runes, a script used on the monuments, memorial stones, and artifacts throughout northern Europe, and he was one of the first to collect and systematically analyze these ancient inscriptions. He established a runic alphabet and transcription rules, he proposed a dating system, and he began a collection of Swedish inscriptions. From 1599 Bure and two assistants went on topographic and archaeological surveys, carefully recording and illustrating monuments and ancient examples of runic epigraphy. Bure transformed the antiquarian tour into a systematic study, completing the first professional archaeological survey. He is regarded as one of the founders of landscape archaeology.

Bure’s travels and collections were strongly supported by the king of Sweden and in 1630 Gustav Adolphus published a statute protecting Swedish antiquities. Sweden was the first state in the world to not only endow an archaeological service but also to legislate to protect its heritage. As important, for the first time here was evidence and proof of a past that was neither Roman nor Greek and that was recognized as being worthy of protection and study in its own right.

Tim Murray

References

Schnapp, A. 1996. The Discovery of the Past. London: British Museum Press.

Bylany

See Czech Republic