If you wanted to cut out a block of peat containing archaeological remains and place it in a wooden box for transport to a museum for excavation indoors, how would you do it? Would you cut out the block, make a wooden box of the correct size and...
Alvastra pile dwelling
Excavation
Alvastra archives
Mats Malmer excavating the Eastern Trench at Alvastra pile dwelling. Photo: Stockholm University. Mats Malmer directed the excavations at the pile dwelling in 1976-1980. At the time he was professor of archaeology at the University of...
What’s in the Alvastra box? Part 2
Fig. 1. The peat block before investigation. Photo Hilde Skogstad, SHM Introduction On 15 July 1930 a block of peat was cut out of Dagsmosse mire and put into a wooden box with a nailed on lid. Apart from the date (in fact two dates occur on the...
What is in the Alvastra box? Part 1
We in the Alvastra project are excited to be excavating, in-house, a 25cm square block of in situ peat, soil and artifacts, cut and preserved from the site in 1930. It was placed and sealed in a wooden box immediately after removal and shipped to...