The chieftain’s grave from Hoby

At Hoby on Lolland a chieftain’s grave from the Early Roman Iron Age has been found. The grave is one of the richest dating to this period from northern Europe. The buried man, judging from his remains, was middle-aged. He was buried in the time just after the Birth of Christ with magnificent grave furnishings. These included a Roman table service, which was ready for use. This consisted of a washing dish, a wine bucket and scoop, a jug, a tray and two costly drinking cups of silver decorated with scenes from The Iliad. All the parts of this Roman drinking service were made in Italy around the time of the Birth of Christ. The following objects were also found in the grave: a silver cup with a handle, a drinking horn of which only the bronze mountings survived, a bronze knife, a bone pin, a wooden casket, bronze and iron sheets, a belt buckle, two gold finger rings, seven fibulae, three pottery vessels and two hams.