Viking carving — possibly a good luck charm — may be oldest picture found in Iceland

A pebble discovered in Iceland might contain the oldest known picture in the country.

The sandstone rock, no larger than a fingertip, was found in Stöð, an ancient settlement on the island’s east coast, archaeologist Björgvin Valur Guðmundsson said in a June 14 Facebook post.

Etched into the rock is a crude depiction of a Viking vessel — perhaps the earliest illustration ever encountered on the island, Guðmundsson said.

“You can see the side of the boat, the mast, and you can almost see the striped sails that have been so memorialized by Hollywood,” Thomas Småberg, a history professor at Malmö University in Sweden, who was not involved in the discovery, told McClatchy News.

Archaeologists have been excavating Stöð, which is made up of several ancient stone structures, for a few years, according to the Icelandic news outlet RUV.

Among the structures is a large longhouse, one of the most opulent ever found in Iceland, according to Iceland Review. Silver, beads and Roman coins have been found inside.

Recently, though, archaeologists discovered an even older settlement underneath the first, which is believed to have been a Viking chieftain’s far-flung outpost, per RUV. The carved pebble was found lodged inside a hut in this settlement.

Using surrounding organic material, archaeologists were able to date the rock to around 800 A.D., meaning the carving is about 1,200 years old, Småberg, who teaches courses on Viking history, said.

The small stone is of major importance because it provides evidence that Vikings occupied Iceland during the early ninth century, whereas previous evidence indicated they settled the island decades later.

“There was always speculation (that they settled the country earlier) and no evidence, but this is evidence,” Småberg said.

As to whether the carving served some specific purpose, it is hard to say.

“The Vikings did carvings with runes and images like this on all sorts of material,” Småberg said. “So this could be a bored Viking carving a small token of his ship which he sees on the horizon. It could also be a good luck charm, random scribblings, or the work of an artist. We just don’t know.”

Regardless of its original function, the carved rock is a “fascinating” find that sheds light on the poorly understood early history of Iceland, Småberg said.

Google Translate was used to translate articles from RUV and Iceland Review.

This story was originally published June 20, 2023 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Viking carving — possibly a good luck charm — may be oldest picture found in Iceland."