Amulet Shaped Like Thor’s Hammer Uncovered in Iceland

BERGSSTAÐIR, ICELAND—Guide to Iceland Now reports that a sandstone amulet shaped like Thor’s hammer was unearthed at a 900-year-old farmstead in southern Iceland. Archaeologist Ragnheiður Gylfadóttir of Iceland’s Institute of Archaeology said the artifact may have been worn around the neck as a pendant. The site also contained rocks that may have been the foundation of a longhouse, burned bones, ash piles, a fragment of a soapstone pot, and a whetstone of a type that was usually kept on a belt for sharpening needles and other tools. Since soapstone does not occur naturally on the island, the pot is thought to have been imported, perhaps from Norway, where soapstone is abundant. Evidence of ironworking has also been found in the area. For more on archaeology in Iceland, go to “The Blackener’s Cave.”