“I’m curious by nature, and I like to explore and get to know my surroundings,” says the walker.
He lives in Austrått, close to the Riaren hill, a popular hiking area. He discovered a tree that had fallen in a storm many years ago and was curious about what lay beneath it. “I saw a mound in the soil under the tree and poked at it with a stick. Suddenly I saw something glinting. I didn’t quite understand what I had found,” he says.
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| Reconstruction of a richly decorated gold sword scabbard fitting from the Migration Period, discovered by a hiker in Austrått, Sandnes, Norway. The artifact likely belonged to a local chieftain who ruled at Hove around 500 AD and was buried as a ritual offering. Illustration created by Microsoft Copilot (AI reconstruction based on archaeological descriptions). |
The find was a 1,500‑year‑old, richly decorated gold fitting from a sword scabbard, likely belonging to a chieftain who ruled at Hove.
Evidence of a power center 1,500 years ago
Archaeologist and associate professor Håkon Reiersen at the Archaeological Museum, University of Stavanger, considers the find extraordinary.
“You’re completely taken by surprise when such discoveries come in. The odds of finding something like this are minimal,” says Reiersen.
The gold dates to the 6th century, the Migration Period in Norway. It is richly decorated and once adorned a scabbard worn on a belt. This is the first such find in Rogaland, and only 17 others have been found in Northern Europe. “The person who carried the sword was likely the leader of this area in the first half of the 500s, with a band of loyal warriors. Gold scabbard fittings usually show little wear, but this one is worn and well‑used, suggesting the chieftain actually used it often. It emphasized his position and power,” says Reiersen.
The fitting is six centimeters wide, a couple of centimeters high, and only a few millimeters thick. It belonged to a ceremonial sword used only by the most powerful at the time.
Buried in a rock crevice as an offering
Two other spectacular sacrificial finds have previously been made in the marshes below Riaren. The first was silver neck rings decorated with gold, found during plowing in the 1800s. The second was in 1907 at the neighboring Høyland farm, where an unusually large Roman bronze cauldron, produced by the Rhine around 300 AD, was discovered.
The gold find at Austrått was buried in a rock crevice, likely for religious reasons, as an offering to the gods sometime in the 500s. At that time, there were years of crisis, and people probably deposited valuable objects as sacrifices in hopes of better times.
“By offering such magnificent objects to the gods, the leaders at Hove confirmed their status and power,” says Reiersen.
“Can give us new answers”
Museum director and professor of archaeology Kristin Armstrong‑Oma is delighted to receive the gold find at the museum. “We must extend a big thank‑you to a very observant hiker, because now we have a new puzzle piece connected to the power center at Hove during the Migration Period. At the museum we have some of the world’s leading researchers on such artifacts, which means we can study the find and its ornamentation further and discover new answers about the elite who ruled here at the time,” says Armstrong‑Oma.
She adds that the find will be exhibited at the Archaeological Museum at the University of Stavanger as soon as possible.
“This discovery will be made available to people who want to see it and share in the gold fever with us,” says Armstrong‑Oma.
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