AVM chronology of its discovery
Michael Zalar
Chronology of the discovery of the AVM Runestone
L.J. Westin and R.G. Johnson July 28, 2001
Background
The discovery of the AVM Runestone is an indirect consequence of the
current study of the physical characteristics of the inscribed runes on
the well known Kensington Runestone (the KRS), and is a direct
consequence of the information contained in the inscription on the KRS.
For the sake of completeness of this report, the translation of the KRS
inscription from the runic version of the old transitional Swedish
published by H. Holand in 1940 is given here as follows:
On the face:
(We are) 8 Goths and 22 Norwegians on
(an) exploration journey from
Vinland across the west We
had camp by (a lake with) two skerries one
days-journey north from this stone
We were (out) and fished one day After
we came home found 10 men red
with blood and dead AV(e) M(aria)
Save (us) from evil
On the side:
Have 10 men by the sea to look
after our ship 14 days-journey
from this island year 1362
The physical evidence, including the examination of the weathering of
the inscribed runes by competent geologists, is consistent with a
greywacke stone inscription carved over 600 years ago. Although later
linguistic studies have also supported the authenticity of the KRS, the
body of negative literature is extensive and the most prominent
authorities have not been convinced. The controversy has therefore
continued with no resolution over the years since the KRS was
discovered.
Dick Nielsen and Barry Hanson have for some time pursued studies of
the linguistic and historical aspects of the KRS with the objective of
contributing to the evidence for its authenticity. These efforts were
broadened last year when the Board of Directors of the Runestone Museum
Foundation (LuAnn Patton, executive director) authorized Barry Hanson to
organize a small group to investigate the physical properties of the KRS
using modern scientific techniques, with emphasis on the surface of the
stone, the inscribed characters, and the weathering differences that
have occurred over the history of the stone. Laura Jane (Janey) Westin,
a professional letter carver and sculptor, and father, R.G. Johnson, an
adjunct professor in the department of Geology and Geophysics of the
University of Minnesota participated in this activity by examining the
KRS surface visually and microscopically. Janey made several expert
observations and inferences as to the techniques used by the Norse
carver in preparing the stone and carving the characters on it. These
inferences relating to the preparation of the KRS are relevant to the
subsequent discovery of the AVM Stone.
The KRS resembles a basalt type of rock, but examination of the core
extracted in the study of the physical aspects of the surface reveals
that the bulk material contains rounded quartz grains. It therefore
consists at least in part of a very fine sand material. It is a
sedimentary rock, and consequently one would expect bedding planes that
might also be cleavage planes that coincide with the sedimentary
layers, although such planes are not visible on the end surface of the
KRS. On the face of the KRS the characters were carved on two
different planar surfaces, one about two millimeters higher than the
other. The lower-level surface occupies a large area on the left and
lower left side of the face. The side of the KRS was either cleaved to
form a base for the last part of the inscription or it was dressed by
hammering. Either way, its surface texture is not as smooth as that of
the face of the stone where the main inscription was emplaced. The top
end of the stone is uncleaved and is in the natural state. On the face,
it appears that the surface on the upper right diagonal half is a
cleaved surface, possibly on a bedding plane, because it is rather
smooth. At the top of the stone on the end surface there are four
prominent dull-chisel marks that appear to have been made in a failed
effort to cleave a face area in the same plane as the area of the lower
left-hand now- depressed surface of the face. The depressed surface
contains an area coated with calcite, and was probably open to the
atmosphere already when the stone was prepared for carving. The
successful cleavage occurred two millimeters higher and resulted in the
elevated upper right area of the face on which much of the inscription
was made.
The successful cleavage on the face resulted in subsequent difficulties
in carving the runic characters. The lower left surface on the face
extends toward the top end of the stone as a plane of weakness beneath
the upper right surface. The weakness was especially pronounced under
the diagonal edge of the upper surface. When carving the characters on
the upper surface near the diagonal edge, an area would occasionally
break away beneath the chisel, exposing the plane of the lower left
surface. The carver then simply re-carved the character on the lower
plane, and then continued carving across on the upper plane. These
difficulties experienced by the carver in 1362 were inferred in a
careful examination of the stone’s surface, and Janey’s observations
imply that there was a “minor half” of the KRS, that is, the upper chunk
that was cleaved off and discarded at the time of carving. It may be
that the discarded piece, which would match at least the upper right
part of the face of the KRS, is still present at the camp site where the
KRS was prepared and inscribed. If it could be found, it would be a
convincing addition to the evidence that authenticates the KRS.
