2023-10-27 18:38:00
In 2020, an incredible treasure containing 794 grams of gold was discovered in Vindelev, Jutland (nicknamed “the nose of Denmark”) by two archeology enthusiasts. Among the artifacts found, whose importance is sometimes compared to that of cornes d’or by Gallehusfeature four Roman medallions and fifteen gold bracteates, thin sheets of metal stamped with inscriptions.
One of the latter, composed of thirty-four runes, was deciphered at the beginning of 2023, revealing the oldest sequence referring to the most important god in Norse mythology: “The one who [est] l’homme d’Odin”approximately 1,600 years old.
Unfortunately, some of the buried loot’s bracteates were bent to such an extent that specialists from the National Museum of Denmark and the Vejle Museums could not analyze their patterns, at the risk of breaking them while trying to return them to their original shape.
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However, they did not admit defeat, they indicate in a communiqué of October 25, 2023: in an attempt to “unfold” the components of the treasure and perhaps thus obtain new knowledge on Danish societies of the 5th and 6th centuries, before the Viking era, they decided to appeal at the Technical University of Denmark in Kongens Lyngby and its technologies.
Sometimes technology can open doors that we can’t open. — Mads Ravn, archaeologist and head of research at the Vejle Museums (Denmark).
One of the biggest gold treasures in Danish #history has been 3D scanned at DTU. Researchers try to unfold the gold pieces digitally to uncover new knowledge about the power dynasties of the #IronAge. @MadsRavn9 @dtu_compute https://t.co/cTSSaDxcUl
— DTU (@DTUtweet) October 26, 2023
9,600 CT images of the bracteates
More usually used in hospitals to obtain detailed x-ray images of patients’ internal organs, computed tomography (or CT-Scan) had already been used in archeology in the past to reconstruct a skull of Tyrannosaurus rex 66 million years old.
This time, technology was used to scan the bracteates and recreate them as 3D digital models. The scientists thus found themselves with “an ancient mystery and 9,600 CT images to unfold it [numériquement]”they say.
However, they ran into another problem. “When gold has many tight folds, it is difficult for us to separate the surfaces from each other. Ultimately, it is very difficult to produce a perfect unfold where you can see all the details “, details in the press release Hans Martin Kjer, researcher at the Technical University of Denmark who participated in the research. The objective of the project therefore shifted from deploying an entire medal to only individual parts.
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An alliance between heads of Vindelev and Goodness ?
Especially since specialists are seeking to confirm a hypothesis. At the time the objects were designed, Mads Ravn explains, the region was called “Wild Germania” by the Romans. Clan leaders then shared and competed for territories, wealth and supporters.
The size of the treasure found at Vindelev suggests that the owner of the loot must have been a very powerful ruler. By extension, the town, located 8 kilometers east of the important Jelling — where the two eponymous runestones were found — could have constituted a center of power.
At the same time, underlines the archaeologist, the loot resembles others identified near the would the Gods on the island of Funen, considered one of the largest and richest Iron Age settlements in all of Denmark (and even Scandinavia) from the 3rd to 6th centuries.
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Could some of the Vindelev bracteates have thus been made by a blacksmith from Gudme? So have they changed owners? If the theory is validated, it could reveal a close link, or even an alliance, between two important clan leaders. “It is possible that gold was given as a gift on the occasion of marriages between the daughters and sons of each clan“, imagine Mads Ravn.
Many questions remain unanswered
To confirm (or refute) this idea, the researchers have their eyes fixed on the patterns of the largest bracteate, which could inform them about its antiquity and even, if the object bears stamps similar to those found on the Gudme medals , having been made by the same goldsmith. “It’s a bit like a trial: the more circumstantial evidence we find, the stronger the case becomes.”
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The first results seem rather encouraging. A small area with fewer folds was “unfolded” on one of the smallest bracteates, X19. It still remains to achieve this on the others, to finally answer the outstanding questions: who did the important buried treasure belong to? What was the status or rank of this person? Its field ? Why do some bracteates appear to have been folded by hand, when others were damaged by a modern plow much later? Was the loot deliberately damaged for sacrifice to the gods? “The search never stops”conclude the scientists enthusiastically.
On the same topic :
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⋙ Amateur archaeologist discovers ‘gold treasure of the century’ in Norway
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#Researchers #attempt #unravel #mysteries #Vindelev #preViking #treasure