29 May 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

A massive Rune stone found under a kitchen floor in Denmark declared treasure

A couple in Denmark discovered a massive rune stone weighing approximately 900 kilograms during a home renovation project that planned to remove the old linoleum kitchen floors of their home in the village of Mosekær, just outside the city of Randers.

Discovered accidentally by Lene Brandt and her husband, Anders Nielsen, measuring two meters in length and 80 centimeters in width, this ancient stone might be one of the oldest rune stones in Denmark.

The national museum, Nationalmuseet, has declared it as danefæ, or a treasure, and is now working hard to determine its exact age. The age of the stone is important because it determines whether the five runes engraved on it begin or end the inscription. The age of the stone is crucial, as it depends on whether the five runes engraved on it initiate or conclude the inscription.

The five runes, which can be read as “aft bi,” translate to “after B.” Rune stones were typically erected in memory of significant individuals, and in this case, the inscription might be referring to a person named Bjørn, Bjarne, or Birk.

If the runes mark the beginning of the text, the stone most likely belongs to Denmark’s earliest group of rune stones, making it an extremely rare find.

The area around Randers is particularly interesting to anyone interested in runes because there have been as many as 44 runestones discovered there. “Rune” is derived from Old Norse and means “secret knowledge and wisdom.”

Only about 10 to 20 rune stones from the 700-800s have been found in Denmark, according to Lisbeth Imer, a senior researcher and runologist at the Nationalmuseet. There are about 200 known Viking Age rune stones scattered throughout the nation, the earliest dating to the 700s and the most recent to the 900s, making these early stones particularly noteworthy. For instance, the renowned Jelling Stones were erected around 965.

Source

The Randers rune stone may be older than the Jelling stones, but they cannot be directly compared because the Jelling stones are complete, in their original location, and mentioned in historical sources. In contrast, the Randers stone is a fragment with only a small portion of the inscription preserved.

The rune stone is currently housed at Museum Østjylland, awaiting further analysis to determine its age and possibly reveal more about the Viking past.

Related Articles

Lead Glass Jewelry was Mass-Produced in Medieval Poland from Local Raw Material

7 April 2025

7 April 2025

Recent archaeological research has unveiled significant insights into the mass production of lead glass jewelry in medieval Poland, confirming that...

The biblical narrative of Sodom may have been inspired by a cosmic meteorite that devastated an ancient city

21 September 2021

21 September 2021

The Bible account of Sodom’s destruction lies at the heart of classic “fire and brimstone” judgment day prophesies. But what...

Mystery of the 1,700-year-old Mosaic Solved: The Medallion in the Mosaic uncovered to be the Symbol of a Roman Military Unit

10 August 2024

10 August 2024

The mystery of the 1,700-year-old mosaic, which was found during excavations in Amasya province in northern Turkey 11 years ago...

Serbian Archaeologists Unearth Roman Triumphal Arch Dedicated to Emperor Caracalla

24 January 2024

24 January 2024

Archaeologists in Serbia have unearthed an ancient Roman triumphal arch dating back to the third century at Viminacium, a Roman...

5,000-Year-Old public eating space with food still inside discovered in ancient Lagash

2 February 2023

2 February 2023

Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a public eating space that’s nearly 5,000 years old in southern Iraq, the University...

Earliest glass workshop north of the Alps unearthed in Němčice

25 July 2023

25 July 2023

Archaeologists excavated the famous Iron Age site Němčice and uncovered the earliest glass workshop north of the Alps. Numerous beautiful...

Historic Leeds cemetery discovery unearths an ancient lead coffin belonging to a late Roman aristocratic woman

14 March 2023

14 March 2023

Archaeologists in northern Britain uncovered the skeletal remains of a late-Roman aristocratic woman inside a lead coffin, as well as...

Archaeologists have unearthed a flawless Roman blue glass bowl in the Dutch city of Nijmegen

23 January 2022

23 January 2022

Archaeologists excavating the site of a comprehensive housing and green space development in Nijmegen’s Winkelsteeg, one of the oldest cities...

1100-Year-Old Rare Sealed Amphora Discovered on Shipwreck off Türkiye Coast

27 April 2025

27 April 2025

Underwater excavations near Kaş, Antalya, on Turkey’s southwestern coast, have yielded fascinating insights into ancient Mediterranean seafaring and trade. A...

1,400-year-old royal hall found in Suffolk, UK

5 October 2022

5 October 2022

Archaeologists, evidence of a 1,400-year-old royal Hall of the first Kings of East Anglia has been discovered in Rendlesham, Suffolk,...

Zeus Temple’s entrance was found in western Turkey’s Aizanoi Ancient City

31 July 2021

31 July 2021

During recent digs, the monumental entrance gate of the Zeus Temple sanctuary in the ancient city of Aizanoi, located in...

A Colonnaded Hall with Extraordinary Frescoes of Still Life Found in Pompeii

27 December 2024

27 December 2024

Archaeologists in the famous ancient Roman city of Pompeii, one of the world’s most iconic archaeological sites, have revealed extraordinary...

Egypt unearths 2,300-year-old remains of Greco-Roman town in Alexandria

28 August 2021

28 August 2021

An Egyptian archeological team discovered the ruins of a Greco-Roman residential and commercial town in the north coast city of...

The Oldest Known Map of Europe, “Saint-Bélec Slab”

6 April 2021

6 April 2021

An ornate Bronze Age stone slab (Saint-Bélec slab) that was excavated in France in 1900 and forgotten about for over...

Divers Discover 2,500-Year-Old Shipwreck and anchors Off the Coast of Sicily

23 January 2025

23 January 2025

A shipwreck dating back to the 5th and 6th centuries BC was discovered in the waters of Santa Maria del...