PAS goes to Denmark

It snowed quite a bit in London over the weekend, causing the usual travel chaos; but I was able to get into the British Museum (pictured) ok today.

I had a fascinating few days in Denmark:

It was great to hear about Danefae first-hand, from both museum staff and detectorists. It is clear that there is a long tradition of amature archaeology in Denmark, and a general belief that archaeological finds should be in museums (for all to enjoy and study) rather than private collections. It is possible for museums to aquire all finds they want because museums don’t have to bid for funding (the state provides it) and rewards are not set at the full market value. However, if many more people were to take up metal-detecting in Denmark it is not clear whether this ability to acquire ‘at will’ could be sustained - it was certainly the view of the detectorists that I met that fewer finds would be claimed Danefae in the future.

Given the number of metal-detectorists in England and Wales, the differences in the material culture (principally the high numbers of Roman finds found in the UK each year), and finder’s demands for a ‘fair-price’ for finds acquired by museums, it seems to me that the Danish system (not that its politically viable at this time) would not be attractive to English and Welsh metal-detectorists, though it would probably be supported (as a better alternative) by many archaeologists and museum curators here. Interestingly most people in Denmark seemed less favourable disposed towards the English system, believing finders to be greedy and rewards too high, though to some extent that reflects press coverage of big Treasure finds.

As in England and Wales, Danish detector finds have great research potential. The fact that all Danefae finds (apart from coins) are collated on a single database at the Nationalmuseet allows these finds to be studied and researched, though it would be good if this database was publicly available (and also available in English); that would be of enormous benefit to reserchers and Danish finders themselves. I was intigued to discover that some finds I expected to be common in Denmark were not, whilst others that I did not expect to see have been found. Given England/Wales and Denmark have (broadly) similar systems, metal-detecting is legal, and finds are recorded, it is clear there is good scope for future collaboration.

I’d just like to end by thanking my hosts in the Nationalmuseet (particularly Michael Anderson, Anne Pederson and Lisbeth Imer) and the detectorists who I met in Lejre (and others who I have subsequently corresponded with online) for such an enjoyable and informative trip.

Last night one blogger on TMS wrote ‘baa, baa, ponting have you any wool, no sir sir, been fleeced by the poms’, but today it is quite a different story – at the moment England are 186-8, and might not even make 200! The Aussies in the pub around the corner will be happy.

Today I draw my keys and pass for the last time at the Nationalmusset (must remember to hand them back, must remember to hand them back…, apparently you get shot if you forget). I hope to finish looking at those type 11A stirrup-strap mounts on the museum database, and then I’ll need to work out the significance of the distribution. There doesn’t seem to be too many of this type found here, so they could be ‘English’ imports.

At noon we headed off to the Medieval Department’s Christmas party, which was not expected to end before midnight! I had been given a small slip of paper which said ’21.  AEbleskiven bliver flittig vendt’ and a song sheet with lines numbered 1-37! My fear of having to sing solo in Danish was not in fact realised –  I was only required to sit at my place when ’my line’ was sung. I soon realised that Danish Christmas meals involve the consumption of vast amounts of dead animals and fish (mostly herring) – thankfully some vegetables - and alcohol. Between each course an event/activity took place. One of these was a song about various alcoholic beverages in realtion to the museum’s activities, created by the museum’s own wordsmith – Poul – which included a verse in English: ‘No-one thought of meat balls / in Anglo-Saxon mead halls / They drank mead. We know it’s true / from a recent beer-review / of the paper Mead Calls.

Danish fact: contrary to popular belief ‘skal’ (skol) means ‘bowl’! – to which the obvious reply seems to be ‘no! that’s a glass’. Intermittently (though quite regularly) during the Christmas feast someone would shout skal and everyone was obliged to drink, which seemed to be a good way of getting people drunk (and getting the Government good tax revenues) very quickly.

I had to leave the Christmas party early to catch my flight to London. I had been told there were problems on the railways because of snow in Sweden – pity we can’t use that excuse in London when it snows  

During my flight home I finished reading Beowulf. Beowulf, now king of the Geats, eventually perished whilst overcoming a dragon that had been awaken when someone (accidentally) stumbled across the beast’s Treasure hoard. Was this significant I thought, as I left Danefae-land for the warmer climate of Angle-land…

It’s snowing…. but important things first:

At tea Australia are 179 for 6! England won the toss and decided to field. Ponting was out for 12 (pictured). Only Hussey offered any resilience (out for 61). If England get the wicket of Haddin (and perhaps Johnson) before the close of play, we are well on course to retain the Ashes by the end of the weekend.

