Archaeologists have uncovered the oldest runestone ever found—predating the Viking era by centuries. This Norwegian archaeological discovery may have been part of a much larger monument and includes what could be the first known female rune inscriber. Learn how this groundbreaking find could change what we know about ancient Norse artifacts and early European history. Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/
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00:00Over the years, archaeologists have uncovered all kinds of stuff on runestones, curses, poems, protective magic spells, and even inheritance disputes.
00:12However, a newly uncovered ancient Norse artifact known as Sphingarud Stone has just one word on it.
00:20Sounds boring, right?
00:21Well, think again, because this might just be the oldest runestone ever discovered, almost 2,000 years old.
00:29But that's not all. Excavations are still ongoing, and depending on what follows next, it could unravel secrets and the true meaning behind the mysterious magical runes.
00:40So let's explore and see just how much known history you can rewrite with only one engraved word on a stone.
00:49A long time ago, during the first few centuries of the Common Era, Scandinavians and Romans crossed paths.
00:55They traded goodies like glass and silver, and eventually, Roman customs and even written culture ended up north.
01:03The Nords liked the Roman alphabet but wanted their own letters copyrighted, so they decided to create their own unique characters, which they called runes.
01:13Almost 20 centuries later, in 2021, archaeologists were excavating an Iron Age burial site near the village of Sphingarud in eastern Norway.
01:22Among the cremation graves, they uncovered a reddish sandstone slab that would become a centerpiece in a major Norwegian archaeological discovery.
01:32It's the size of a coffee table, measuring just over 12 inches across.
01:36The stone was found buried with burned bones and charcoal, part of an early cremation grave.
01:43The stone had runes engraved into it, looking rough and shallow, like they were scratched with the tip of a knife or something needle-like.
01:51Rune stones are not unusual.
01:54Archaeologists are used to uncovering runic inscriptions, especially in this region.
02:00However, tests show that both the burial site and the carving on the stone likely date back to somewhere between the 1st and 3rd centuries.
02:09That places it deep in pre-Viking history, centuries before the Viking Age officially began, around 800 CE.
02:17That makes it one of the oldest reliably dated examples of early writing in Scandinavia.
02:23When you look at these carvings, they either look like magical symbols made to call on Nordic deities to help you,
02:30or like random scratches made by an angry man hitting a stone with something sharp.
02:35But these are real letters, crude but intentional.
02:38It's an ancient writing system used by Germanic tribes across Northern Europe.
02:44They were engraved into wood, bone, or stone.
02:48Their shapes are straight, angular lines because curves were tough to carve with the tools they had back then.
02:54When they met with the Roman Empire, rather than just borrowing Latin letters,
03:00the Germanic tribes took the idea of writing and carved out their own version.
03:04The original alphabet was called Elder Futgark.
03:08It had 24 letters.
03:09We can find them on artifacts dating from around the 2nd to the 8th century CE.
03:14Its name comes from its first six letters, F, U, Th, A, R, and K.
03:22Each rune probably had a name that matched the sound it made.
03:26For example, the rune that sounds like A was called Anzus.
03:31However, nobody from back then left us a memo explaining the names.
03:36In fact, the knowledge of how to read them was forgotten until 1865,
03:40when Norwegian linguist Sophus Bugge deciphered them by comparing clues.
03:46He examined later rune alphabets and ancient poems that referenced the runes,
03:50like a detective sketching a suspect from scattered witness clues.
03:55For many runes, especially the oldest ones in the Elder Futgark,
03:59the meaning is still open to interpretation.
04:02They weren't common knowledge, which is reflected by the fact that only some 350 surviving inscriptions remain.
04:08This changed eventually when the Scandinavian language evolved from Proto-Norse into Old Norse,
04:15spoken by mighty Vikings.
04:17The Elder Futgark was reduced from 24 to 16 runes to reflect the changes in the language,
04:23thus becoming the Younger Futgark, which was far better spread.
04:29Runes weren't really used to write books or keep daily records.
04:33Instead, you'd find them carved on gravestones, weapons, and various tools.
04:37It's believed that people used runes to show ownership,
04:40honor loved ones who had passed away,
04:43leave short messages, or sometimes for protection or magic.
