Ole Ginnerup Schytz, a novice treasure hunter, had only been using his new metal detector for a few hours when he made an incredible find: a cache of 1,500-year-old gold items from the Iron Age. Experts now consider the discovery, which was unearthed in a field close to the Danish town of Jelling in the southwest in December, to be among the biggest and most significant in Danish history.
After hearing the device operate, Schytz recalled removing some dirt to reveal a little, bent bit of metal.
According to Sarah Cascone of Artnet News’ translation of his words, “It was scratched and covered in mud,” he tells Steffen Neupert of the Danish television network TV Syd. “I had no idea; the only thing that came to mind was that it resembled the top of a can of herring.”
In fact, the novice metal detectorist had discovered the first of 22 pieces of gold jewelry from the sixth century. The collection weighted little over two pounds in total.
According to Felix Allen of the Sun’s reporting on Schytz’s interview with TV Syd, the discovery is “the epitome of pure luck.”
“Denmark has a total area of 16,621 square miles, and I just so happened to place the detector there, where this find was made”, he continues.
The ancient artifacts were finally made public by the Vejlemuseerne in Jutland months after Schytz’s accidental discovery.
Archaeologist Peter Vang Petersen told TV Syd that “this is the biggest find that has come in the 40 years I have been at the National Museum [of Denmark],” according to Artnet News. “To find something similar, we have to go back to the 16th and 18th centuries.”
The majority of the haul, according to a statement, are bracteates, or medallions, which were common in northern Europe throughout the Migration Period (approximately 300 to 700 C.E.). The pendants, which were frequently etched with runes or magical symbols, were worn by women as a form of protection.
Experts aren’t familiar with many of the symbols seen on the recently discovered bracteates, according to Mads Ravn, director of research at the Vejle museums, who spoke to Agence France-Presse (AFP). By interpreting them, we can learn more about the little-known pre-Viking societies that lived in the area.
More than their rarity, these items’ meaning, according to Ravn, is what makes them special.
Older antiquities discovered in the cache include Roman gold coins that were made into jewelry. One shows the great Constantine, who ruled from 306 to 337 CE. According to Artnet News, the coin’s discovery implies that Jelling, which is recognized as the birthplace of the Viking civilisation between the eighth and the twelfth centuries, was a major trading hub with connections to other parts of Europe.
The flawless craftsmanship of the items indicates a likely high social rank for their first owner.
“Only one member of society’s absolute top [would have] been able to collect a treasure like the one found here,” said Ravn in the statement.
The ruins of a village longhouse were found when researchers explored the location where Schytz discovered the gold. Nothing that “could [have] made us predict that an unprecedented warlord or great man lived here, long before the kingdom of Denmark arose in the following centuries” existed prior to the amateur treasure hunter’s discovery, argues Ravn.
According to archaeologists, the riches may have been buried as a last-ditch sacrifice to the gods or as a means of defense against invaders. The discovery is dated to a period in or around 536, when an Icelandic volcanic eruption coated the sky in ash and led to a severe famine throughout Scandinavia. It has been determined that other gold hoards discovered in the area, notably a collection of 32 objects discovered on the island of Hjarn, date to this time period.
