Mainstreet Public Radio's Tim Post reports on the “AVM Runestone,” a new stone find in Kensington. Members of the Kensington Runestone Research Team found a stone with what some say are runic carvings on its surface. The stone was found near where the original Kensington Runestone was unearthed over one hundred years ago.
The new stone's authenticity is being questioned by some archeological experts, in a debate reminiscent of the 103-year old argument over the first runestone.
[SPOILER: The AVM Runestone was deemed a hoax, with carvings created in 1985 by local students]
Transcripts
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TIM POST: Janey Westin is a professional stone carver from Minneapolis. Westin found what is being called the AVM stone back in May near Kensington.
JANEY WESTIN: I happen to be in the right place at the right time, the right time of year. So the sun was at the right latitude. And the shadow cast from the sun revealed to me the letters AVM on this stone. And it was-- I was just dumbfounded. I couldn't believe it. I found a stone.
TIM POST: Westin claims the stone was carved by Viking or Norse explorers in 1363. She unveiled the stone in Kensington. A group of about 100 townspeople watched as she traced her finger across the carvings and read the inscription.
JANEY WESTIN: V, M, it's right here. Double that word spacer--
TIM POST: Westin says the AVM stands for Ave Maria, which coincidentally was also etched on another stone, the Kensington Runestone found in the same area in 1898. The Kensington Runestone has a long, controversial history in Central Minnesota.
Farmer Olof Ohman claimed he found the stone as he plowed one of his fields. Even back then, people doubted its authenticity. And many claimed Ohman carved the stone himself as a hoax. Westin and the other researchers working with her say the new runestone proves the original stone is real and that Vikings spent time in Minnesota 600 years ago.
JANEY WESTIN: Well, here's the-- this is the end of the M. And they always put--
TIM POST: Curious onlookers crowd around the 1-ton granite boulder, touching the carved surface. Some believe it's real. And some, like Rebecca Bame, say they're ready to believe but not just yet.
REBECCA BAME: This one, I'll wait and find out. They have all kinds of incredible things to test things with. They have followed all the rules for keeping the site clean. That was one of the things that didn't happen with the original. There were people stomping around on it all the time, basically destroying Ohman's life. So it'll be interesting to see how this one's handled.
TIM POST: Bame believes in the original Kensington Runestone, and so does Bob Berg. But this amateur Viking researcher does not believe in the AVM stone. In fact, he says he saw the exact same stone in 1994 and told his friends it was a fake.
BOB BERG: I announced to everybody about that fake out there. I didn't want that thing sitting there aging, somebody else coming along, and thinking they found something valid. So I've considered it a fake for seven years.
TIM POST: Some professional archeologists in Minnesota also doubt the new find is real. And they have their doubts about the other runestone as well. State archeologist Mark Dudzik says, in his opinion, the original runestone is a hoax. And this latest find probably follows in its steps.
MARK DUDZIK: So again, I don't really think that this sheds any more light on whether or not the runestone is real or not. It just is another chapter in an interesting saga.
TIM POST: Dudzik says it's unlikely Vikings ever visited Minnesota. He says he's a skeptic and thinks evidence shows the two runestones are fakes. Believers say the jury is out, and the evidence is in their favor. The debate will continue as the new runestone is put under scrutiny by geologists and archeologists. Eventually, it will take its place by the other runestone in Alexandria's Kensington Runestone Museum. Tim Post, Minnesota Public Radio, Kensington.