… well the Aussies are 268 all out, which isn’t great on a batting pitch. At close England are 29 without loss.

Besides listening to Test Match Special (which you can get in Denmark – so forget handball) I have been looking at Stirrup Strap Mounts found in Denmark. In 2007 I published a short note on a type (classified by David Williams as Class A Type 11a) which I believed to be Romanesque, not late Anglo-Saxon as previously thought (see Medieval Archaeology 51). This type appears to be commonest in South East England (which is where it may have been produced), though I did see one in Doncaster Museum (!) a few weeks ago. However, Anne Pederson (NatMus) has told me that this type is also found in Denmark, so this morning I have been searching through all ‘beslag’s on the museums database (which includes ‘detektor’ finds) to try and find them, with limited success…

This afternoon I spoke with colleagues in the prehistoric dept (pre 1000) about the administration of danefae, after which I gave a talk to museum staff about the PAS & Treasure Act – which I hope they enjoyed! It is the general feeling of people in Denmark (especially detectorists) that detectorists in England are only ‘in it’ for the money; I said I didn’t believe this to be the case for the vast majority.

Danish fact: lots of bank notes in Denmark show  images of archaeological finds, highlighting the public interest in archaeology. Maybe the new £50 note could include an image of the Crosby Garrett helmet – at least it then could be enjoyed by the public!!! [My Danish colleagues told me to say that...].

This evening I tasted Glogg (mulled wine), afterwhich Michael Anderson, Anne Pederson and Lisbeth Imer took me out for supper (aka tea). The first time ever a keeper has taken me out for lunch I am sure… and great company too…

Since Wednesday is Woden’s day I reckoned Onsdag must be Odin’s day, but when I asked the hotel receptionist about this she seemed a little miffed… I am starting to worry the Danes don’t know their history as much as I have been lead to believe.

This morning I was back at the Nationalmuseet, and have spend most of the time looking at detector finds of hooked tags logged as part of danefæ; I am very grateful to Lisbeth Imer for all her help with this. To my surprise there have been relatively few such artefacts found here, which contrasts to England where about 400 examples are recorded on the PAS database alone. If any Danish detectorists have found such things please let me (and the Nationalmuseet) know…

Danish fact: the Danish flag (white cross on red) is believed to be the oldest in the world. Of course the English flag (red cross on white) is that of the Danes in reverse – though our cross is nicely centred. Just a thought: since our flag is that of St George and he was killing dragons in the C4th, then surely ours must be older!

This afternoon, I am making the trip west to Roskilde Museum Tadre Mølle, to meet with the Detecting Club Tellus - ’probably’ the largest detecting club in Denmark – and others. They have quite an evening planned for me…

A slight change of plan… Kenny Thygesen (Detecting Club Tellus) picked me up from the station and we went to Lejre Museum, which was fantastic as I ‘saw’ all about it last night. Here I met detectorists from across Denmark who were just as keen to tell me about how things work (and – to a lesser extent – do not) in Denmark, as I was to tell them about PAS – which obviously works fabulously. First Kenny gave a talk about the history of metal-detecting in Denmark and Danefae, after which we were treated to a tour of the museum (in English) by the curator. Then followed supper, which was fabulously prepared, afterwhich I gave my talk (for a bit longer than Kenny!) about PAS & the Treasure Act. We stayed late talking about the benefits of each countries systems and ways we might co-operate in the future. I was most impressed by their obvious enthusiasum to advance archaeological knowledge, and they clearly had a dim view of those who detect for financial gain; indeed, one person expressed frustration that the local museum didn’t think that some of his finds were Danefae, which of course would mean he would lose them…

I just want to say a big thank you to Kenny & Co for a truely hospitable evening (I was even driven back to Copenhagen). I am sure we in PAS will now expect such a 5 star service from our English and Welsh md clubs :)

It is now nearly the day after Onsdag, so see you then…

Today I am off to Jelling which, after Legoland (presumably), is the place of greatest cultural importance to Danes. This was the royal seat of Gorm ‘the old‘ who created the Danish state in the C10th. His son Harald I ‘Bluetooth’, who became king in 950, adopted Christianity soon after, and moved his father’s body from one of the giant burial mounds to a church he had built between them. Harald also erected a rune stone (pictured), dedicated to his father (King Gorm) and mother (Thyra), which also says Harald ‘won for himself Denmark the whole and Norway and made the Danes Christian‘. A second rune stone was erected by King Gorm for his wife. [my Danish colleagues have been correcting me on the history, hence the changes in bold].

