 cm (bottom), 18 cm (top) Height: c. 11 cm. B5003/d.

There is also a lid. The lid is round and reconstructed from fragments in the grave. It is not clear which urn it originally belonged to. Width: c. 11 cm. B5003/e.

In addition, there is a box marked B5003, which contains sherds from at least two pots plus a piece of gray flint. Photo: Svein Skare © University Museum in Bergen, CC BY-SA 4.0

Location:
Bø, Hå, Rogaland

Context:
Found in a mound, «Dyrhaug», excavated by Gustafson in 1892-93. The mound was 22 m across and had a height of about 3.5 m. There was an inner cairn, 11-12 m x 2.5 m, covered with soil and a layer of stone. A large coffin was found in the center of the mound, containing some fragments of a skull and some teeth, probably an Early Bronze Age burial. The side of the ditch collapsed the following year, revealing a small coffin, 45 x 35 cm, 35 cm deep, built of boulders, about 3 m east of the central pit and higher up in the mound, about 1 m below the top. It contained B5003a-d and cremated bones. A stone coffin containing bones is said to have been found near the edge of the mound a few years earlier.

Date:
The razor is dated to the Younger Bronze Age period 4-5. The urns are dated to period 5.

Fibula, dagger with bone handle and wood hilt, bone og urn B5000/a-c

Photo: Svein Skare © Universitetsmuseet i Bergen, CC BY-SA 4.0

Fibula with round head and loop with spiral end. Both spirals are broken, one is preserved. The fibula is heavily corroded. Length: c.9.9 cm. B5000/a.

Dagger with button, fragments of bone, wooden sheath and bark. The blade is green and corroded, with straight, parallel sides and a marked midrib. The tip is broken. The blade expands towards the hilt, which has a tongue-shaped shank plate with three rivet holes. There is a rivet in the top rivet hole. Length: 25.5 cm. The handle button is round/oval with a central round pin surrounded by a border of vertical, parallel lines and six spirals. The mouth is partially damaged. Width: c. 4 cm Fragments of a bone shaft are preserved. According to the report, the party ended in a crescent shape; there were two (false?) rivets in addition to the three rivets corresponding to the holes in the shaft plate, and the remains of a loop near the handle knob. Fragments of a wooden scabbard, found under the dagger. One of the fragments has a hole and a bronze nail still embedded. The longest wood fragments are approx. 11.5 cm; there is corroded bronze on one fragment. Pieces of bark were found under the dagger and sheath. A sample of charcoal and cremated bones has been preserved. B5000/b.

Shard of an urn, hardened with ground quartz or coarse sand. The shards have a reddish surface inside and out. Some shards have been glued together. The shards are for a pot with a convex body and concave rim. There is no decoration. The surface is uneven. The original height was probably approx. 20-25 cm and the diameter approx. 15-20 cm. B5000/c.

Location:
Holen, Time, Rogaland

Context:
Found in a burial mound excavated by Gustafson. The mound was 16 m across and had a height of approx. 1.5 m. A stone coffin made of slabs, approx. 2.15 m long and 45-50 cm wide, 80 cm deep, was found southeast of the center. It was empty down to a depth of 30 cm; it was filled with earth, small stones and gravel. At a depth of 35 cm, the fibula and dagger as well as the outline of unburnt bones were found. The bronze was found in the northern part of the coffin. At the bottom of the coffin, fragments of an urn were found in one place. Pieces of cremated bones and charcoal were found in the fill in several places in the mound.

Date:
The fibula is dated to Early Bronze Age Early Period 2, the dagger is Period 2. It is difficult to give the urn an exact date, presumably Period 2, although it may be a later addition.

Razor B7656/b

Small broad-bladed razor (razor) (B7656/b). The handle ends in a spiral, which has broken off and is now lost. The patina has been removed; the blade is golden with some darker spots. The edge of the blade has suffered some damage, compared to a photo taken shortly after it was found. Baudous type XI B 1 c. Length: 5.8 cm. Width: 1.4 cm Photo: Svein Skare © University Museum in Bergen, CC BY-SA 4.0

Found together with:
Small undecorated jar (B7656/a). There is some damage around the rim, otherwise the pot is complete. It has a wide handle on one side. The item is red both outside and inside, dark grey/black where there is a break. The bottom is convex, with a marked transition to the upper half, which is concave. Baudou’s type XXVIII B3. Width: 8.9 cm (bottom). Height: c. 16.5 cm

Burnt bones, both human and animal bones (B7656/c)

Context: Found in a burial in a plowed grave with a diameter of 15-17 m and the height was approx. 1.5 m. A small stone chest of 0.5×0.25 m was found outside the center in the remains of the mound. It was filled with soil and charcoal and there was a small pot (B7656/a) in the middle. The pot contained B7656/b and cremated bones (B7656/c).

