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Archaeologists Baffled By 2,000 Tiny Gold Spirals Discovered In Denmark
gizmodo ^ | July 13, 2015

Posted on 07/14/2015 12:36:43 PM PDT by BenLurkin

Boeslunde is in Zealand, the large island that sits between mainland Denmark and the tip of Sweden. It’s a hotbed for archaeology in Denmark since it has served as a connective hub for thousands of years—netting recent finds as diverse as 1,000-year-old viking jewelry to actual fortresses in the past year. Boeslunde, where the spirals were discovered, is “a special sacred place in the Bronze Age where prehistoric people performed their rituals and offered gold to the higher powers,” according to the Danish National Museum’s curator, Flemming Kaul. The constant discovery of new gold around the area has spurred more thorough digs—including one by the National Museum and the local Museum Vestsjælland, which uncovered this new finding.

So, what exactly did they find? Thousands of tightly-wound gold wires, each about one inch long, that together made up more than half a pound of solid gold, which seems to have been buried in a wooden box lined with fur which has long since disintegrated. Fascinatingly, no one’s quite sure how these tiny wires were actually used—the museum calls it “a little mystery” in its press release about the find, which dates from around 900 BC.

(Excerpt) Read more at gizmodo.com ...


TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: 000; 2; 2000; denmark; found; godsgravesglyphs; gold; goldspirals; viking; vikinggold; vikings
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To: BenLurkin

Not decorations that much is true


21 posted on 07/14/2015 12:51:26 PM PDT by Nifster
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To: GraceG

Indeed


22 posted on 07/14/2015 12:51:45 PM PDT by Nifster
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To: Bidimus1

Nah. Gold is too soft


23 posted on 07/14/2015 12:52:14 PM PDT by Nifster
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To: Uncle Miltie

Or that but I suspect intentionally wound


24 posted on 07/14/2015 12:53:08 PM PDT by Nifster
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To: JoeProBono

That’s what I’m thinking. Someone was working gold, focused more on the end product than stray shavings, and somehow the location got abandoned & covered before anyone thought to clean up the (possibly relatively trivial) leftovers.


25 posted on 07/14/2015 12:53:29 PM PDT by ctdonath2 (The world map will be quite different come 20 January 2017.)
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To: Nifster
Not decorations that much is true

How do you know which such certainty that they weren't used as decorations of some sort?

26 posted on 07/14/2015 12:56:11 PM PDT by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
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To: GraceG

It could possibly be they way they were made and stored. Beating the gold around a stick or something would get it that shape then put into a fur lined box for safe keeping/travel.


27 posted on 07/14/2015 12:59:16 PM PDT by IllumiNaughtyByNature ($1.84 - The price of a gallon of gas on Jan. 20th, 2009.)
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To: BenLurkin

Money. Prices denominated in number of gold coils.


28 posted on 07/14/2015 1:00:29 PM PDT by buffaloguy
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To: buffaloguy
How about as ancient hair braids?

Golden Braids

29 posted on 07/14/2015 1:02:49 PM PDT by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
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To: Army Air Corps

Yup, lathe fall.


30 posted on 07/14/2015 1:03:21 PM PDT by gorush (History repeats itself because human nature is static)
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To: buffaloguy
Katy Perry Had Small Braids With Gold Beads At The Bottoms In Her
31 posted on 07/14/2015 1:04:51 PM PDT by ETL (ALL (most?) of the Obama-commie connections at my FR Home page: http://www.freerepublic.com/~etl/)
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To: BenLurkin

You spiral wind the gold wire to a specific diameter as you see here, and then you can cut off individual loops to make a chain. What you see here is just an intermediate stage in the production of jewelry.


32 posted on 07/14/2015 1:28:48 PM PDT by Kirkwood (Zombie Hunter)
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To: Uncle Miltie
Looks like leavings from a lathe. But who would leave gold behind?

They didn't. They stashed them in a box for later use, but never got a round tuit.

33 posted on 07/14/2015 1:42:34 PM PDT by Vroomfondel
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To: Kirkwood; SunkenCiv; Swordmaker

Finally someone sees the obvious.

Anyone who has worked on metal jewelry would know immediately what those spirals are.

To make chains, ornamental or practical, in that size, the metal, gold, silver, or bronze is progressively drawn thru a die of a harder metal. The result is wire which can be left round or beaten flatter.

The spirals are the first evidence of mass profuction.

The wire is wrapped around a metal mandrel, basically a rod, in tight coils. And when usung precious metals the coils are, of course, short.

The chains of round links I made were cut from the coil with a very fine jeweler’s saw blade but one could just as well used a small chisel. Cutting along the longitudinal axis of the mandrel has them dropping off rapidly. The amount of soft gold coils could be reduced to links in less than two hours. Mass production.

The cut links because of the spiral wrapping, have ends that don’t meet but are offset the width of the wire used. A simple twist to have them meet after linking with another cutoff link and you have the v beginning of a chain.

The joined link ends can the be soldered together to appear monolithic.


34 posted on 07/14/2015 2:06:25 PM PDT by Covenantor ("Men are ruled...by liars who 4refuse them news, and by fools who cannot govern." Chesterton)
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To: BenLurkin

Essential components of a flux capacitor!


35 posted on 07/14/2015 2:21:31 PM PDT by TigersEye (This is the age of the death of reason and rule of law. Prepare!)
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To: BenLurkin

I have it on good authority that these were early versions of coronary artery stents developed to treat blockages in the hearts of Vikings...


36 posted on 07/14/2015 2:29:05 PM PDT by 43north (BHO: 50% black, 50% white, 100% RED.)
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To: BenLurkin

I knew it...THE VIKINGS INVENTED THE SLINKY.


37 posted on 07/14/2015 2:30:09 PM PDT by House Atreides (CRUZ or lose!)
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To: TigersEye

All they needed was to get the Bagdad Battery...


38 posted on 07/14/2015 3:12:19 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: BenLurkin

IUD birth control, precursor of Planned Parenthood?


39 posted on 07/14/2015 3:14:49 PM PDT by The_Media_never_lie
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To: BenLurkin

Machining chips?


40 posted on 07/14/2015 7:15:25 PM PDT by Some Fat Guy in L.A. (Still bitterly clinging to rational thought despite it's unfashionability)
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