The discovery sequence of events
April 28
RGJ had a long-standing interest in the KRS controversy, and after
examining the literature and the evidence, had some time ago accepted
the KRS as authentic. RGJ and Elizabeth G Johnson had visited the
Runestone Park in Douglas County where the KRS was discovered on earlier
occasions. Janey had not previously seen the Park, and at Janey’s
suggestion we three visited the park on April 28, a day of very high
winds. Our objective was to examine the Runestone Hill area (in part on
Arlen and Ruby Sabolik’s farm that they have owned for 34 years) for any
signs of a 639 year old campsite, and to look for the minor half of the
KRS. We were also interested in a mooring stone now on the Hilltop. It
has a typical triangular and slightly rounded hole about one inch in
diameter, used to hold a pin at the end of a mooring rope. This stone
had been hauled to the top of the Runestone Hill and placed as an
exhibit near the monument and flagpoles, not far from the spot where the
KRS was dug up. This mooring stone is pictured in Hjalmar Holand’s 1940
book: “Westward from Vinland” at the site where he found it, sitting on
a pile of boulders at the edge of the former shallow lake at the base of
the Hill. The lake area had been drained and the area was farmed in dry
years during the 1900’s. About six years ago the Minnesota Department
of Natural resources reclaimed the farmed wetland. They put in a small
dam in the gully at the outlet of the old lake and flooded the swamp to
a depth of three or four feet, with water level probably not much
different than when the Norse were there over 600 years ago. However,
600 years ago the lake was doubtless several feet deeper than today, and
the natural processes of water-plant and algae growth would have filled
it up with muck over the intervening centuries.
For the last 102 years, the Runestone Hill was thought to have been an
island when the KRS was carved, because in the KRS inscription the last
sentence is “Have ten men by the sea to look after our ship 14 days
journey from this island year 1362.” To have been an island, the water
level in 1362 would have to have been at least 15 feet higher to have
submerged the land connection to the south of the Hill. The Hill as an
island presented Holand’s theory with a difficulty if the mooring stone
had been used by the Norse in 1362, as he assumed. Consequently, he
proposed that the mooring stone had originally been located on the
hillside about 15 feet above the present water level when used by the
Norsemen, and had since rolled down the hill to its modern (1935)
position on the pile of boulders by the water. This was not a plausible
idea to us because boulders embedded in glacial till do not simply “roll
down the hill”, and in addition there was a wide gap between the base of
the hill and the pile of boulders.
As we searched unsuccessfully around the Hill for traces of the camp
site or the cleaved part of the KRS or any other mooring stones, we
discussed the difficulties associated with Holand’s concept of a water
level 15 feet higher than present. Not only was there no visible
evidence such as a beach line along the shore for a water level 15 feet
higher, but we recalled that at the lake outlet to the north, there was
no high ridge in the terrain to have formed an ancient dam that would
have enabled a 15 foot higher level before erosion of the outlet gully.
Therefore, we developed a skeptical view of the Runestone Island-Hill
concept, but had no alternative at that moment.
After finishing our search on the hillside east of the hilltop, we were
conferring with Betty on top of the Hill as we looked down to the north
out over a small partly wooded knoll in the former swamp. The knoll was
now an island surrounded by the shallow lake formed by the DNR’s dam in
the outlet gully. Betty noted that there were rocks on the island and
commented that we should be looking for mooring stones down there.
Janey decided to go down the Hill for a closer look at the island and at
some rocks along the base of the Hill, so she and I hiked down to the
water’s edge. We began talking about the island knoll, and I said
something like: “Y’know, that little island could be the island in the
KRS inscription.” Janey’s instant response was: “Yes ! and it has to
have a mooring stone on it !” Suddenly in a few seconds, in our minds
it all became clear. The Runestone Hill had never been an island ! The
little knoll was in fact the island where the Norsemen had been securely
camped. They carved the KRS on the island, ferried it to Holand’s
mooring stone at the base of the Hill, hauled it to the top, and set it
up as their memorial to the ten dead comrades killed at Big Cormorant
Lake, as Holand deduced. Vikings and Norsemen have traditionally put
their cairns or monuments on the high points. The two cairns at L’anse
aux Meadows are a good example. They stand on the bluff above the
visitor’s center and far above the Norse dwellings at the water’s edge.
Many other examples are known on the Arctic coasts. No other artifacts
were ever found on the Hill because there never had been a camp there.
On the island knoll no archeological dig had ever been conducted, and
few casual examinations had ever been done because no one had suspected
that the knoll was the island mentioned in the KRS inscription.
We could hardly contain our elation as we hiked back up the Hill to
tell Betty about our epiphany. After returning home, we decided to come
back the next day, on Sunday, and search the little island knoll.
