Remarkable find: Archaeologists in Norway discovered the remains of a gauntlet on the seabed

What is this precious steel glove doing in the sea?

Vilde Aardahl Aas
JOURNALIST
Monday 12. August 2024 - 04:30

Since 2019, the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) has been excavating in Bispevika, Oslo. The area has never been investigated by archaeologists before, making the discoveries special.

Before 1624, the area was part of Oslo harbour.

Now, archaeologists have found the remains of a gauntlet in this area. It's not just any gauntlet, but one made of iron. It’s from the Middle Ages and is very rare.

Expensive lost property
“In the 1500s, during the Renaissance, we find nails everywhere in the city. In the Middle Ages, it seems that iron was reused and reforged, so you find almost no remains of it in the city,” says Håvard Hegdal.

He is an archaeologist at NIKU and the excavation's project manager. He says this discovery is special.

“The gauntlet would never have been left lying in the streets in medieval Oslo. This is an extremely expensive object. An ordinary person would never own something like this. The only way you can find things like this is if they’re buried or lost in some way. On the seabed, no one could have gotten hold of it,” he says.

More:
https://www.sciencenorway.no/archaeology-the-middle-ages/remarkable-find-archaeologists-in-norway-discovered-the-remains-of-a-gauntlet-on-the-seabed/2394168