Archaeologist Debunks Harald Bluetooth's Tomb Discovery
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- čas přidán 16. 07. 2022
- You may have seen on... certain news and media sites that someone claims they found Harald Bluetooth's tomb!
Aside from a Christian king being buried in this way being super unlikely at all, where is the evidence that this is really the legendary man's tomb? Do we have bones? Do we have reliable, available, verifiable proof?
Well, let's take a look at what we really do have, and what archaeology, history, and good old basic research skills can tell us about this unbelievable and dramatic story!
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After following a series of clues embedded in the Bayeux tapestry and the writings of Bernard Cornwell, I have concluded that Harold Godwinson is definately buried on my allotment. I will be inviting archaeologists down to start a dig after the harvest. It will save me the effort anyway.
Can we come dig if we AREN'T archaeologists, but just wanna glean some potatoes or whatever is growing at your allotment?
If you need someone to use technology to look underground, I know how to use a shovel
That would be so very cool! I wish you the best of luck. Please do keep us updated. maybe Jimmy will turn up for you.... 🙂
I know my back yard and front yard, also under my house was part of a military camp site where Oliver Cromwell set up just outside of Edinburgh and attacked the St Catherines Monestary and Balm well. I do want to have a play with a metal detector as there may be something interesting other than builders rubble from when the houses were built.
WHY do you think this? Just out of curiosity from the other side of the world….. what leads you to believe that? I’m super curious because even if I isn’t Harold, maybe it is still relevant.
Good on you Jimmy for phoning the police! Far too many CZcamsrs seem to accept harassment and threats as a part of the job and it’s not, it shouldn’t be, and it’s also illegal!
“a step above it came to me in a dream” 😂😂😂😂😂
That’s the best line of the day!
On a side note, I think I found the bones of the famous explorer Arne Saknussemm in a Louisiana Swamp. It’s just as true as finding Bluetooth’s grave which was discovered when the dude’s cellphone went wacko with a strange Bluetooth Signal playing Welsh
Folk Songs. 😉😉😉
he really tried to pull a Geoffrey of Monmouth like 'oh? a source? yeah I have a source, it's a very ancient book. no you can't see it'
"ooh they discovered a mound!" I'd say anyone living in that village had been aware that there was, in fact, a mound, given that it's not exactly discreet...
Also, A+ for the sarcastic magic flute moment
Also also, I hope you're getting better!
I have to assume that whoever built the retaining wall around the mound knew it was there 😆
@@ragnkja "I discovered a mound! Right between the retaining walls built to keep the mound in place! Very convenient!"
@@doc3255
How convenient indeed!
They know that it was the real tomb of Bluetooth because they could sync it to their phones and play music. Thanks for another great one, Jimmy.
As a historian, watching you describe the process of checking and debunking was actually 🔥
When this "dropped" it quickly got shared on many Polish archaeology/history/whatever-related pages, fortunately at least some of them quickly realized their mistake and admitted they'd fallen into the trap; which is not to be said about National Geographic Poland, I just checked and the article is still there, including the mandatory section about the Bluetooth technology :D (all the articles I saw were basically copy-paste...) Apparently, Kryda is known by those especially interested in Viking history for his make-believe about their presence and role in Poland, he even wrote a book about it (he's neither a historian, nor an archaeologist AFAIK), so I just laughed at his delusions, but... an abusive email?! Now this is a twist. Wow, the guy's really crafting a reputation for himself.
Everything is about clicks, aka ad revenue now. Credibility is long gone
@@Wotansfogal sad but true...
I think this dude is using the media publicity as free advertising. There's probably a bunch of people still believing it and yelling about cover ups etc.
I'm not deeply versed in Vikings in Poland, but they do have a Viking Festival every year. Maybe they just really want to Cosplay as Vikings? The Poles apparently cosplay as Redneck Americans in Ohio!
Lol, this guy just straight up making stuff up and only citing himself is making me feel a whole lot better about my own academic achivements!
Best part is him accusing someone else of lying!
