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Danish Prehistory |
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Experience 14,000 years of Danish prehistory, from the reindeer-hunters of the Ice Age to the voyages of the Vikings. The exhibition includes unique archaeological treasures like the Trundholm Chariot of the Sun, the Egtved girl’s grave, the Gundestrup cauldron, the Hoby tomb and much more.
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Stone Age |
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The fist reindeer hunters arrived in Denmark in about 13.000 BC, as the Ice Age drew to a close. A few thousand years later the temperature rose and forests thrived all over the country. The number of finds now increases and includes among others the wounded aurochs from Vig in Odsherred on Zealand.
The aurochs was one of many species to populate the light open forests that flourished in Denmark around 9.500 BC. The aurochs was allmost two metres tall, and encountered two groups of hunters. We know from the remains of flint arrowheads in a healed wound, that the ox was hit by one group but survived. It was less lucky the second time around and fled into a small lake with several arrows lodged in its ribs. The skeleton was unearthed in 1905.
A large number of Late Stone Age artefacts survives from around 4.000 BC, including many graves, sacrifices and settlements, as well as exquisite flint implements and pottery. |
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Bronze Age |
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The Bronze Age finds are among the National Museum´s biggest attractions. These include the Chariot of the Sun, oak coffins containing the oldest preserved clothes from North Europe and the lurs, the oldest Nordic wind instruments.
The Chariot of the Sun was discovered by a farmer ploughing Trundholm Bog in Odsherred on Zealand in 1902. The disc is coated with a thin layer of gold on one side representing daytime when the sun is on its east-west trajectory. The Chariot of the Sun is unique. No religious artefact like it has been found anywhere else in the world.
The young, blond girl from Egtved was buried one summer day in 1370 BC. Aged 16-18 and 160 cm tall, she was wrapped in a cowhide and laid in an oak coffin along with her jewellery, a small box containing hair net and a vessel made from birch bark containing a fermented drink brewed from wheat, cowberries and bog myrtle. A plant of the yarrow species was placed at her knees, and at her feet a woollen bundle containing the charred remains of a child aged eight or nine. The girl´s clothes are well preserved and of the type that was commonplace throughout the Bronze Age - a short woven wool shirt and a short skirt made of cords with a band at the top and bottom.
The sonorous mystical tone of the bronze lur would ring out at religious ceremonies where the instruments were played in pairs as the priests and priestesses led ritual processions, some of the priests wearing horned helmets. Depictions of such ceremonies can be found on rock carvings. Lurs were cast in separate plates, and some have 'jingling plates' to create a magical sound. Thirtyfive lurs have survived in Denmark as have a further 24 in Sweden, Norway, North Germany and Estonia. |
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Iron Age |
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Iron was not the only metal to proliferate during the Iron Age. Gold and silver were also widespread, and examples from the collection include the famous Gundestrup Cauldron with its inscrutable figures. As the Roman Empire expanded and roads were built, merchants began to trade over great distances. During this period, luxury goods from the Roman Empire reached Denmark.
The most famous find of gold from the Iron Age consists of two golden horns, each weighing approximately three kilos, discovered near Gallehus ind Southern Jutland in 1639 and 1734. Both horns were put on display in the Royal Cabinet of Curiosities. In 1802, they were stolen by a goldsmith, Niels Heidenreich, who had allready melted them down by the time he was apprehended. After studying the old police reports from 1802, two new horns were made in 1979, which are thought to be closer to the originals than the previous copies.
Silver was virtually unknown in Denmark when this large cauldron of nine kilos arrived in the country in around 100 BC. The style and techniques suggest it was produced in the southern Balkans by Thracians, a long-lost people who specialised in the manufacture of luxurious silverware.
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Viking Age |
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| In the Viking Age approximately 800-1050 AD runic stones were set up to commemorate the dead and sometimes pass on detalis of the death. Inscriptions in Old Danish have been hewn into the stones which were commissioned by both men and women from the upper echelons of society. The oldest of the runic stones date back to pagan times, while the more recent are Christian. |
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