An Iron Age Chieftain’s 1,500-Year-Old Chain Mail And Weapons Were Found In Denmark
More than 100 weapons were discovered underneath the house of an Iron Age chieftain in Denmark. The 1,500-year-old collection may have served as an offering.
Denmark was right at the edge of the Roman Empire’s bounds as part of greater Germania between the 1st and 4th centuries A.D. In this area, most people were farmers, but Julius Caesar and other Romans wrote about violent Germanic warriors.
It is believed that Romans may have even provided weapons to tribes in Denmark, possibly to maintain peace at the border with Scandinavia.
The collection of weapons was found during a highway expansion project at a site called Løsning Søndermark. The metal weapons were buried beneath two houses from the early 5th century. They likely belonged to someone with great military power.
Since the weapons were intentionally buried during a house demolition, archaeologists think they were sacrificed after success in war.
The objects included 119 spears and lances, eight swords, five knives, three arrowheads, an ax, and a set of chain mail.
“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,” said Elias Witte Thomasen, the leader of the excavation and an archaeologist at Vejle Museums.
“We suddenly feel very close to the people who lived here 1,500 years ago.”
Iron Age chainmail is rare, as few examples have been found in southern Scandinavia. The Løsning chainmail was the first to be recovered from a settlement site instead of a burial.
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This intricate piece of armor took a lot of time and expensive materials to produce, so it most likely belonged to the chieftain.
Aside from the weapons, the archaeologists uncovered fragments of two bronze rings worn around the neck, known as “oath rings.” Such accessories were seen as symbols of power during the Iron Age.
The research team also unearthed fragments of a horse bridle and bugle, as well as various iron and bronze artifacts that have yet to be identified.
Furthermore, large amounts of ceramics and flint demonstrate that the site was repeatedly occupied over the course of thousands of years.
The stash of weapons has been clearly associated with an Iron Age chief’s dwelling, but archaeologists remain uncertain whether the items were owned by local warriors or collected as trophies of war.
A similar Iron Age hoard in the town of Vindelev, about 10 miles west of Løsning, indicates that several powerful chieftains were present in the area.
Moving forward, the researchers will continue conducting thorough examinations of the site and its sacrificial weapons in order to learn more about the complexities of Iron Age society and the warriors of the time period.
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