A Handful of String Instrument Finds from Medieval Sigtuna, Sweden
Anders Söderberg
Among the archaeological objects from Sigtuna, a few are associated with early medieval string instruments. Four of them are 11th century tuning keys made of antler, of which one carries a text in runes saying that “Erre made the harp with fortunate hands”. Another object is a key for a keyed string instrument, possibly a nyckelharpa, found in 1935.
It was registered as this already at the time of the excavation but it was never published, and it has never come under the light of international research. Judging from its relation to the occurrences of different types of medieval pottery, we can date the object to the 13th century with a very strong certainty.