This is as good as the time I was researching a book that cited another book as a source. I went to the second book, and found, amazingly, that they cited the first book as their source. That was some true scholarly collaboration.
@@michellecornum5856
That could indeed be the result of scholarly collaboration, and the authors having allowed each other to read parts of their book while it’s still in progress.
Having been an archeology student myself, I know that *every* serious and self-respecting archeologist will use words like "maybe/possibly/perhaps/unsure" until all reasonable doubt has been cleared. And even then....
Scepticism is the hallmark of a good researcher.
The best you can hope for is ‘definitely the hall of an important local individual from the time of King Alfred who was really crap at cooking pancakes and apparently read a lot’.
Or am I thinking of Sir Tony?
It seems that critical thinking is becoming somewhat of a lost art at this point >
you are such an entire blessing, Jimmie
Danish historian here and this is the first I hear of it. Also even the early bronze age burial mounts here are taller than the mount that church sits on.
Anytime someone claims to have “definitely found” a previously unknown historical location always raises red flags for me. I’m no expert, but it seems like legit finds are described as “we think” this is here or “we’re pretty sure.”
Hope you are feeling better soon and stay that way! And an early congratulations for nearly being at 50k subscribers!
Churches on mounds. My cousins in the north of the Netherlands explained that the church was always on a mound because a) the church was built on top of other old buildings or b) because that was where everyone ran to when floods happened, which was frequent there, or both. This was when they took 18 year old me to see the restored 10th century church with its barely visible paintings and a poetry reading in " Groningens " a completely incomprehensible dialect.
Or, maybe not in Netherlands, it was where everyone ran when enemies came - there's a whole class of "fortified church" from the Middle Ages...
@@beth12svist according to my mother they ran for the nearest swamp and watched them drown or poked a dike and watched them drown from the church.
Yes, especially in Friesland and Groningen the original settlements used to be on top of mounts (terpen) to protect the people from the water. In later centuries many churches were built on these mounts for the same reason. Do you remember where that church was?
@@JootjeJ it was in Groningen. That is all I know. That was in 1967, and it wasn't in the village my cousins lived. They had motorcycles and I kept my eyes closed and prayed we wouldn't end up in a canal.
@@lenabreijer1311 Sounds like the most sensible thing to do
Love the audacity of them saying that two of their 'primary sources' (in the loosest sense of the term) are small, unidentified children. Always so reliable!!
Sorry about the harassment you face - both in that stupid email and in general. We love you and think you're awesome! ♥ Also, hope you're feeling better!
If it was indeed such a revolutionary discovery, it would be much more hyped up in Poland than it is now. I haven't heard about it in any news, so people assume correctly it's just a fancy theory
Jesus Jimmy, be careful out there man. We love ya, so don’t worry about delays because we can wait for your health, and just try not to get covid for a third time man
Oh, I don't intend to! It was bloody awful. Not 100%, but am better than I was and getting there rapidly
@@TheWelshViking Glad you are getting better, I wish you speedy final recovery
Agreed! Look after your health!
Happy to hear you are on the mend.
Get well soon. Grab a pint of some tasty mead which has medicinal properties of course and recuperate in Welsh Viking Style Jimmy
My pusedoarchaeology antenna went up the minute you said "definitely found". Thanks for the thorough trip through the actual evidence.
This reminds me of last year´s chain mail in the peat bog that was supposed to be authentic ... but thanks for making this story unbelievingly entertaining for us. Also, please take care of yourself.
I bet the inhabitants of that village are immensely grateful someone's found their church mound for them. Would have been completely lost otherwise
Fantastic find for any tourism!
Really interesting video/story. Disappointing that they haven't actually proved the location of Harald Bluetooth's grave, but when I clicked on the thumbnail I was expecting an in-depth discussion on the use of runes as the basis for modern corporate logos, so i feel like i still came out ahead in the end.