April 29
We returned on Sunday with Janey’s kayak. It was another day of very
high winds. We were prepared with cameras and video to record events as
they occurred. After photo documenting views from the top of the Hill,
we put the kayak in at a close approach point and paddled over to the
island and landed on the downwind side. Within minutes Janey found an
apparent mooring stone with a hole near the top of the island, it was a
big rock along the fence line that bisects the island in an east-west
direction. This hole was made with a smaller chisel and is five-sided
at the entry to enable the one inch diameter to be obtained. That stone
had probably been moved to the fence line when clearing rocks prior to
cultivation, because its elevation is now too high above the probable
water line to have been useful. The usual holes believed to have been
made by Norse are always triangular with rounded shape. Shortly
afterward I found a typical triangular hole in an embedded rock not far
from the water level and nearly concealed by thorny brush. We took
pictures, and searched but found nothing else.
A Sheriff’s deputy was waiting for us when we got back to Janey’s
vehicle, and we explained our mission. LuAnn Patton’s husband is the
Sheriff, so we were not in serious trouble. The pleasant officer
educated us on who the wooded part of the island beyond the fence line
belonged to and told us that we really should have a permit to launch
from the Park shore.
May 13
We returned to the island on a much less windy day with a launching
permit arranged by LuAnn Patton. We stopped and introduced ourselves to
Arlen Sabolik who owns the wooded side of the island. He told us that
there had been several mooring stones on the island, some of them now
under water along the fence line. We had a 100 foot tape, an Abney
level, and video camera as well as still cameras, and were prepared to
survey the island for relative water levels in the past and to measure
the area that might be involved in a future archeological dig, because
we immediately assumed that this could be arranged now that the true
camp site of the Norse was known. The vido and photo work took time and
we did some more searching. Janey found a third mooring stone, again
with a triangular hole, and only about 30 feet from the second one, and
also not far above the water line. We measured the length and width of
the upper part of the island, but an elevation topo closure survey did
not work because of bad Abney level technique.
It was about 6:15 late in the afternoon when we gathered up our gear
and headed back to the kayak, which was at the waters edge near a large
pile of boulders on the Sabolik side of the fence line. Janey was
carrying her equipment over the rocks when she exclaimed: “Hey ! an AVM
! Dad come and look at this !” I scrambled over to where she was
pointing to a large slightly elongated boulder, surrounded by other
rocks, with the Roman letters AVM clearly shadowed by the low-angle
sunlight from the northwest. Some runic characters were partly
visible. There was a runic 1, and beneath the AVM were runic characters
that translated as an X, an S, and a V. The X is, however, not certain
- it might translate as an Å. The other characters that were largely
obscured by lichens were eventually found to translate to the date of
1363, rather than the 1362 of the KRS that we had expected. The low
angle of the late afternoon sunlight probably made the discovery
possible, because we had walked over the rock pile earlier, and I had
stepped on the rock and had failed to see the inscription.
We later learned that the pile of rocks had been transported there when
clearing the low-land prior to cultivating it. Much later we observed
that this boulder was embedded over a foot in the black peaty soil, and
was resting at one end on a couple of smaller rocks. The position of
the runes on the boulder was precisely where a carver would have carved
them while kneeling or squatting by the side of the stone. The question
of whether this boulder is one of those that were transported to the
pile when clearing the lowland has not been resolved, and as of this
writing a possible grave area next to the AVM Stone’s in situ location
lies under several tons of large boulders.
We were ecstatic, took many photos, and worked until the sunlight began
to fail. We did not disturb the heavy lichens that covered much of the
inscription.
May 17
We drove to Alexandria and reported the discovery to the Board of the
Runestone Foundation at their monthly meeting. Janey’s slide
presentation of discovery events was quite effective. It was agreed to
keep the news quiet for the time being while the investigation
continued.
Uncertain date, probably May 23
We presented our results to Mike Dudzik the state archeologist.
Although he has been a skeptic regarding the KRS, he graciously listened
to Janey’s presentation and viewed her pictures. He informed us
specifically about the laws that govern our situation. On private
property the owners have rights to anything found, and may or may not
give permission to search the property. On public property, a licensed
archeologist must get a permit to search and to survey the property. No
surveying by a non-licensed person is allowed on any archeological site
on public property.
May 27
Janey, RGJ, and Scott Wolter ( another investigative team member) drove
to the Runestone Park to show Scott the area of interest, then stopped
at Saboliks and introducing Scott to Arlen and Ruby, and showed them the
first pictures of the AVM stone. They cordially invited us to access
the island from their land rather than going into the Runestone Park,
which we did with Scott’s canoe. Again more photos and video. After
some debate on the subject, we found that the soft lichens would come
off without detaching any of the rock substrate beneath, and we then
cleared the lichens off of most of the inscription area using nothing
more abrasive than one of Arlen Sabolik’s toothbrushes. The date was
then revealed as 1363 rather than 1362, as on the KRS. The daylight was
over, but we wanted to get pictures with low angle point illumination.
Scott had brought a new gas lamp which he assembled, and we worked until
almost 1 a.m. documenting the carvings under the point source of light.
