Gold lunula from Schulenburg
The gold lunula from Schulenburg is a lunula made of gold . She was born in April 1911 by the farmer's son Alten jun. Uncovered in the roots of a maple tree at a depth of 30 cm during the clearing of a forest in Corridor 8 of Schulenburg (now the city of Pattensen ) in the Hanover region in northern Germany and then sold to the Hanover Provincial Museum .
Meaning of the find
The find is one of the few gold lunulae that have been excavated in Germany and on the European mainland. It originated in the Early Bronze Age and was probably imported from Ireland at the time . This find near Adensen points to the extensive trade relations with Ireland that already existed at that time. Most of the gold lunulae have been found there; therefore Ireland is considered to be their place of manufacture.
Usually the Irish lunulae are interpreted as necklaces. In addition to the rare gold lunulae, there were also numerous bronze replicas at the time, which were presumably made on site by local bronze casters. In Portugal also replicas of Goldlunula are made of slate been found. The replicas could be an indication that the lunulae were needed for cultic tasks. If that was the case, then there was a large-scale cult community with a unified concept of God in Ireland, Great Britain and in the north and west of mainland Europe.
etymology
The golden lunula is reminiscent of the crescent of the moon due to its golden color and its sickle-like shape. Its name is derived from the Latin word lunula , 'little moon'.
properties
This gold lunula has a size of 17.1 x 17.6 cm and weighs 117.7 grams. It consists of around 94% gold and around 6% impurities of silver, copper and iron. Traces of work on its surface show that the approximately 0.5 mm thin sheet of gold was carefully and evenly forged from a lump of gold casting and then polished. The front was decorated with three thin grooves on the inner edge and two thin grooves on the outer edge, which were chiseled or punched and then reworked with a fine graver. Since there were no iron tools in the Bronze Age, tools made of bronze were probably used. The lunula tapers from the middle to the two ends and thereby takes on the appearance of a sickle. Their ends are turned at right angles to the course of the sickles and then widen almost square. The damage occurred during the find when they were forcibly separated from the tree roots.
Find history
At the beginning of April 1911, forest workers were busy clearing a piece of forest in Hall 8 of Schulenburg in order to clear new arable land. The farmer's son Alten jun. from Schulenburg, after cutting down a mighty maple tree, chopped up the stump with an ax and hit a metal object at a depth of 30 cm, which had grown firmly between the roots and could not be broken out. In order to separate the annoying metal object buried in the earth, he hit the root wood with firm axes until the lump of earth with the enclosed metal object fell out. Since the farmer's son assumed that the find was an old bucket handle, he tossed the lump of earth aside and packed the root wood to take to the parents' farm as firewood.
Over the next few days, heavy rain set in, washing the gold lunula free from the earth. A forest worker who returned to work after the weather improved saw the gold flash in the sun. He took the find and gave it to the forest owner, who a few days later sought advice from a goldsmith in Hanover. The goldsmith recognized the material and scientific value of the find and recommended that the owner visit the Hannover Provincial Museum . When the forest owner presented the find there and when the museum was interested in buying it, the gold lunula ended up in the museum's holdings.
In 1911 there was no follow-up investigation of the site. It therefore remained unclear whether it was a grave find, a victim find or a custody find.
The original of the find is exhibited in the Lower Saxony State Museum in Hanover and a copy in the museum in the castle courtyard in Springe .
literature
- Hans Hahne: The gold jewelery from Schulenburg, Kr. Springe. In: Jahrbuch des Provinzial-Museum Hannover 1 (April 1, 1911 to March 31, 1912), 1912, pages 86–91 and panel X.
- Hans Hahne: The early Bronze Age gold jewelery from Schulenburg. In: Mannus IV, 1912, pp. 70-71.
- JJ Taylor 1968. Early Bronze Age Gold Neck-Rings in Western Europe. In: Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 34, pp. 259-266
- Eckard Steigerwald: Pattensen. On the history and development of the villages (until the end of the 16th century). Publication and distribution: Stadt Pattensen 1986, page 15f.
- S. Needham: Chronology and Periodization in the British Bronze Age. In: Acta Archaeologica 67, 1996, pages 121-140.
- Hans-Jürgen Häßler: Prehistory and early history in Lower Saxony . Nikol Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg 2002, page 501.
- Early gold. Prehistoric and early historical gold finds from Lower Saxony ( find histories and cultural-historical impressions). Pages 31–34. Lower Saxony State Museum Hanover. Isensee Verlag Oldenburg 2003. ISBN 3-89995-066-6
Web links
swell
- ↑ That conclusion can be found here: Early Gold. Prehistoric and early historical gold finds from Lower Saxony ( find histories and cultural-historical impressions). Pages 31–34. Lower Saxony State Museum Hanover. Isensee Verlag Oldenburg 2003. Page 34.
- ↑ Inventory: Lunula (golden neck collar), NLM (1911), cat.-no. 18370.