Now housed in the Prince’s Palace in Copenhagen, the National Museum of Denmark has one of the oldest established collections of prehistoric artefacts in the world. It dates back to King Frederik VI, who set up Den Kongelige Commission til Oldsagers Opbevaring (The Royal Commission for the Preservation of Antiquities) in 1807. One early secretary […]
Denmark
Richard Hodges travels to… Denmark’s Viking fortresses
A Tuscan challenge Modern archaeology cannot turn a blind eye to its importance in contemporary society. There is a huge and growing appetite for visiting archaeological sites as global tourism grows at an extraordinary pace. So, although my European Research Council project under the Tuscan sun does not envisage a popular archaeological outcome for our […]
Object Lesson: Trundholm Sun Chariot
What is it? This unique Nordic bronze piece was discovered in Denmark and dates to the Early Bronze Age, c.1400 BC. It illustrates the eternal journey of the sun, as depicted by a divine horse pulling an ornate golden disc, all on rotating wheels. The Sun Chariot is 54cm long, and the sun disc, which […]
A golden find: unique Iron Age figurine from Bornholm
A unique gold figurine in the shape of a woman, thought to be 1,500 years old, has been found close to a large Iron Age settlement on the Danish island of Bornholm. Despite standing just 4.2cm (1.7in) tall, the figure is intricately detailed with her facial features and incised hair clearly visible. She is naked […]
Insight of the Valkyrie
A small silver figurine, found on the Danish island of Funen, is the first-known 3D representation of a valkyrie from the Viking Age, archaeologists say. Images of armed women interpreted as valkyries – literally ‘choosers of the slain’, companions of the god Odin, who in Norse mythology are sent to battlefields to fetch warriors fated […]
No sting in this tale
A piece of cloth woven from nettle fibres and found in a Danish Bronze Age burial mound is evidence of far-reaching trade connections 2,800 years ago, archaeologists say. Excavated on Funen, off the coast of Denmark, the cloth had been used to wrap the cremated remains of a man, which were then placed in a […]
Denmark: National Museum
We travel from all over the country to visit a special exhibition at the British Museum in London, or even hop across the Channel to Paris and Brussels. The journey to Copenhagen is not that much more of a stretch, and it is certainly worth the trip to visit the fabulous National Museum of Denmark, […]
Book review: War and worship
To many archaeologists, Northern European bogs mean votive offerings of Iron Age weapons. This book focuses on four sites renowned for their metal finds – Thorsberg in Germany; and Nydam, Vimose, and Illerup Adal in Denmark. Here, however, Susan Moller-Wiering investigates a lesser known aspect of these deposits: the well-preserved textiles also recovered from them. […]
Copenhagen
Richard Hodges visits the distinguished Danish archaeologist Klavs Randsborg and together they explore Denmark’s past
Denmark Underwater, Sunken Stone Age
Ole Grøn and Jørgen Skaarup report on their excavations at a 5000 BC underwater site, Denmark
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