Touchstones from early medieval burials in Tuna in Alsike, Sweden

Tools for determining the value of metal appear among grave goods in prehistoric and early medieval Europe: they served as symbols of access to precious metal. As is the case with many other sites, four prestigious early medieval burials excavated in Tuna in Alsike, Sweden, contained stone artefacts with the characteristic shape of touchstones. The intent of the article is to present the results of chemical microanalyses of metal traces preserved on the stone artefacts from Tuna. The streaks of precious and other non-ferrous metals are as common as those that appear on touchstones throughout Europe, however, in this case are presented and discussed also traces of nickel and zinc.