A five-year-old child found an archaeological artifact: scientists are at a loss

Experts cannot attribute the find

In Norway, while playing on the playground in a kindergarten, a five-year-old boy, Axel Bjork, dug up a round object in the ground, which supposedly dates back to the 15th century. Archaeologists still cannot understand what it is and are asking for help from scientists in Europe.

Photo: freepik.com

A unique archaeological discovery, according to the largest television company NRK, was made in kindergarten by a five-year-old Norwegian named Axel. The artifact he discovered left archaeologists at a loss as to what the boy had found. The child himself says that he saw a hole in the ground, decided to poke around there and discovered a “thing” that archaeologists cannot attribute.

Axel Björk found an unusual object in a hole in a kindergarten in Tusseladden, Norway. Since even the youngest Norwegians know that old objects found in the ground can be of historical value, the discovered round “thing” was shown to educators and sent to the appropriate department in the Nordland region.

Archaeologists concluded that it was maybe a medieval medallion or a pilgrim's badge with a German motif. Since the find is round, it would be logical to assume that it could also be a coin, but its glossy back speaks against this version.

According to archaeological data, the find can be attributed to the medallion of a European pilgrim of the 15th century, based on the image on the front side. However, it remains a mystery how he could have ended up in Northern Norway. Scientists note that the discovery was made by Axel in the summer on the playground in a kindergarten, but after several months, archaeologists still cannot say with certainty what exactly the child found. Experts are unanimous in their opinion that the object is about 600 years old.

Axel believes that someone played in the old days and made a “secret” like this. And he was lucky to find it. The boy showed the find to his friends and at first the children decided to buy themselves candy in the store with the found coin, but then they decided to give the “round piece” to the adults in the kindergarten, who, in turn, contacted the cultural department of Nordland.

Archaeologist Tor-Kristian Storvik comments to NRK that he is very glad that both children and educators understand how important it is to pass on such finds to scientists for research. The expert said that he personally had never encountered anything like this, but the find clearly depicted a religious motif — most likely medieval. It depicts a bishop seated on a high chair with a scepter.

Norwegian archaeologists turned to their colleagues in the Netherlands, where a database of pilgrims in Medieval Europe was collected, for help, but they replied that they had never seen this motif before . Storvik added that Dutch colleagues date the object, based on the image and motif, to the 1400s. He also said that such “pilgrimage badges” were often considered as a kind of “insurance” and “amulet” for a happy return home.

Archaeologists turned to all residents of Norway for help, asking if they were betraying they have similar “round pieces” from generation to generation, because this would greatly help scientists in their attribution.

Storvik, in an interview with NRK, thanked young Axel for his responsibility and perfect discovery and promised to send him a good photograph of an artifact from the Norwegian Museum Arctic University, where he was placed.