Rare piece of armor dating back to the 14th century found in Norway

Since 2019, the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU) has conducted excavations in Bispevika, Oslo. 

Many ancient items have come out of excavations, but one recent find was particularly rare. 

The area, which has never been investigated by archaeologists before, brought to light a rare iron gauntlet from the Middle Ages, according to a translated report from Science Norway published August 12, 2024. 

A rare iron gauntlet found underwater was discovered by archaeologists in Oslo. (Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU))

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The city of Oslo was founded by King Harald Hardraade around 1050, according to Britannica. 

In 1624, a blazing fire ravaged the city. Many of Oslo's buildings were made of wood, leaving them vulnerable to burning. 

Nearly every inch of the city was burned. King Christian IV of Denmark and Norway decided to rebuild the demolished city across the fjord, where it was closer to Akershus Fortress and better protected, according to the Oslo Museum website. The city was named Christiania, and renamed Oslo in 1925, according to Britannica. 

Archaeologist Håvard Hegdal led the excavation project leading to the rare underwater find. (Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research)

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There is a lot of mystery surrounding this rare object that dates back to the early 14th century and was used to protect the hand and wrist during combat. 

"The gauntlet would never have been left lying in the streets in medieval Oslo," Håvard Hegdal, an archaeologist at NIKU and the excavation's project manager, said, according to Science Norway. 

"This is an extremely expensive object. An ordinary person would never own something like this. The only way you can find things like this is if they’re buried or lost in some way. On the seabed, no one could have gotten hold of it," he continued. 

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The exact explanation for how the gauntlet got to the place where it was found is unknown and unlikely to ever be determined. 

However, Hegdal said he finds it "very difficult to imagine someone losing their gauntlet during a battle." 

Archaeological investigation in Oslo has brought about many other ancient discoveries, including several types of medieval weapons. (Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research)

"If there had been anything else related to the gauntlet, we would’ve already found it. It’s an archaeologist's dream to find remains of some of the battles that took place out there in the fjord, but we haven’t. So, the best explanation we have so far is simply that someone lost it. You could call that bad luck," he said. 

Even though the gauntlet no longer maintains the same structure it once did, the imprint left behind was evidence enough for Hegdal to identify the object. 

Many documents belonging to Oslo were reduced to ashes in the 1700s, making it more difficult to understand the full story behind the find. 

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"Many Norwegian medieval documents were burned in Copenhagen in the 1700s. The city law for Oslo is not preserved," Hegdal said. "We haven’t even found any regulations or documentation indicating that items were thrown into the sea. We only have all the weapons we've found out there," he said, per Science Norway. 

There have been discoveries of several other ancient objects during excavations in Oslo, including a multitude of weapons, such as daggers, swords and axes.