SWEDISH MUSEUM...TURNING VIKING ARTIFACTS INTO SCRAP METAL

Following the revelations of one of its angry archaeologists, it emerges that the curators of Stockholms Länsmuseum have been ordering the systematic destruction of newly found artifacts from the Iron Age and the Viking period under the guise that it would be too burdensome to process.

Coins, arrow heads, ritual amulets, weapons, jewellery and weights that were kept in the past are now directly dumped into metal recycling bins upon discovery instead of being treasured and displayed.

The museum’s version
Following a recent surge in excavations aimed at construction that are occurring all over Sweden, the museum excavators are instructed to recycle unearthed iron elements into scrap metal following the pretext that “it would take too much resources to process, identify and store them.” The findings are usually quickly disposed of in order to make way for construction machines and building workers.

This was kept secret until this week’s declarations by Johan Runer, archaeologist at the said museum. He tried to raise the alarm before but only met indifference from the Liberal Swedish Media. According to Runer, this has been going on since at least 2016 as he recalls the example of an entire human settlement from the Bronze and Iron Age that discretely got levelled to allow road works for Sweden’s E6 motorway to progress. We do not know so far if this practice only incriminates this museum or is part of a greater scale.


How I picture the LänsMuseum’s board
Runer explains that the archaeologists cannot themselves auction the findings to the private sector as it would encourage crooks and robbers to then resell the treasure.

Neon Knight wrote:Maybe they already have so much of this stuff that they don't need anymore for their museums. But in that case, I'm sure private collectors the world over would be interested in buying it.