(couldn't use the Getty images, these are via ArkeoNews)Cover Image Credit: National Museum of Denmark
Posted on 09/10/2025 6:13:29 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
These two brooches were part of a small hoard discovered along with a gold arm ring in southwestern Jutland, Denmark. Dated to the Viking Age (A.D. 793 to 1066), the brooches are decorated with ornamental wire bent into delicate shapes.
Each gold brooch measures about 3.3 inches (8.5 centimeters) in diameter and weighs between 2.1 to 2.6 ounces (60 to 75 grams), according to a 1994 study by Lene Frandsen, curator at the Varde Museum. The designs on the brooches include examples of both Norse and Christian art, according to the National Museum of Denmark, where the accessories are on display.
One brooch includes four forward-facing animal heads in a Norse style, suggesting it was made locally by a Danish or Viking goldsmith. The other brooch has leaves and vines that may connect to Christianity, as grapevines were used in early Christian art to represent Jesus as the "true vine of life" and the idea of the resurrection.
During the Viking age, Jutland was an advanced center of goldsmithing. Still, the Hornelund brooches are "completely unique in the Danish jewelry collection," archaeologist Władyslaw Duczko wrote in a 1987 study...
But the farm was not archaeologically investigated at the time, and recent excavations there have yielded no new information on the hoard, according to Frandsen. So experts do not yet know if the jewelry came from a grave, a homestead or a hastily buried cache of wealth. They hope that one day excavations will yield more clues to the meaning of the Hornelund hoard.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
(couldn't use the Getty images, these are via ArkeoNews)Cover Image Credit: National Museum of Denmark
The Middle Ages saw the introduction of the musical instrument, the lute, and the Vikings' favorite activity, looting.
those are pretty cool!
“Historical records show that the landowner turned the hoard over to the National Museum of Denmark and was paid 295 Danish krone — worth about $4,000 USD today.”
I would be happy to give the museum $10,000 USD today, maybe $15,000 if they said pretty please.
Beautiful.
The workmanship is amazing.
As a ‘Fiber Arts Maker’ (I Crochet; that just sounds FANCY) I am trying my hardest to make wearing one of your Grandma’s Brooches with your Winter Scarf a ‘thing.’
Hoping to be the next Coco Chanel or Givenchy. Wish me luck! ;)
There’s some legacy doilies and such my grandma made, I never met her, but she’s wearing her glasses in every photo of her, and I’m not surprised at all. Very tiny knots.
😎 It has kind of worked out as gold artifacts week, although there have been other topics.
What beautiful intricate work. Just gorgeous.
Ooh, that’s some nice stuff!
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