A gold ring with a picture of Jesus and a very special medieval alsengem were unearthed in Kalmar. The artifact is among some 30.000 objects unearthed during excavations in Kalmar, a city on the Baltic Sea coast in southeastern Sweden.
For more than two years, archaeologists have been investigating an area in the center of Kalmar that represents the city’s Old Town. This area, west of Kalmar Castle, was the city center from the early 13th century until the mid-17th century.
The excavations focused on about 50 medieval plots, 10 streets and part of the Old Town wall. According to archaeologists, it is unusual to investigate such large contiguous areas in the middle of a city, and the results so far have exceeded all expectations. Researchers have uncovered the remains of hundreds of buildings, cellars, streets, toilets and objects dating from 1250 to 1650 AD.
“We have managed to lift the lid on the city’s Middle Ages and have the opportunity to study how people lived, what they ate and drank and how this changed over time. Archaeology becomes a peephole into medieval history, which allows us to learn more about what life was like a few hundred years ago,” said Magnus Stibéus, the archaeologist leading the excavations.
Among the 30.000 objects identified, archaeologists made two spectacular finds: a gold ring and a very special artifact known as an “medieval alsengem”.
Dating to the early 15th century, the gold ring features a carved figure of Jesus. Given its shape and size, it could have been worn by a woman.
Alsengem is a type of small glass setting stone found in religious contexts and believed to have been used as amulets by pilgrims. The example found in Kalmar probably dates to the 13th to 14th centuries and contains three carved figures.
“The gold ring was in almost new condition and had the Jesus motif on it and was found in what we interpreted as a waste depository, like alsengem. Probably someone was unlucky 500 years ago and lost the ring. The alsengem was broken.”
Among the unusual finds during the excavations were the remains of a rune stone that may have come from a burial mound in a 12th century cemetery. The excavations also uncovered evidence of the Battle of Kalmar in 1611. The conflict took place between the Danish-Norwegian union and the Swedish Empire from 1611 to 1613.
Research shows that almost all the farms were burned down in connection with the Danish attack on the city in the summer of 1611. This can be seen in the razed buildings. A large number of bullets and swords were also found, as well as cannonballs, musket balls and pistol bullets.
According to the archaeologists, the fact that so much of the medieval city can be investigated at once makes the project “unique”.
“The remains of buildings and cultural deposits constitute a historical archive that holds an enormous amount of information and stories about the political and economic situation of previous generations, their daily lives and living conditions,” Stibéus said.
“We gain insight into a large part of the medieval city and traces of the social and economic presence of different groups such as merchants, artisans, officials, church people, the poor and the rich.”