04:47In the early days, some runes probably had special spiritual or ritual meanings too.
04:53One interesting fact about runestones specifically is that they were often used for self-promotion or boasting,
05:00like an ancient social media status or a tweet posted on a wall,
05:04or better said, a stone.
05:05One such example of a runestone from the 11th century,
05:09where a man named Vigmund had it carved for himself, calling himself the cleverest of men.
05:15He even added that he was a ship captain,
05:18and yes, he made sure everyone knew that while he was alive.
05:21In the Old Norse poem, Havamal,
05:25Odin says he hung on the world tree for nine nights,
05:29pierced by a spear, to gain knowledge of the runes.
05:32This goes to show just how powerful and mystical those symbols were perceived to be.
05:37It's fitting that the word rune comes from a Proto-Germanic word,
05:41which can be translated as secret or whisper.
05:44There's a common saying about power being in words,
05:48and for the old Germanic tribes, that power felt like actual magic.
05:54It's also why it's important to know when this magic came to be,
05:58and the Sphingerood runestone tells us that.
06:01But it's not just when it was written.
06:03It's also what's written on it, where, and why.
06:07The location where the Sphingerood stone was discovered
06:10is already a significant archaeological site.
06:13It's famous for its incredible discoveries,
06:15including the remarkable Jermunbu helmet,
06:18the only Viking helmet ever found in Norway.
06:21The stone was placed in a cremation pit,
06:24alongside the remains of an adult and a few personal items.
06:28Thanks to charcoal and bone samples,
06:30researchers can figure out how old the rune stone is
06:33by using a method called radiocarbon dating.
06:37The Sphingerood stone isn't the first ancient Norse artifact
06:40with runes that archaeologists have discovered,
06:43not even close.
06:45People carved runes into all sorts of everyday objects
06:47like combs, jewelry, and knives long ago.
06:51Some of those might even be just as old.
06:55Other finds have runes,
06:56but they're often broken, loose, or don't have clear dating.
07:01However, with radiocarbon dating,
07:03scientists have confirmed that the Sphingerood stone
07:05is really the oldest rune stone ever found.
07:09The writing on it suggests that it was part of a ritual
07:12and might have even been a message to the deceased.
07:14The inscription isn't long.
07:18It's just one word.
07:20Iteberg.
07:21No one knows exactly what it means.
07:23The clearest part says Itebera.
07:25And most researchers agree it's probably a name.
07:29Maybe Itebera in a genitive form,
07:31meaning of Itebera or belonging to Itebera.
07:35So this could be the name of the person buried there
07:37or someone being honored.
07:40There's a decent chance it's a female name,
07:42possibly making this the earliest known female rune inscriber in history.
07:47But researchers now believe that the Sphingerood rune stone
07:50is a part of a bigger monument.
07:53They found more than a dozen sandstone pieces
07:55scattered across several graves at the site,
07:58and when they assembled them in the lab,
08:00they fit together like a puzzle.
08:01This suggests they all came from one single upright stone.
08:06The main piece with the inscription was found in one grave,
08:10but other similar pieces were buried in nearby cremation pits.
08:15Archaeologists think it was broken and reused in a ritual,
08:18maybe to connect different people or generations who had been buried there.
08:23Instead of just marking one grave,
08:24it might have first been a memorial
08:26and was later put back into the other graves as a symbolic act.
08:31Some even speculate that the runes might have been carved
08:34by different hands throughout various time periods.
08:39The Sphingerood stone might be small,
08:41but as the oldest rune stone ever found
08:43with a secure archaeological context,
08:46it could be the key to how writing first took root in Northern Europe.
08:50This Norwegian archaeological discovery proves that runes
08:54were already tied to ritual, memory, and maybe even women.
08:59And if it's just a fragment of a larger monument,
09:02we've only seen part of the picture.
09:04Ancient Norse artifacts like this
09:06reshape what we know about pre-Viking history.
09:10And with luck, more rune stones will follow,
09:12maybe even from another female rune inscriber.
09:15That's it for today.
09:19So hey, if you pacified your curiosity,
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