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Small-Diameter Stonehole Comparisons: Medieval Norse and "Modern"

 

    Precisely round "modern" small-diameter stonehole, exhibiting very little aging

    This cracked-off modern stonehole was machine-made, obvious by its perfect roundness


Above are some photos I took several years ago showing "modern" small-diameter stoneholes, to contrast with proposed small-diameter medieval stoneholes at the "Norse Code-stone" site.  (See link and photos at end.)  I believe it would be a mistake for the more aged and irregular small-diameter stoneholes at the Code-stone site to be confused as being machine-made and modern, like these shown above.

I hope readers might see that the arrangement of the several small rocks at the Norse Code-stone site were unlikely to have been set that way by coincidence of nature and without human purpose.  But here, now, I mostly wanted you to be able to see the differences between modern and medieval small-diameter stoneholes.  Again, to be clear, I am comparing small-diameter stoneholes thought to be from medieval times to small-diameter stoneholes thought to be from "modern" times--that is, from the late 1800s to the early 1900s.

As many local folks are already aware, most of the proposed medieval stoneholes in this region are thought  to be of Scandinavian origin, and they tend to fit the general description of being slightly larger than a quarter and slightly triangular-shaped--the result of being hand chiseled.  They are typically several inches deep.  Of great significance, they occasionally show up at other apparent Norse sites, such as Runestone Park, near Kensington, Minnesota, and at other sites with Norse petroglyphs, such as the "drinking horn" and "knife" carvings just across the border in South Dakota (as seen in Wolter's "Hooked X" book).
 
Dime-sized, medieval small-diameter stoneholes appear to be quite rare, though I have come across a few examples in both Minnesota and South Dakota.  
 
Obvious by empirical evidence--in this case, by visual comparison--is the fact that some of the stoneholes shown here are more "decayed" than others.  In fact, we can see quite clearly that the so-called "modern" stoneholes are not only perfectly round from machine drilling, but that they are also not as weathered, or degraded, as the comparison medieval stoneholes.
 
I think it is extremely important for researchers to realize that some of these rare, medieval Norse, small-diameter stoneholes presently exist at the site of the Norse Code-stone near Appleton, Minnesota.  Frankly, I believe it's likely that medieval Scandinavians have played a long drawn out and still-ongoing game with us...as proven out by a metal detector.  It is a matter of fact that something at least partly made of iron is buried at the remote ridge site, on State property.
 
Unfortunately, the Gamemaster in all this is the Minnesota State Archaeologist, who evidently doesn't like what this centuries-old game portends:  the eventual re-writing of our history books, in part to reflect the presence of Scandinavians here in Minnesota at some known and unknown times during the several hundred years of "Vinland of Old."  But seriously, what could be the harm to the environment for a very small, limited, professional dig:  about one square yard....


For more detailed information about the Norse Code-stone site, go to:

https://americanrunestone.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-enigmatic-norse-code-stone.html


                     These are close-ups of the Code-stone's three irregular holes





                                                  Bob Voyles - Spring 2015

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