A Danish treasure hunter has unearthed an impressive treasure trove of gold artifacts from the Iron Age.
The Dane bought a metal detector and decided to check the land belonging to a friend. In the ground, he found almost a kilogram of gold
According to Live Science, the find consists of almost one kilogram of gold buried 1,500 years ago.
The treasure was discovered by the Danish Ole Ginnerup Schitz, who was checking the ground of a former classmate in the town of Windelev with a recently purchased metal detector. The man contacted the local Vejlemuseerne museum, after which archaeologists excavated the site, discovering a treasury, including “huge medallions the size of saucers.”
The town of Vindelev is eight kilometers from Jelling, a cultural point where the first monarchs ruled when they unified the country in the 10th century.
The hoard contains several bracteates (thin flat coins), as well as Roman coins, cast into jewelry using a unique technique that has not been previously used. Some motifs of gold artifacts and runic inscriptions probably refer to the rulers of that time, but others may refer to Scandinavian mythology.
One of the bracteates is decorated with a male head and many runes, as well as a horse and a bird. According to preliminary research, the runic inscription on the horse reads “tall”, which may refer to the chief or the god Odin.
According to Live Science, the chief may have buried a cache of treasure after the great volcanic eruption that shook Europe in 536 AD, when it sent a cloud of sulfate and ash into the atmosphere, blocking sunlight and lowering temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere.
