Discoveries

February 03, 2023

Written in Stone

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Archaeologists recently discovered a stone scribbled with runic script dating back 2,000 years, a find they called “the oldest datable runestone in the world,” Smithsonian Magazine reported.

Researchers uncovered the runestone at a cremation pit in eastern Norway in 2021. The site is located near the lake of Tyrifjorden, in a region known for “monumental” archaeological finds like the famed Gjermundbu Viking helmet.

Radiocarbon dating of the site showed that the grave and the runestone dated between 1 and 250 CE.

While past discoveries have uncovered older artifacts, this was the oldest find with runic writing – previously found artifacts with such writing date to around 300 CE.

Runic script was an ancient system of writing used by Germanic people in northern Europe. Scholars note, however, that there were at least three varieties of runic script that evolved over time and in different geographic regions.

Still, how the writing system came to be remains a source of debate among historians.

Researcher Kristel Zilmer, who studied the new runestone, noted that the inscription on the artifact remains elusive: Eight runes on the front of the stone spell “idiberug” when converted into Roman letters.

They could refer to a woman named Idibera or to the kin name Idiberung, she explained.

Even so, she noted that the inscription might not have any linguistic meaning, suggesting that the ancient individual scribbling on the stone “was learning how to carve runes.”

But the find sheds new light onto the origin and early history of runic writing.

This story originally appeared in the February 03, 2023 newsletter, Held Hostage.