Viking necklace discovered in western Ireland

Viking necklace discovered

in the western part of Ireland

A Viking necklace that suppose to be about 1150 year old has recently been discovered in Burren National Park. The cave, in which the necklace was found, is located in the western parts of Ireland.

Photo: Thorsten Kahlert, copyright Marion Dowd

Archaeologists are surprised about the discovery, since the evidence of Norse settlements in this region of Ireland hasn’t been very much.

Dr. Marion Dowd announced the finding this week. She is an archaeologist from the Institute of Technology Sligo, and she is the leader of the excavation.

“The necklace is the largest Viking necklace to have been found in Ireland. Normally, Vikings necklaces that have been found have five to six glass beads, but this has 71 glass beads covered with gold foil.“, she said to the reporters.

She continues;  “It is really bizarre how this necklace from a high-status Viking came to be in a cave in the Burren. There is no parallel for it in Ireland and it is puzzling on a number of fronts. The necklace would have been imported into Ireland from Scandinavia in the late 9th and early 10th century.

Small numbers of these beads have been found with Viking burials at Kilmainham, Dublin, but nothing like the number found in Glencurran Cave. Such necklaces were worn by high-status Viking women and they might denote a woman’s cultural and religious affiliations. These were certainly prestigious items.”

How the Viking necklace got there

The 9th century Viking necklace is believed to have come from Gaelic chieftains from Burren, whom bought the necklace from the town of Limerick and brought it back home.

The Burren National Park is quite small, just about 1500 hectares and the cave in which the necklace was found is located in a remote site of the park.

Dr Dowd says that the park “has been the site of important archaeological discoveries since 2004. It is the largest cave excavation in Ireland and the finds have been enormously significant.”

If you want to read more about this, please visit the following sites:
Remains.se – pictures from Ireland (Donegal, Glencolumbkille, Malinbeg, Enniskillen, Slieve League)
Irish Times
Irish Herald
Independent

The photo of the necklace:  Photo: Thorsten Kahlert, copyright Marion Dowd

Medieval stone church “Södra Vings Kyrka”, Sweden

Medieval church

- a small medieval stone church in Sweden

The “Södra Vings Kyrka” is one of the few Christian monuments from that time around Ulricehamn, Sweden. The church is a stone building whose oldest section was built in the 1130′s.

The original chancel was demolished in the mid to late 1200s and was replaced by current conditions in the Gothic style with a little church sculpture here and there. During the 1400′s was the nave ceiling cross vaults, which were decorated with murals, I think it was by the same people who built the ancient castles around the area that did the job with the Christian buildings aswell. The sacristy was built in the 1600s and 1700s expanded the church with the tower and the nave was extended westward.

Inside the old church:

- Current altar with carvings derived from the Middle Ages.
- A image of Holy Mary in late gothic style, is a relic from an altar screen from 1400.
- The pulpit in Baroque style was added in the 1600′s.
- In the church tower are two medieval bells. The big clock was donated in the year 1293 (by Tune Anundson who was patron of the church). The smaller bell is from 1400.

Here follows a gallery with images from the medieval stone church “Södra Vings Kyrka” in Ulricehamn, Sweden. If you want to watch other nice pictures of Church monuments, Christian buildings and ancient castles, please visit the main site, www.remains.se.

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Cuba: Catedral de San Cristóbal de La Havana

Catedral de San Cristóbal de La Havana

- the San Cristobal cathedral in Havana, Cuba

It was the spanish who founded Havana (Habana). The old parts of the city is listed on UNESCO‘s world heritage list. There are a lot of old, american cars driving around on Cuba, but the don’t have the american engines left, they are replaced by Russian made diesel engines.

When we went to Cuba a while ago, we found this old and very beautiful cathedral (Catedral de San Cristóbal de La Havana) next to a very nice square. It looked very dirty at first, but then I realized that it is suppose to look like that. Anyway, the dirty look made it look so beautiful. I went inside to take some pictures, but there was a lot of tourist hanging around that particular day, so I went up in one of the clock towers instead. The stairs was very small and you shouldn’t have any problems with small spaces if you decide to go up there. And the view from up there wasn’t as good as I thought; maybe that is because I had to stop after one stair. There was a bee nest or something, under the next stair, which made me stop. I think I’m allergic to those guys.

I have uploaded 79 photos on the San Cristobal cathedral in Havana, Cuba. You can see them on the main site, http://www.remains.se. A galleri with some of the images you will find under this text. Enjoy!

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