The story reminds me a lot of the origins of Mormonism, so maybe we're seeing the beginning of a European "Church of Jesus Christ of Viking Age Saints", that claims Jesus became a Viking after the resurrection and gave Harald Bluetooth a secret gospel explaining how the Norse, Poles, and Finns (but not the Russians for some reason) are descended from lost tribes of Israel. Sounds far-fetched, but even stupider things have happened before.
My college friend who told his story of Alien abduction at least had a huge bruise to show for it. That bruise was his only evidence, but hey. Leaving aside the fact that I saw him fall off the hood of his pickup truck and land in a manner which would have left a very similar bruise, it wasn't great evidence. Evidence. We really want some evidence to support any outlandish claim.
Surely the alien abduction made his bruise worse!
@@ragnkja He had my total sympathy. I gave him a bit of the 'hair of the dog' to help with his hangover, too.
It seems that, as a child, I had more cause to believe that Leif Ericsson had landed in my native town of Vineland, New Jersey (as I innocently thought at first), than the wider media does to declare this site to be the tomb of Harald Bluetooth!
You know you're doing good work if you're pissing off literal Nazis. Love you, Jimmy!!!
I get the impression that this touched a nerve (rightly, I think. This kind of thing occurs in science reporting too, it seems)
Thank you so much for the video. Hope you keep feeling better and that everything goes well (including that investigation. Booo to harassers, lazy or otherwise).
(oh, and Baggy Viking Pants are the comfiest things!)
If I wanted to pull off a hoax like this I wouldn't use "found by a child" twice in the same story. That's just lazy writing.
I've actually been to the cathedral in Roskilde. A very pretty building!
I'm gonna become an archaeological seer and publish my dream finds (definitely not just a dream journal). It will all be true and accurate. I'm going to find Norse graves with preserved tattooed skin, shaved sides of the head, and all kinds of other great very real and correct things!
Good on you Jimmy, loved how you had gotten the police involved on you being harassed. So, sad people are doing this to make themselves be the bigger man, but we know. 😉
Glad to see that your back and sorry to hear about the COVID, again. Hopefully you will be feeling much better soon.
Thanks for an informative video and stay well.
Oh gosh, all Polish viewers apologize for Marek Kryda...
I even read about this case and I have no idea why I did not think that I would finally come across it here as well. This guy just knows he's a Viking descendant and will stop at nothing to "prove" it, poor chap.
I just love you even more for notyfing the police about the email.
What a story all around❣️ Thank you for explaining details of the questionable veracity of this “find’, and please feel better Jimmy-that’s the most important thing🥰 Glad you called authorities also!!
Thanks for concluding with the type of documentation of process and evidence you would expect to be available if this were credible.
Your efforts are appreciated as always.
I love the way you consider all the evidence and the problems with each piece of evidence, even when the whole thing seems a little far-fetched.
On the issue of evidence, and verbal communication being not very trustworthy, how do archeologists consider evidence of communities that use oral histories? I live on the territory of the Syilx Okanagan Nation on Turtle Island (North America), and as I learn about the First Nations oral histories, I'm not sure how to reconcile them with my western perspective of what constitutes evidence. Naturally, in cultures that use oral stories as a method of preserving laws and histories, knowledge-keeping is much more rigorous than "some guy told me once..."
It's not really in the field of archaeology, as that field deals explicitly with the material remains from the past. Historians have sometimes used oral histories, though typically ones collected and either recorded or written down at some point. The problem with oral history is that it's difficult to keep track of possible alterations in the story. If someone tolld you a story today about something that happened 100 years ago, it is impossible to know whether the story has been altered in retellings. Thus the story functions best as a source in how the people telling it today remember their past, rather than informing us of the events themselves.
For comparison, there is an entire field of medieval studies devoted to tracking down different hand-made copies of medieval manuscripts, and trying to establish a chain of who copied which copy by keeping track of shared spelling errors and such. This kind of chronology is impossible to build from an oral narrative.
I come to learn things and get expert snarky reviews (and see your face!), I am rewarded with delightful outros. Glad you're well, look forward to more things from you.