The train to Jelling was delayed by 20min! - for a moment I felt like I was at home, but to fair rail in the UK is quite reliable these days, unless it is raining, there are leaves on the line, its snowing, or it gets too hot…

Jelling, though a small place, was very impressive. The museum (which is free) is also well worth a visit, and I was treated extremely hospitably – they even made me tea, with milk! Besides the Jelling cup, which is smaller than I imagined and gives its name to the art style upon it, I was amazed by the finds of wooden spades and even a wheel-less barrow, used by the workmen who built the great mounds. There is also quite a bit about Queen Thyra, who is thought of quite highly by Danes, past and present.

Danish facts: The current queen of Denmark, Queen Margrethe II, is very interested in archaeology, and as a young girl she dug on quite a few excavations (there is an exhibition about it at the Nationalmuseet).

On the train I have been reading about C11th Danish coinage. Interestingly English dies (and later English moneyers) were sent to Denmark, and hence much of this early coinage follows English designs. Even more remarkably this happened before the Danish Conquest of England in 1013/14. I have also been given a book about Roman coin finds in Denmark – which I’ll let the coin freaks in PAS read! Trying not to sound ungrateful, I was hoping to avoid the Romans when I came here. I mean, what did the Romans ever do for us?… (please don’t post replies on that).

Tonight I am attending a couple of lectures (in Danish!) hosted by Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskriftselskab, so I’d better dash (and remember my phrase book)…

Well, I am afraid my Danish is a bit rusty. The talks were on excavations at Lejre and recent geo-phizz work. The highlight for me was the parallels between figurines believed to be Odin found at Lejre and Harold II in the Bayeux Tapestry – though doubt the Tapestry designer (an Englishman of course) ever made a trip this far north.

My first day at the Nationalmuseet where I am being looked after by Lisbeth Imer, an expert on runic inscriptions. It has been fascinating learning about danefæ (treasure trove), which I have had the opportunity to discuss with curators in both the medieval (c.1000 onwards) and coins departments. Here any object which is danefæ (i.e. dating to before 1536 and selective items thereafter) is acquired, and the finder is payed a reward (not necessarily equal to its market value). Coin finds are acquired by the national museum, whilst many other finds end up in various local museums. Amazingly, museums do not have to bid for funding to acquire finds (as is the case in the UK) - the state simply supplies the cash! It obviously saves the curators lots of work…

Since the danefæ dates back 1241 it seems pretty fairly ingrained in the Danish consciousness that history is important, finds should be reported and the best place for them is in public collections.

Danish fact: not everything costs lots of money in Denmark – lunch in the Nationalmuseet canteen cost only 17Kr (about 2 quid).

This afternoon Anne Pedersen and myself discussed the potential for detector finds to advance archaeological knowledge of the C10th to C12th. It is readily apparent much more could be done to understand the stylistic influences on metalwork on both sides of the North Sea at this time.

This evening I crossed the ‘sea-lanes’ to Geatland. There, at Malmo Cathedral they were celebrating the festival of St Lucy (picture), which seems to be a cross between a carol service and Christingle. Unlike Beowulf, I crossed back into Denmark unchallenged by the Shieldings’ lookout…

Arrived in Denmark late last night, after a pleasant flight with Atlantic Airlines. Spent most of the flight reading Beowulf – the first travel guide written in English about Denmark – and now I am a bit worried about going to any public houses (aka mead-halls) here! The transfer from Copenhagen central station to the airport was very quick (12mins), which contrasted to the trip to the airport in London…

Danish fact: Danish is a very complicated language, and even the Danes aren’t that good at writing it: they always seem to be crossing letters out. Maybe that is why everyone speaks English so well…

The British Museum (London) has an ‘exchange programme’ with the Nationalmusset Danmark (Copenhagen), whereby researchers at either institution travel across the North Sea (in a more friendly manner than in the past) to spend time with colleagues at the other museum ‘in order to learn how their areas of museum business are conducted in another international museum, learning and sharing knowledge’. Next week (13-17 December) Michael Lewis (Deputy Head, PAS) will be going to Copenhagen to meet with museum staff, undertake research on archaeological finds found by the Danish public, and meet with Danish metal-detector users. Follow his blog to find out how the trip goes…