for all Whilst the swords of the Viking Age were preserved for the use of just a few, many Vikings owned axes. They have been found in the richly furnished warrior graves of the Viking Age, as well as in simple graves, in which the deceased had little to accompany them on their last journey. All the axes are made of iron, but some are more elaborately decorated than others. The axe from the magnate’s grave at Mammen in Jutland, for example, is decorated with inlaid silver decoration. Another example of an axe that must have belonged to a magnate is the long-bladed axe from Over Hornbæk, near Randers.
that either had long-distance connections or by other means was able to obtain the imported objects. This type of table service was relatively common amongst the Romans, whereas bronze and glass vessels [...] The Roman connections of the woman from Juellinge The woman from Juellinge had different imported objects with her in the grave, including two finely cut drinking glasses and a large bronze cauldron. [...] from the Juellinge-grave. Roman glass is also found in other graves from the time around the birth of christ. Here you can see a blue one with threads from Himlingøje on Stevns.
The Egtved Girl The Egtved Girl is one of the best-known figures from prehistory. One summer’s day in 1370 BC she was buried in an oak coffin that was covered by the barrow Storehøj near Egtved, west [...] with her in the grave, attached to her belt. Around each arm was a ring of bronze and she had a slender ring in her ear. By her face lay a small box of bark with a bronze awl and the remains of a hair net. At the feet [...] from the same child were found in the bark box. The Egtved Girl saw the light of day again when her grave was excavated in 1921 – almost 3500 years later. Reconstruction of the Egtved Girl's clothes . You can see
of horse-drawn vehicles on Greek vases. Grave stele from shaft grave V in Mycenae, Greece, depicting a horse harnessed to a chariot. 1600 BC. Pikestaffs of bronze found near Strandtved on Funen, Buddinge on Zealand and Hovstrup in southwest Jutland. When the bronze point was mounted on a long wooden pole it could be used to steer the horse during chariot driving.
Polished flint axes from Staby, near Ringkøbing. The Neolithic period The Neolithic period covers the era 3900-1700 BC. The hunting people in Denmark had long had contact with the farming societies [...] as domesticated animals. The big change was that people could produce their own food products. Coastal fishing was still good and therefore the farming population continued for a long time to hunt and fish from the old settlements on the coast. The farmers’ grave monuments in the form of dolmens and passage graves were constructed all over Denmark. They can be seen still in many places in the Danish landscape.
Distant connections Many objects found in Denmark testify to long-distance trade networks. The swords from Stensgård and Torupgårde were made in Hungary or Romania. Other swords from Dollerup and Ørskovhede were probably produced in southern Germany, as imitations of types from the Mediterranean area. The sword from Trevad originates from southern Germany. Two miniature double axes from a grave in Værløse, north of Copenhagen, came here via even more distant connections with the eastern Mediterranean or Bulgaria. A collection of blue glass beads originate from the Mediterranean area or southeast
Gudme – the prince’s hall In 1994 several of the large hall buildings in the central part of the Gudme settlement were excavated. The first hall was 47 m long and 10 m wide and exceptional [...] gold, are objects that are normally only found in the richest graves of the period. These finds reflect the aristocratic environment that we can imagine existed in the hall at Gudme. Gold and silver objects from two votive deposits which were buried against the roof bearing posts of hall VII in Gudme. The largest hall in Gudme is 47 m long; this picture shows how it appeared at the excavation
from the poisonous henbane plant. These two accessories are associated with the seeress. The most mysterious object is the metal staff. It has partially disintegrated after the long period in the ground. It consists [...] to an important battle, to give them strength and courage? Sometimes very unusual archaeological finds are made. For example, there is the very strange Viking woman’s grave, which was found at the ring fortress of “Fyrkat”, near Hobro, in Denmark. Amongst the total of around 30 graves from the site, it stands out because of its unusual grave goods. It was the grave of a female, who may have been a seeress. At the time
of 16 long houses, which are arranged in blocks of 4 houses positioned around a shared yard. In two of these yards – the ones placed in the north-east and south-west parts of the fortress respectively – [...] whether any of these relate to the fortress as they may not be contemporary to it. There is also evidence of numerous wells and waste pits. The outer ward In the outer ward or bailey are a total of 15 long [...] Only the two southernmost long houses of the outer ward contained evidence of having had fireplaces. The rampart and moat of the outer ward were significantly smaller than those of the inner fortress,
which is comparable to other richly-furnished völur women’s graves from Scandinavia. The völva burial from Köpingsvik, on the Swedish island of Öland, contained an 82 cm long iron staff, with bronze ornamentation and a [...] The magic staffs of the Viking seeresses? Two seeress’s magic staffs. The shorter one is from the Gävle area of Sweden and the longer from a grave at Fuldby, near Ringsted in Denmark. Völva probably means staff or wand carrier. The staff or wand was also an important accessory in the carrying out of seid or magic. There are several examples of mysterious iron staffs from Viking Age graves
