Large finds of Danish amber

Several of the sacrificial finds of amber are very large. The biggest find in terms of weight came from a bog at Læsten, near Randers in 1837. The find contained more than 4000 beads. All the amber lay together and it weighed 8.5 kg. However, this amber hoard is not unique. At Mollerup in northern Jutland Stone Age farmers also made a splendid offering of amber in a wetland area at some point in the fourth millennium BC. It contained no fewer than 12,849 amber beads that had been given away to the powers above. Many of the beads were brand new – on their surfaces traces of their manufacture can still be seen – traces that would quickly have worn away if the beads had been used as jewellery.