Location:
Grindheim (no. 75/1), Etne, Hordaland

Date:
Similar rake knives have been found in collections dated to the Younger Bronze Age period 4.

Bronze fragments, urns and bones B5932

 

Photo: Svein Skare © Universitetsmuseet i Bergen, CC BY-SA 4.0

B05932/a: Fragments of a bronze object. The excavator, Haakon Shetelig, thought the fragments could have been a knife. As the fragments are flat and thin, it is possible that the object may have been a knife or razor, but this cannot be ascertained. The fragments are corroded.

B05932/b: Clay urn, fragmented, similar to Baudou’s type XXXVIII C 1. The fragments have been glued together. The ware is grey/brown, porous on the outside, and tempered with crushed quartz. There are remains of red on the outside. The urn has a wide, convex body and cylindrical neck. The body is decorated with a band of slanting parallel lines in groups, alternating between slanting to the right and left. There are two horizontal lines on top and below the band. The rim is not marked. The pot originally had a handle, which was broken before deposition, as a handle was not found in the grave. Height: 18 cm

B05932/c: Fragments of an urn. When found, the clay was damp and disintegrating. Grey ware, with remains of red on the outside. The clay is tempered with crushed quartz. The ware appears to have been somewhat better quality than B05932/b, with an even finish both on the inside and outside. Only part of the lower half of the pot can be reconstructed: it has a convex lower body, and narrows towards the neck. A possible parallel is Baudou XXVIII B 2.

B05932/d: Cremated bones.

Context:
Found in a cairn with two urns and cremated bones (B05932/b-d), located on a promontory, Straumstein, with a good view of the sea. The cairn contained three chambers: One inhumation grave and two smaller stone cists, one of which contained the two urns and cremated bones, and one which was empty. The cist was made from five slabs and two covering slabs, and measured 0.40 x 0.30 m. It was located in the centre of the cairn, a little higher than the other two burials. Marine sand was scattered on the bottom slab. One of the urns had disintegrated and the shards were mixed with the bones inside. The bronze fragments were found underneath. The other urn was in good condition, but had cracked and the contents spilt. The bronze object appears to have been deposed separately, rather than inside one of the urns. According to Per Fett (1954), the slabs must have come from Augastad.

Location:
Eide (gnr.83/3), Kvam, Hordaland

Date:
Based on the urns and cremated bones as well as the size of the cist, the burial is dated to the Late Bronze Age, period 4-6.

Urn, pot shards, arrowhead, double-button, awl B3875

 

Photo: Svein Skare © Universitetsmuseet i Bergen, CC BY-SA 4.0

 

Urn with cremated bones (B3875/a). It was made of clay tempered with sand, red/orange on the outside, gray on the inside. The urn was double-conical. There were 15 small holes along the widest part of the urn. There were only minor injuries. Height: 24.5 cm

Shards of a second urn (B3875/b), red/orange wares tempered with sand. The bottom shards indicate a conical shape. The surface is somewhat uneven. According to the original catalogue, this pot may have been used as a lid.

Arrowhead with tanges (B03875/c). The brown patina is almost completely removed. The pliers have a square cross-section. Baudous type V A. Length: 8.7 cm

Small double button with decoration (B3875/d). The top plate is raised and conical, and is decorated with concentric rings interspersed with two rows of vertical parallel lines. Width: 2 cm. Height: 1.7 cm

Small awl, broken at one end (B3875/e). When it was found there was a small point and a wooden handle, but both snapped and disintegrated when touched. One end has a round cross-section, while the other end has a square cross-section and ends in a small tongs. Length: 2.4 cm

Context:
Found in a long mound pile, in a small stone cist measuring 1.5 feet and built of slabs. A larger, collapsed stone coffin was found nearby in 1880. The mound was low.

Location:
Vest-Hassel, Farsund, Vest-Agder

Date:
Both the arrowhead and the button indicate a date to the Younger Bronze Age period 4.