Riksantikvarieämbetet

This paper presents a very early archaeological excavation report and its author, Frédéric Troyon (1815–1866), a young Swiss archaeologist. Since 1846 his report has been kept almost unnoticed in the archives of the Royal Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities (ATA) in Stockholm. Half a century ago it was rediscovered by Jan Peder Lamm. It is rare not only as to its early date, but also in having been written by a foreigner who excavated at his own initiative in Sweden. The site was a Late Iron Age cemetery on the island of Munsö in Lake Mälaren (Björn järnsidas hög, Raä Munsö 57:1, L2016:6690). Frédéric Troyon was a citizen of Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. He spent a year and a half in Stockholm in 1845–46, studying the collections of the Museum of National Antiquities while filling a position at the Swedish Royal Court as tutor in the French language and culture to the royal princes. After returning to Switzerland he introduced the three-period system in his homeland and became a great pioneer of Swiss archaeology.