A collection of Iron Age jewelry, coins, and medallions made from gold were discovered by a novice metal detectorist in Denmark. Conservation Center Vejle
A metal detector was used by a man to discover 1,500-year-old treasure in Denmark.
It was filled with gold coins, medallions, and jewelry, making it one of the most important hoards found in the country.
A volcano eruption may have led to an Iron Age chieftain burying the gold in order to please the gods.
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Ole Ginnerup Schytzlast hadn't used a metal detector before. In December, he tried it on Vindelev, Denmark's former classmate.
After just hours, Schytzlast discovered one of the most extensive treasure hoards in the country.
In an interview with Danish TV Syd, the rookie detectorist stated that "that's the epitome improbable luck" earlier in the month. "Denmark covers 43,000 km2, and I chose to place the detector exactly where this find was."
The hoard contained a golden bracelet. Conservation Center Vejle
The Vejle Museums archaeologists have been carefully excavating Schytzlast's finds for the past nine months. They have discovered more than 22 gold medallions, coins and jewelry dating back at least 1,500 year.
Add it all up and you get more than 2 lbs of gold. The hoarder was rich and powerful.
Mads Ravn (head of research at Vejle Museums), stated that only the elite of society could have gathered a treasure such as the one found here in a statement that was released earlier this month.
Ravn and his associates believe that the gold belonged to an Iron Age chieftain, who attracted skilled artisans into the region.
Medallions as large as saucers
Ole Ginnerup Schytz was a novice metal detectorist who discovered the hoard. Vejle Museums
Schytzlast initially didn't recognize the gold collection - nicknamed "Vindelev hoard" after the location it was located - for what they were.
He told TV Syd that the first artifact he found looked like a small piece bent metal.
He said, "It was covered in mud and full of scratches." "I didn't know what it was, so all that I could think of was that the lid looked like a can of herring."
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One of the many gold medallions found in the hoard. Conservation Center Vejle
Ravn then took a photograph of one of his finds and sent it to the Vejle Museums. CNN reported that the researcher nearly fell from his chair.
Ravn stated, "I told Ravn that he may as well sell the detector now since he already peaked." "It doesn't get better."
Ravn sent archaeologists there to find many decorated medallions as large as saucers. These are known as bracteates, because they are thicker than coins.
They also found bracelets, coins and coins that were made into pendants.
Possible ties to Odin, the Norse god
The hoard is believed to date back to the middle of the 6th century, suggesting that an Iron Age society existed in the area just a few centuries before the Vikings arrived. Museum archaeologists couldn't identify some of the symbols embossed on some pieces.
Experts were particularly attracted to two pieces of gold.
One bracteate shows a braided male surrounded by a horse, and a bird. The man appears to be communicating with the birds. Runes are placed above his head that roughly translate as "houar" or "the highest one".
A medallion known as a Bracteate with the face of a man, runes and a medallion. Conservation Center Vejle
Ravn's team believes that the term could refer the chieftain who buried treasure. Myths also link "houar" to Odin, the Norse god wisdom and war.
A medallion depicting Constantine, the Roman Emperor. Conservation Center Vejle
Another coin shows Constantine, the Roman emperor Constantine The Great. He ruled over the Roman Empire for nearly 1,700 years. The presence of the coin in the hoard indicates that people from this Iron Age group traded goods with other societies.
To appease the gods, bury gold
Experts don't know why the chieftain put so much gold in his grave.
He may have hidden the treasure in order to protect it from war-invaders. Ravn suggested that the hoard was more likely to be an offer.
2015 research found that the climate in Scandinavia was cooling due to an ash cloud resulting from a large volcanic eruption 536 AD. This caused crop failures and widespread famine. This was around the time that the hoard was buried. Other gold hoards were also discovered in the area, which archaeologists believe date back to the period after the eruption. Museum experts believe that this all suggests that Denmark's late Iron Age occupants may have hidden gold to appease their gods in chaotic times.
Researchers are preparing the hoard to be displayed in the Vejle Museums Viking exhibition in Denmark. It will open February 2022. Vejle Museums
The Vejle Museums of Jutland will display the extraordinary find beginning in February 2022.
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