Bronze Age/Iron Age Transitional Ritual Curved Sword

Ritual deposits, including a ceremonially curved sword, were discovered in a bog near Wiksel, northwest of Copenhagen, Denmark. A small part of the collection dates to the transition from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age around 500 BC, and the sword actually embodies this transition, being made of bronze with iron rivets.

Claus Falsby discovered them the first time he went out with a metal detector. He contacted ROMU, the museum organization that manages archaeological responsibilities in central and western New Zealand. ROMU archaeologists immediately went to the site to excavate and discovered more items. In total, the collection now includes a bronze sword with an iron rivet on the handle that snakes into an S-shaped curve, two small bronze axes (called celts), two or three large ankle bracelets called vultures , a fragment of a large fibula and an object of unknown purpose.

A few days later, Klaus Falsby and his metal detector were back and once again got very lucky. Just 230 feet away from where he originally found it, he found a large bronze necklace with a herringbone design, the second such necklace to be found in Denmark. The neck rings are believed to have been made on the Baltic coast in what is now Poland, and likely found their way to Wiksel through trade.

Veksø, about 12 miles from Denmark’s capital, sits on a hill and is surrounded by peat bogs, which archaeologists believe were lakes from the Nordic Bronze Age (c. 1750-500 BC). Some exceptional early and middle Bronze Age archaeological finds have been found around Wixor, including an iconic pair of horned helmets dating to around 1000 BC, but late Bronze Age artefacts are much rarer.

“I think this is a very rare find. We’ve found a lot of these deposits from the early and middle Bronze Age onwards, where bronze vessels turned up in bogs. But we don’t know much about the end of the Bronze Age. Sacrificial traditions Being so obvious and dominant has a lot to do with the society that existed throughout the Bronze Age, but at the end of the Bronze Age it was in retreat,” says Archaeologist from ROMU, responsible for the archaeological excavations in the city of Egedal.

Despite the dramatic cultural changes that occurred in the transition between eras, Ejdal’s findings prove that the elite continued traditions that were more popular hundreds of years ago. They were still able to afford extremely expensive materials and objects, and were still willing to destroy them and sacrifice them for religious purposes.

The newly discovered objects have not yet been examined and analyzed. But Emil Winther Struve can draw some conclusions. Besides this, when they were put into the swamp as sacrifices. A bronze sword with iron rivets, two materials in the same object, almost a physical representation of the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. The sword’s iron rivets may be the earliest known iron finds in Denmark. This means that these items were placed around 500 BC, more than 2,500 years ago. At the same time, the sword’s design suggests that it was not produced in Denmark, but may have been imported from the south. Specifically, north of the Alps, where the Hallstatt culture developed at the end of the Bronze Age and became dominant in Europe.

“The shape of their swords was completely different than before, maybe because of the different uses. The early swords were fragile and probably used for stabbing. But now they’re rougher, sturdier, and have different weights, so you The Hallstatt culture spread relatively quickly, with warrior ideals and an aggressive structure that required conquest, war, and conflict. There may be a picture on this sword,” Emir said. Emil Winther Struve said.

The objects are now in the National Museum, where they are being conserved and analysed.