A trace of the past became visible in the present and allowed the acquisition of more knowledge about the history of civilization. In Denmarka man ended up revealing an exceptional treasure from the viking age thanks to the discovery of two gold artifacts of more than thousand years old.
The Danish institution North Jutland Museumsa regional network of cultural history museums, disclosed the news in May through its official website.
«It’s a find completely unique; simply we have never seen anything like it here in the museum,» declared the entity’s cultural heritage manager and archaeologist, Torben Sarauwthrough press release from the beginning of May.
One day in April of this year, according to Nordjyske Museer, a Danish citizen found two gold earrings buried next to a country road in one wooded area close to the town of role, located in the north of the Scandinavian country. The objects were partially visible.
On April 22, after the discovery, the man approached the offices of the Nordjyske Museer institution and delivered the two metal pieces al consider them of archaeological interest.
After a preliminary analysis, the entity’s experts realized that the artifacts in question were solid gold viking age bracelets.
Soon, a team from the organization’s archeology department approached the site where they had been discovered to investigate further.
In the end, archaeologists found in the same area four additional gold braceletsalso from the same period. The six objects were in a excellent state of conservation«intact«, as indicated by the entity in the statement.
«Archaeologists managed to document a discovery of six gold bracelets with a total weight of 762.5 grams. This discovery constitutes the third most important gold find of the Viking Age in Denmark (…)», said Nordjyske Museer.
What are the bracelets like and what origin do they have?
The bracelets of Rold’s treasure —the name with which the discovery was baptized, The royal tax in Danish—date from between the years 900 and 1000 AD. c.
«It is precisely in those years when the Danish territory begins to unify into a single kingdomsomething that Harald Bluetooth (editor’s note: king of Denmark), among other things, announces in the Piedras de Jelling around the year 965. In Viking times, gold bracelets of this type were often associate with power, wealth and political connections. Therefore, it is possible that the original owners of the gold bracelets found had links with the nascent monarchy Danish from the 9th century,» the institution detailed in the statement.
The six golden ornaments They have a particular ornamentation. “The discovery includes gold bracelets with shapes both twisted and smoothwhich together bear witness to a highly specialized goldsmithingwhich also contributes to making the discovery something very special,” said Sarauw.
On the other hand, Nordjyske Museer highlighted the fact that the artifacts have been found intact: «This reinforces the interpretation that these bracelets They did not function as simple payment currenciesbut as a status symbol and a visible sign of power, rank and affiliationor as a valuable gift with a strong symbolic meaningwhich marked social relationships, loyalty and status».
For his part, Sarauw offered an explanation for the reason for the joint burial of these bracelets: “When these were buried together, it was often interpreted as a deliberate depositwhether it was for Secure values in turbulent times or as part of rituals whose full meaning is difficult to determine nowadays. Roldskatten gives us an exceptional vision of the world and the social structure of the Vikings.”
