Borum Eshøj
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The Borum Eshøj one of the largest grave mounds of the Bronze Age in Danish Jutland . The three oak trunks made into tree coffins were made around 1400 BC. Like. The contents of one women's and two men's graves are among the best-preserved textile finds from the Danish world. Bronze Age culture called “Højfolket” .
The nine meter high hill on Bakkevej in Borum northwest of Århus was 38 m in diameter and 100 m above sea level, an unusual height for Denmark. Today there are only a few such large mounds left ( Storhøj in Danish ). Excavations have reduced the steep hill to such an extent that only a core mound with a diameter of about 19 m and a height of 6.0 m remained or was restored. Several surrounding hills disappeared almost completely because they were plowed over. Around 40 burial mounds are known on the plateau around Borum Eshøj.
- Borum Eshøj
location
Reconstruction of Borum Eshøj
Excavation of Borum Eshøj - drawing. by Julius M. Petersen from 1879
Reconstructed women's costume from Borum Eshøj
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The first find from Borum Eshøj was a bronze sword. It came to light when a stone box was uncovered during the excavation of earth on the east side of the hill in 1850 .
In 1871, the first oak coffin was found with the skeleton of a 50 to 60 year old, 157 cm tall woman with long blond braided hair. The tomb was not recovered by archaeologists. The finds survived anyway and came to the National Museum via detours. The woman was laid on a cowhide in the coffin and wore a traditional costume consisting of a blouse with half-length sleeves and a long wool dress with a belt. The body was covered with a large blanket. The grave goods consisted of: three spiral rings, two bronze arm rings, two decorative plates, a belt plate, a bronze dagger, a neck ring, as well as buttons, needles, comb and small clay pots.
With the mound abandoned, the National Museum decided in 1875 to dig a wide moat through the center of the mound. Two more oak coffins and a fireplace were discovered. The first oak coffin contained a roughly 20-year-old, 166 cm tall man with blond hair. The coffin was surrounded by several stone circles that probably had ritual significance. The man wore clothing and a large cloak with a broad sword hanger over his right shoulder. The sword in its scabbard had been replaced by a short bronze dagger. The man was given a traditional needle, a horn comb, a double button made of wood and a small chipboard box with a lid. The oak coffin was dated to 1,345 BC. Dated.
During the excavation at the top of the hill, just below the sward, a small pile of stones with the fireplace of a cremation with rich grave goods came to light: a small bronze sword with a handle wrapped in gold wire, tweezers wrapped in gold wire, a razor with a gold ribbon and a gold one Double button. The finds date the fireplace between 1,000 and 800 BC. Chr.
Finally, in the middle of the hill, that oak coffin was found with the body of a 50 to 60 year old male, about 170 cm tall with blond hair, for whom the burial mound was originally built. The man was lying on cowhide with a wool loincloth and a belt around his waist. The body was sheathed and the man wore a wide-brimmed hat. Strangely enough, the only burial object is a wooden needle in a case. The dating result is 1.353 BC. Chr.
The question of whether the tree coffin dead were related can be answered by future DNA analyzes. Overall, the tombs document the mound's use during the Bronze Age, and the remaining mounds, placed under protection in 1932, undoubtedly contain additional graves.
literature
- K. Christensen: 'Dendrochronological Dating of Bronze Age Coffins from Denmark & Schleswig'. Acta Archaeologica 77 2006 pp. 193-195
- MK Holst, H. Breuning-Madsen & M. Rasmussen: 'The South Scandinavian barrows with well-preserved oak-log coffins'. Antiquity, 75 2001/287: pp. 126-136.
- Peter Vilhelm Glob : prehistoric monuments of Denmark . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1968, p. 104
Web links
Coordinates: 56 ° 12 ′ 3.9 " N , 9 ° 59 ′ 36.7" E