The find from Mariesminde

In 1862 a magnificent bronze vessel was found at Mariesminde on Funen. In it lay 11 gold bowls. The bowls were made of hammered-up gold sheet, and most were furnished with horsehead-shaped bronze handles. Eight of the bowls make up four sets and the last three bowls are non-uniform. The total weight in gold is 1154 grams. The hoard from Mariesminde is one of the most magnificent sacrificial finds from the Bronze Age. Its finder was the 61-year-old smallholder Rasmus Pedersen. According to the local pastor he was ‘a very hard-working and respectable, but extremely poor man’ who was the father of five children. He received a finder’s reward of 1100 Rigsdaler, which corresponded to 7-8 years’ income for a smallholder.