"It's a step above, it came to me in a dream." Made me guffaw out loud!! 🤣🤣
I'm so glad you're feeling better Jimmy. Hope the PhD is going alright sorry to hear about house and weather issues (me too on the house and weather front) such an interesting breakdown of some seriously shaky shit. Looking forward to what's coming up x
Thanks for that. I'd seen the headlines and wondered if there was anything to them.
Someone once told me about some lumps of earth on Leith Links which just had to be Viking Burial Mounds. The fact that they are Scheduled Monuments dating from 1560 didn't convince them otherwise.
Hope you continue to get better.
Since you brought up Time Team, there's a whole episode focused on 2 shady metal detectorists who looted an archeological site and lied about it.
Was that the special about the sliver hoard in Eastern Europe that some guy was murdered over? I was really impressed with how angry Tony was about it (which meant that the archeologists had to be irate and explained why they were irate).
@@margotmolander5083 I thought the site was in the UK and not Eastern Europe but it's been a while since I've seen that particular episode. I do remember how hot Tony was over the theft and lying.
I hope for a complete recovery from Covid.
This reminds me a lot of the "Golden Plates found by Joseph Smith".
Some really strange archeology shenanigans are happening in my country and I first time hear ot from you lmao I'm glad you made this video, it's important to bust myths.
Once again fantastic work, sounds like you really went the extras miles on this one. Thank you for wading through the sh!te for us all.
I send wishes for a full recovery & that housing things work out.
Glad you're on the mend! Now, let me just put down my picnic blanket and enjoy the archeological shade you're about to throw! ❤️
Ugh. I had COVID once and wouldn't want it again. You are an awesome content creator and educator. Your health and other adulting requirements come before sticking to a posting schedule.
Good to know that none of the claims are real, verified, or more than like self-insert fanfic into historical research.
Yeah, the “new document” and the “report” sound like they’d fit better on AO3 than on academia edu. I’ve read some great fictional “academic papers” on AO3, but they at least bother to make up citations as well.
I was a little bemused when you showed the photo of St Denys church, I know it well as my brother lives opposite it… I thought I was going even more post covid gaga until you changed the picture!
Glad that you came through to the other side of covid again 🙏
A great analysis, you can always be relied upon, legend 🙌
Like deployed 👍
Thank you for linking to the review, I had a blast reading it. Somebody was not impressed!
This was very cool. I love how you use snark so deadpan. You're one of my favorite historian-types on YT. And I'm stoked for new merch!
+100 points for the Time Team reference
Awesome as always, Hope you feel better soon. And I’ve laughed my way through this beautiful offering, I do enjoy your humour. Thanks for making this.
Great video! I saw your channel recommended on Tumblr, so glad I checked it out.
As someone who studied archaeology for a few years it was fun to be reminded of the stuff I was taught (and presumed to have forgotten).
Also, as a library science student I appreciate your thorough debunking effort! It's so frustrating how easily misinformation spreads in the media. You'd think doing some kind of field work or having some kind of peer review would be essential before reporting this sort of 'discovery'...
The mound in the wooded area near the church, is it an already-plundered burial mound? It certainly looks like it could be, with that rectangular depression.
Would be so funny if this dude accidentally helped to discover some actual archeology.
I’m glad you are feeling better! Darn CZcams turned off my notification!! Sounds like a lot of research and more questions than answers.
Ooof that was a rollercoaster! Also love that you're doing merch, stickers would be awesome!
The quickest way to find his tomb is walking around with your phone and see if you can scan for Bluetooth devices named Harold 😀. Subscribed
pob lwc efo covid recovery Jimmy. Glad to see you back and staying cool under the eaves.
I used to dowse for archaeological friends before geo phys was a thing. Good dowsers can be very accurate so long as they have no vested interest in the results. As we can work back in time and from maps we could possibly get an answer on any previous finds having existed on site. However my bullshit sirens went off as soon as your video began so am sure it would be a waste of everyones time. Interesting report and thanks for reading the Fail on our behalf, you have a strong stomach.
