Passerby notices something in wetland — and finds rare Viking item in Sweden. See it
An attentive passerby noticed something in a wetland in Sweden and picked up a rusty brown loop. The item turned out to be a rare Viking artifact.
The finder, who chose to remain anonymous, visited a wetland on Öland island and stumbled upon a rare Viking armband, the Kalmar County Administrative Board said in a March 11 Facebook post.
Photos show the highly decorated jewelry. Unlike bracelets that are a complete circle, the armband has a 'C'-like shape with an opening on one end. Its ends are shaped like animal heads, the county said.
At its thickest point, the iron band measures about 2.5 inches in diameter and is decorated with a row of dots, officials said. A photo shows what remains of this design.
Similar Viking armbands have been found before, but these items are typically made of bronze or silver. Sweden's National Historical Museum has over 1,000 armbands, yet only three are made of iron, the county said.
The rare armband is at least about 1,000 years old and probably survived because of the surrounding wetland and its low-oxygen environment. Still, the item looks brown, rusty and weathered.
Archaeologists suspect the armband was either lost or left as a sacrificial offering, officials said. They plan to visit the site in the future to search for more artifacts.
Öland island sits off the southeastern coast of Sweden in the Baltic Sea and is a roughly 270-mile drive southwest from Stockholm.
Google Translate and Facebook Translate were used to translate the Facebook post from the Kalmar County Administrative Board.
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