Bronze shields from Herzsprung

Bronze shields from Herzsprung
	p1
	The bronze shields from Herzsprung with the depots from Kehmstedt (left) and Bothenheilingen (right), as well as two sword molds from Wennungen
location	Brandenburg , Germany
Location	Heart leap
When	late Bronze Age , ; 8th century BC Chr.
Where	Kyritz , district of Ostprignitz-Ruppin / Brandenburg
displayed	Permanent exhibition, State Museum for Prehistory, Halle , ; section Emberborn

53.068888888889 12.49Coordinates: 53 ° 4 ′ 8 ″ N , 12 ° 29 ′ 24 ″ E

The two late Bronze Age bronze shields of Herzsprung were excavated in 1844 by a farmer at a depth of two meters one kilometer east of Herzsprung in Brandenburg . In the 8th century BC They were deposited there on top of each other in the former moor .

description

The shields were dug up in a pit - at the site of an earlier waterhole - under oak blocks by a farmer as a bog find. One of the pompous shields is round with a diameter of about 70 centimeters, while the other is slightly oval and has a diameter of 68 to 71 centimeters. The combined weight of both shields is around 1.45 kilograms. The thin-walled shields made of sheet bronze and once brightly shining were used exclusively as ostentatious weapons. They showed no signs of use. When they were folded up and therefore unsuitable for use, they were given to the moor. Shields from the Late Bronze Age were only found individually or in groups in hoards throughout Europe , they never appeared in association with other finds.

Bronze shield from Fröslunda of the type Herzsprung

Peat sacrifices and deposits are documented from different cultures. They have unique conditions of conservation and allow insights into religious ideas and practices. The two sheet metal shields that established the heart jump type belong to the late Nordic Bronze Age . There is a report on the extraordinary find. The shields, which are folded in the middle, have undoubtedly not been lost. The lack of cut and stab marks as well as the shield shackles that are too thin for use indicate that these were ceremonial shields. The high tin content (12.42–13.25 percent), which gave the shields shine, fits in well .

The bronze sheet of the two shields is driven out 0.4 mm thick . Radial lines on the inside, which were created by radial hammering with a hammer, testify to the manufacturing process. The edge was wrapped around a lead reinforcement ring for stabilization . In the center of one of the shields there is an oval shield boss that is expelled from the inside. It's just big enough to fit a fist underneath to hold the shield. The outer surfaces of the shield are decorated with concentric patterns. Since the shield boss is oval, the inner decorative rings also have oval outlines, but become more circular towards the edge, although there is the impression of an oval shield. The eyelets, which are often attached to the back of the shield and enable it to be carried by means of a strap, are missing.

Usable shields from the Bronze Age were made of leather or wood, but hardly any have survived. A rare exception is the leather shield from Clonbrin County Kildare in Ireland, which also has decorative features of the heart jump shields.

More finds

Fifteen heart-leaping bronze shields were discovered in 1985 in a bog near Lidköping in Sweden . Another Swedish specimen comes from Nackhälla. Due to the concentrated occurrence in Sweden, one can assume that the Herzsprung type was produced in southern Scandinavia . The common landfill conditions establish the connection to the Nordic district. Small bogs were preferred.

The heart jump shields of southern Scandinavia and northern Germany contrast with types from other regions (Denmark, Great Britain and southwest Germany). While the shields in Denmark and Great Britain were usually also found in bogs, the southern German specimens are river finds .

interpretation

In connection with the bronze amphorae of the Vejo-Gevelinghausen-Seddin Group , experts are discussing whether the decoration of the shields has a calendar background. The first shield has a number of humps of 707. If a day is assumed for each hump, its number would correspond to the duration of two synodic lunar years . The exact value of two synodic lunar years is 708.7 days. The two inner hump rows give 167 + 185 = 352 days and the two outer rows 152 + 203 = 355 days. On the other hand, there is the criticism that only approximate values are achieved and no exact system can be identified. A practicable use is hardly imaginable.

literature

Achim Leube: Heart jump (shields) . In: Heinrich Beck, Dieter Geuenich and Heiko Steuer (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde . 2nd Edition. tape 14 . Verlag Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - New York 1999, ISBN 978-3-11-016423-7 , pp. 492 .
Ralf Schwarz: Splendid shields from the moor. In: Harald Meller (ed.): Beauty, Power and Death. 120 finds from 120 years of the State Museum for Prehistory in Halle (= volume accompanying the special exhibition ). Halle an der Saale 2001, ISBN 3-910010-64-4 , p. 50.

Remarks

↑ »He was hampered by digging deeper than 8 feet by a few oak blocks lying on top of one another, the wood of which had already turned petrified. The preacher Klinger in Christdorf had the farmer cleared away the oak blocks, already in anticipation, as he assured me, that a treasure might be found among them. And he was not mistaken: The two shields were located under the end of the trunk of one block. By the way, I noticed that apart from the shields nothing else was found «
↑ Jens May, Reiner Zumpe: Calendars in the Younger Bronze Age in northern Central Europe. A contribution to the interpretation of hump-decorated amphorae and shields. In: Bernhard Hänsel (Ed.): Man and the environment in the bronze age of Europe . Kiel 1998, pp. 571-573
↑ Jens May: The captured time. Comparative studies on the calendar amphorae from Seddin, Herzberg, Rørbaek, Unia and Gevelinghausen. In: Acta Praehistorica et Archaeologica 40. 2008, p. 129.
↑ Marion Uckelmann: On the ornamentation of Young Bronze Age shields . In: Reaching for the Stars. How Europe's elites came to power and wealth. Volume 5. Halle an der Saale 2010, pp. 555–556.

Web links

Commons : Bronze Shields from Herzsprung - Collection of images, videos and audio files

[1] »He was hampered by digging deeper than 8 feet by a few oak blocks lying on top of one another, the wood of which had already turned petrified. The preacher Klinger in Christdorf had the farmer cleared away the oak blocks, already in anticipation, as he assured me, that a treasure might be found among them. And he was not mistaken: The two shields were located under the end of the trunk of one block. By the way, I noticed that apart from the shields nothing else was found «

[2] Jens May, Reiner Zumpe: Calendars in the Younger Bronze Age in northern Central Europe. A contribution to the interpretation of hump-decorated amphorae and shields. In: Bernhard Hänsel (Ed.): Man and the environment in the bronze age of Europe . Kiel 1998, pp. 571-573

[3] Jens May: The captured time. Comparative studies on the calendar amphorae from Seddin, Herzberg, Rørbaek, Unia and Gevelinghausen. In: Acta Praehistorica et Archaeologica 40. 2008, p. 129.

[4] Marion Uckelmann: On the ornamentation of Young Bronze Age shields . In: Reaching for the Stars. How Europe's elites came to power and wealth. Volume 5. Halle an der Saale 2010, pp. 555–556.