When you said show us I imagined you doing the "show me the money" scene from Jerry Miguire but yelling "Show me the evidence!" 🤣
Sorry to hear you got sick, again. But glad to see you back & feeling better. Good luck & God bless😇❤️ Diolch for the Video 🙏
Hope you recover 💯% soon and everything else that makes life unnecessarily challenging just goes away! 🍀
One would think media outlets would know better than to direct attention away from their mistake with slander, glad you reported it.
I'm sorry you've had a rough time! I hope you feel better now and that things are looking up! Take it easy though
holy cow, this whole story is WILD! I'm legitimately shocked... journalists dropped the ball but hard -- the good story here is all THIS, not 'ooh, they really found this tomb!' 🤦
Glad to see you, and your fantastic videos ! My day has now been made ☺.
I GREATLY enjoyed & APPRECIATE this video! There certainly is a lot of misinformation, misunderstanding & outright BS when it comes to history (and things rooted there like historic martial arts, reconstructionist religions, etc.) It may be disappointing to realize something you want to be true isn't, but it also gives one the opportunity to be more accurate, look harder & more.
Channels like yours are so important because they address these kinds of issues to a an audience who likely won't hear about 5hem in college, read deeper than one online article, etc.
I suspected before I read any articles about this that maybe it was a Viking era burial & that it was just being called Bluetooth's to draw attention to a find; possibly to help raise research money. It sucks there wasn't more to the story, but now the quest can continue..
So glad to see you back, so bummed to hear you got covid AGAIN 😭 I didn't realize how much I missed your smiling face (not to mention your joyful well-researched snark) 🖤💖🖤
That there "Wellp!" outtro smile was golden ahahahaha
@14:23 I'd say the majority churches on mounds are also on burial grounds. That is just the nature of what people did with churches. The question is were they burial grounds before they were Christian churches.
Being pedantic, but boosting your engagement. Thanks for the well researched video. :-)
It's important to ask these questions when working out what things are :)
Adding a second sentence to make my comment look like it might be smarter.
Given that churches tended to be built in places that were already considered “holy”, I’d say it’s plausible. There are a few burial mounds really close to the medieval church where I live in northern Norway, and several more in the general area.
@@ragnkja I was referring to that churches often are the resting place for the wealthy and royal.
@@joejoelesh1197
Yes, that too. Even the old church here was the burial place for some locally prominent people, and of course there are literally thousands (the low-end estimate, based primarily on surviving records from the past few centuries, is 8-10 000) buried in the cemetery right outside it. And, as mentioned, some people in pre-Christian times were clearly prominent enough to be buried in mounds in the same general area.
Older burial grounds under churches are definitely a thing ! My hometown (French Alps) has a church built on a gallo-roman necropolis. The highest layers of the necropolis date from the 16th century iirc, so it was a burial site for a millennium and half
I read some articles about it. They were all the same trash. Very poorly written constantly repeating the couple of lines explaining who Harald was, explaining what modern Bluetooth is and indeed saying that, for sure, this is his grave.
Quite fun how everyone in the community accepted this wasn't real, since it didn't blow up on media, except for memes xD
We enjoy your work and curious skepticism. Thank you for sharing
That freeze frame tag image of your "Welp!" face is a perfect choice.
I have missed your stuff, but I just assumed you was taking advantage of some of this lovely weather we've been having, stay safe Jimmy.
Oh wow I got to the part about the e-mail and police, I feel very ashamed for whoever did it 🤦♀️ I swear not all Polish people are like that.
Oh goodness, I know that! :) Pretty sure this guy is English and just using a Polish email
I appreciate your taking the claims seriously enough to subject them to academic rigor.
Cheers, glad to see a new video, hope you got back up from COVID, having it a second time sucks big time (one time being plenty enough already in my book xD)
Well, they dig Richard III up. And we just keep finding Atlantis and Noah's Ark over and over and over. . .
.
You're almost to 50k, Jimmy! Will you have some sort of special video once you reach that milestone?
Valheim update? :p
I'm sure peoples ability to parse how reliable a news source is is falling.