The inscription was much better shown than with the diffuse light of
daylight. I had actually stepped on the stone during the day of the
discovery when looking for mooring stones and had not seen the
inscription. We finally quit work and got back to the truck and into
Alexandria by about 2:00 a.m. and reported our results and the new date
of 1363 to LuAnn Patton, who with her crew was cleaning up after the
evening Runestone Museum block party.
May 28
Got up late at the AmericInn and out to the Saboliks about noon. Scott
phoned his wife, and she and the kids came out to see the stone and
spend part of the afternoon. With Scott’s metal detector some possible
buried metal hits were found in addition to the mineralized rocks that
the device was sensitive to. These were later found to be mostly
fragments of barbed wire. Scott drove back to Minneapolis with his
family. Janey and I stayed on while Arlen and Ruby Sabolik came out to
the island and viewed the stone. More photos were taken. Talked
extensively about their legal rights. They own everything found on
their property unless an Indian grave is found - then the government
takes over. They favor a lending arrangement to the Runestone Museum in
Alexandria for the AVM Stone. We talked about the possible appreciation
in monetary value of the AVM Stone if the authenticity becomes widely
recognized. Then we drove Scott’s truck back to the Twin Cities.
Janey’s opinion is that the AVM Stone is a gravestone. The location of
the grave is in question, if the stone is one of those moved to that
location by Arlen Sabolik many years ago when clearing the lowland. At
that time he recalls having seen a stone with what he thought were X’s
on it, and what he saw could well have been the AVM Stone, but also
possibly a different stone.
This ends the discovery phase of the record. On July 9th several
friends of the Runestone Museum executed a carefully planned extraction
and transport of the 2000 pound AVM Stone from the island to a safe
location in Arlen Sabolik’s machine shed. Professional archeologists
Michael Michlovic of Moorhead State University and Christina Harrison of
Minneapolis came to the site and observed the stone in situ before the
work of moving the stone off the island began. Subsequent group
activity involved informing other archeologists, beginning to look for
funding, and setting up a special committee of the Runestone Foundation
to formally tie the work into the Foundation. This will make it
possible to get tax-deductible funds to investigate the site with
archeological techniques, to curate the AVM stone, and extend the search
for needed funds by means of grant applications to various foundations.
To accomplish this, we hope that the new AVM Stone will contribute to a
more general acceptance of the authenticity of the KRS, and it would be
desirable to have the site investigated thoroughly by professional
archeologists to obtain additional evidence in support of the validity
of the runic message on the KRS. A preliminary professional evaluation
dig (a one day operation) was performed by Michael Michlovic and
Christina Harrison and an assistant on July 25th. The findings included
a couple of bits of charcoal, two stone flakes, and a piece of a large
mammal bone. These are said by dig leader Michlovic to be sufficient to
designate the island as an archeological site officially, and to
indicate that future more thorough digs would be justified.
end
Eric Stevens
wrote:
>Sent to me by R D Johnson, with permission to post elsewhere
>
>
>
> Chronology of the discovery of the AVM Runestone
> L.J. Westin and R.G. Johnson July 28, 2001
>
>Background
> The discovery of the AVM Runestone is an indirect consequence of the
>current study of the physical characteristics of the inscribed runes on
>the well known Kensington Runestone (the KRS), and is a direct
>consequence of the information contained in the inscription on the KRS.
>For the sake of completeness of this report, ....
--- snip ----
>These are said by dig leader Michlovic to be sufficient to
>designate the island as an archeological site officially, and to
>indicate that future more thorough digs would be justified.
>
WOW!
Wow! Wow! Wow!
That puts an end to the arguments that the KRS lacks context!
All you have to do is look ...
Eric Stevens
There are two classes of people. Those who divide people into
two classes, and those who don't. I belong to the second class.
Eric Stevens
wrote:
> After finishing our search on the hillside east of the hilltop, we were
>conferring with Betty on top of the Hill as we looked down to the north
>out over a small partly wooded knoll in the former swamp. The knoll was
>now an island surrounded by the shallow lake formed by the DNR’s dam in
>the outlet gully. Betty noted that there were rocks on the island and
>commented that we should be looking for mooring stones down there.
>Janey decided to go down the Hill for a closer look at the island and at
>some rocks along the base of the Hill, so she and I hiked down to the
>water’s edge. We began talking about the island knoll, and I said
>something like: “Y’know, that little island could be the island in the
>KRS inscription.” Janey’s instant response was: “Yes ! and it has to
>have a mooring stone on it !” Suddenly in a few seconds, in our minds
>it all became clear. The Runestone Hill had never been an island ! The
>little knoll was in fact the island where the Norsemen had been securely
>camped.
For a map of the area see
http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/image.asp?S=13&T=2&X=183&Y=3172&Z=15&W=2
Presumably the island is the 'steak' shaped hill to the north of
Runestone Hill.