1,500-year-old riches and more than 100 weapons found under Iron Age

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Vejle Museums archaeologist Elias Witte Thomasen excavates metal weapons.
(Image credit: Vejle Museums)

Archaeologists in Denmark have actually found a cache of more than 100 weapons buried under your home of an Iron Age chieftain. The 1,500-year-old collection– which is huge enough to gear up a little army– might have been a “sacrifice” or offering.

“The sheer number of weapons is astonishing, but what fascinates me most is the glimpse they provide into the societal structure and daily life of the Iron Age,” Elias Witte Thomasen, an archaeologist at Vejle Museums who led the excavation, stated Nov. 22 in a declaration “We suddenly feel very close to the people who lived here 1,500 years ago.”

In between the very first and 4th centuries A.D., Denmark was on the periphery of the Roman Empire as part of higher Germania. Many people in this location were easy farmers, however Romans such as Julius Caesar composed about violent Germanic warriors. Some scholars believe that the Romans might even have actually supplied the people in Denmark with weapons, potentially to keep the peace at the border with Scandinavia.

Archaeologists discovered the cache throughout a highway growth task in August at a website called Løsning Søndermark. The metal weapons lay below 2 early fifth-century homes that likely came from somebody effective adequate to raise an army. Due to the fact that the weapons were actively buried throughout a home demolition, scientists believe that they were compromised after success in war. The cache of metal things consisted of 119 lances and spears, 8 swords, 5 knives, one ax and an uncommon set of chainmail.

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A set of Iron Age chainmail was recuperated from an excavation in Denmark. ( Image credit: Vejle Museums)

Really couple of examples of Iron Age chainmail have actually been discovered in southern Scandinavia, and the Løsning chainmail is the very first to be recuperated from a settlement website instead of a burial, according to the declaration. This sophisticated piece of armor was pricey and lengthy to produce, so it most likely came from the chieftain himself, according to the archaeologists.

In addition to the weapons, archaeologists discovered pieces of 2 bronze neck rings referred to as “oath rings.” These devices were signs of power in the Iron Age, even more vouching for the chieftain’s impact. The group likewise discovered pieces of a horse bridle and a bugle, along with a variety of iron and bronze items that have yet to be studied.

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A piece of an “oath ring” — an Iron Age sign of power– was found throughout a historical excavation in Denmark. (Image credit: Vejle Museums)

The weapons cache has actually been plainly connected to an Iron Age chief’s home, archaeologists are not sure whether the items belonged to regional warriors or were accumulated as the spoils of war. A comparable Iron Age stockpile discovered in the town of Vindelev, simply 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of Løsning, indicates the existence of various effective chieftains in the location.

The scientists will continue their analysis of the website and its weapons compromise to much better comprehend Iron Age warriors and society.

Kristina Killgrove is a personnel author at Live Science with a concentrate on archaeology and paleoanthropology news. Her posts have actually likewise appeared in locations such as Forbes, Smithsonian, and Mental Floss. Killgrove holds postgraduate degrees in sociology and classical archaeology and was previously a university teacher and scientist. She has actually gotten awards from the Society for American Archaeology and the American Anthropological Association for her science composing.