And people who choose to send messages to insult or threaten others... They just make limited sense to me. They can all go and boil their heads.
Sounds about like the spaceship discovered in South Africa earlier this year🤣.
An alien jumped ot of a bush and drilled Simon Parkes
This story goes in the same bin as oak island and ancient aliens.
Oak island?
@@ragnkja History Channel dreck in USA. An island off north eastern North America. It’s a rabbit hole of treasure hunting for bad TV fame. Enjoy, it will destroy many hours of your life for nothing. 🤣
It’s got Knights Templars, Roman legions, Vikings, death curses, and pirates. The whole handbag of legends and treasure maps. 🤣
@@angelmaden1559
While the other stuff _could_ be combined into a believable work of fiction, the death curses pushed it too far for me.
@@ragnkja yep, the treasure will not be found until X number of people have died looking for it. Of course, X-1 deaths are known so who on the search team will be next? Da da da dum…. My Dad’s channel flipping guilty pleasure. Seen a few episodes when I visit. Like a soap opera, can miss a year and catch up in one hour and reruns are always on at some point. 🙄
I may have actually been to that Viking Festival. On one of the weekends during a field school with the Slavia Foundation they arranged for us to take a bus there. We didn't know what town we were going to though- just that it was the "largest Viking festival in Europe ". I didn't suck.
Glad you are feeling better!
YAY. Welcome back. Hope you are feeling better.
All I can say is the lack of physical evidence, whether it be photos, scans, an actual dig, sold it for me as a Yeahh Riiiiiiiiiiiight come back when you've got some physical evidence that can be backed up with proper research.
I feel for you. After putting all that time and effort in to research this and it comes back as basically B.S.
Right going to go and hang my armpits out to dry.
Take care, Stay safe x🥵🍻
I have been saving up a lot of your videos and glad I'm finally getting the time to watch them. This is absolutely amazing. As always enjoy the sarcasm and facts. Glad you're doing well. Sorry you got civid again!
Best quotes(in my opinion)- "Shooting yourself in the credibility."
"Mediocre wallaby"
Good one Jimmy! Get better soon.
Glad you're feeling better!
Hi Jimmy, awesome video as always! Can you make a video about the recent huge bracteat find near Jelling in Denmark? 🥰 because that one IS real and currently on display🥰 best wishes from Denmark!
"It got weird fast"
I am already enthralled!
i love your videos, i really DIG them and thanks for throwing DIRT to the nazis...i guess not all of them are BURIED.
Your sarcasm is a balm to my soul 🥰
In short the "Viking" version of the finding of the tomb of Genghis Kahn! Nope not found. Great video :)
Ooooohh....look who it is.... always nice to see a friendly face!
Was JUST about to message you on Patron, as I haven't seen anything from you for a wee while....
Sorry for all the 🤬💩🤬....glad that you feel better and find yourself in front of the camera, you've been missed! 🤜🏻🤛🏻🙌🏻🤗
I am laughing my bee's hind off right now and I'm only at the part of the soil scaning you managed to imitate. Hilarious!
Great video!
In which Jimmy goes on an academic search and ends up talking to the cops. Get well, stay safe.
Sorry to hear you got Covid again, but even more glad you're getting better.
Petition to have “You’ve just shot yourself in the credibility,” merch. Or maybe “Stop shooting yourself in the credibility.” Some variation on that.
16:43 Going straight to the History Channel, perhaps. Anyway, nice burn on the Antiques Roadshow earlier.
Am I the only one who imagines that Time Team is a bizarre Blackadder spin-off where Baldrick decides to do archaeology?
Excellent, you are spot on. Thank you for doing this one.
YAY! Another Jimmy does a 'Deep Dive'! 👍💜👾
Thank you for your unmasking of fake news and pseuoacademic drivel.
I really appreciate that. Thank you for showing us accurate academic reasoning and scientific method and argumentation with this example.
I saw a title of the polish articles somewhere and went "well, that seems overenthusiastic". But I was hoping they at least had some propable evidence