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SILVER

Norway man jailed for looting silver mines

A man has been jailed for six months in Norway for illegally mining silver worth some two million kroner ($335,000) from the country's historic silver mines.

Published: 6 November 2013 13:42 CET
Norway man jailed for looting silver mines
The Norwegian Mining Museum, which controls the mines today - Ray Schwartz
The 47-year-old, known as 'the spider' for his climbing skills, has pleaded guilty to the crimes, which took place over 20 years. 
 
"I thought it was very exciting. It was like a treasure hunt or exploration, so I continued to climb deeper and deeper into the mine, and found more minerals," he said. 
 
The man, a former employee of the Norwegian Mining Museum, which controls the 30 heritage mines around Kongsberg, west of Oslo, was arrested as he came out of a mine shaft with a haul of silver ore in May 2012. 
 
The man had secretly worked the mines for twenty years, beginning the year before they officially closed in 1992. 
 
At his home, police seized silver with an estimated value of nearly two million kroner ($334,000), along with explosives and mining equipment. 
 
"Of course it was a great satisfaction in that the first man we were able to expose was one of the big fish," Alfhild Skaardal, director of the Norwegian Mining Museum told TV 2. 
 
Skaardal began investigating charges of theft when she came in as the museum's chief in 2009. 
 

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GOLD

Danish amateur finds 1000-year-old Viking amulet

A Danish metal detecting enthusiast has discovered a 1,000-year-old Viking amulet thought to be related to the Norse god Odin, a find archeologists called “incredibly exciting and rare”.

Published: 5 August 2016 23:22 CEST
Danish amateur finds 1000-year-old Viking amulet
The tiny amulet was made of silver. Photo: Museum Lolland-Falster
Amateur archeologist Torben Christjansen, who has devoted about 300 hours to his hobby, made the find in a field in Nybølle, just outside Copenhagen. 
 
At first he didn’t know that the silver amulet, which depicts a throne with two ravens on the back-rest, was a Viking age jewellery. 
 
It was only when he posted it up on an archeological finding that its importance was recognised. 
 
“This is an incredibly exciting and rare find. We only know of two similar amulets,” Anders Rasmussen, curator of the Museum Lolland-Falster told TV2 Denmark. 
 
According to Peter Pentz, a Viking expert at the Danish National Museum, fewer than 20 chair amulets have been found in Scandinavia. 
 
He said the ravens probably depicted Huginn and Muninn, the two ravens of the Norse God Odin, which mean respectively “thought” and “memory”, and who are tasked with flying all over the world to keep Odin informed. 
 
“It is fantastic,” Christjansen said. “There have only been three like this found here in Denmark. After this discovery, I think right, I'm going out to look twice.” 
 
Christjansen is now required by law to send the amulet to the National Museum for analysis. 
 
Metal detectorists have been behind some of Denmark’s most spectacular recent finds, in March discovering a 1,100 year old gold crucifix that is thought to be the oldest complete Christian artefact ever found in the country.