Gold bowl from Krottorf

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The gold bowl from Krottorf

The gold bowl from Krottorf is probably from the 14th century BC. Chr. During the end of the Middle Bronze Age , dome-shaped bowl made of sheet gold . It was discovered in 1909 near Krottorf , a district of Gröningen in the Börde district ( Saxony-Anhalt ) since 2001 , and is now in the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle (Saale) .

discovery

The location of the gold bowl

The exact location of the bowl has not been passed down. It is said to have been discovered in the spring of 1909 while plowing northeast of Krottorf in a field about 1 km north of the Orsleben desert between Hordorf and Großalsleben . The crushed and torn object initially landed on a dung heap, but was discovered there by the son of the Krottorf pastor and finally placed in 1910 by the pastor at the Provincial Museum Halle (today's State Museum of Prehistory), whose director Karl Reuss bought it for 516 marks . The bowl was then restored by the goldsmiths Wratzke und Steiger from Halle.

description

The bowl is made of fine gold and is dome-shaped . It has a mouth diameter of 13 cm, a height of 6 cm and a wall thickness of 0.17 mm. Their weight is 68.7 g.

The decor is divided into seven zones, which are separated from each other by simple circumferential beads. The top zone is separated from the undecorated edge by a double bead. From top to bottom, the individual zones have the following motifs:

  1. a single row of pearl humps
  2. a row of point humps
  3. a field of five rows of pearl humps
  4. a row of circular rings
  5. a field of four rows of pearl humps
  6. a row of point humps
  7. on the bottom an equal-armed cross with a circular eye in the center and pearl humps in the spandrels

The bowl in a European context

Axtroki's gold bowls in the Museo Arqueológico Nacional in Madrid
Bottle and bracelet from the gold treasure of Lienewitzer Forst (replica); Museum of Prehistory and Early History , Berlin

Bronze Age gold vessels are a comparatively rare type of find. Finds from Denmark , Germany , France , Italy , the Netherlands , Sweden , Spain , Switzerland and Hungary are known from the Middle and Late Bronze Age . An accumulation can be seen on the Danish islands of Funen and Zealand .

There are larger variations of shapes and decorative elements for the vessels. In terms of shape, the gold bowls from Axtroki and some bowls from the treasure of Villena (both Spain) are most similar to the Krottorf bowl . However, there are few similarities in the decor, such as the cross pattern on the bottom of the smaller bowl by Axtroki. Comparative pieces that are geographically closer, such as the gold bowls from Gönnebek ( Schleswig-Holstein ) or Lüssow- Langendorf ( Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania ), are very different in both shape and decor. If you disregard the shape of the vessel, then the bottle from the gold treasure from the Lienewitzer Forest is the best comparison to the gold bowl from Krottorf. Here the belly of the vessel has eight zones with the following motifs:

  1. a series of small point humps
  2. a series of large point bosses with pearl bosses in the spandrels
  3. a field of five rows of pearl humps
  4. a series of circular rings with a central hump
  5. a field of five rows of pearl humps
  6. a series with stylized depictions of birds
  7. a series of small point humps
  8. on the bottom eight rays with a circular eye in the center and pearl humps in the spandrels

The biggest difference is the lack of bird motifs on the Krottorf bowl. Otherwise, both vessels are so similar both in terms of type and sequence of motifs that, according to Harald Meller , they could have come from the same workshop.

Dating

Since the Krottorf bowl is an individual find, dating is only possible on the basis of formal and stylistic comparisons. It was first dated by Karl Reuss to the older Hallstatt Period or to Period IV or V of the Nordic Bronze Age (1000–700 BC). Even later, it was assumed that it originated in the Late Bronze Age (1300–800 BC). According to Harald Meller, however, an almost simultaneous creation with the bottle from Lienewitzer Forst is most likely. It too can only be dated indirectly on the basis of its findings (two double spiral bracelets and two gold spiral wires). There is a largely identical copy of the bracelets, which was found in the LA 31 burial mound of Fahrenkrug (Schleswig-Holstein). The furnishing of this grave dates back to the transition of periods II and III of the Nordic Bronze Age, i.e. to the 14th century BC. The bottle from Lienewitzer Forst and the gold bowl from Krottorf are therefore likely to have been made during this period.

literature

  • Judith M. Grünberg : Krottorf, Ldkr. Bördekreis. In: Siegfried Fröhlich (Ed.): From the prehistory of Saxony-Anhalt. State Museum for Prehistory Halle (Saale), Halle (Saale) 1995, ISBN 3-910010-13-X , No. 18.
  • Jens Martin : The bronze vessels in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Berlin, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony (= prehistoric bronze finds. Department 2, Volume 6). Steiner, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-515-09388-0 , p. 129.
  • Harald Meller : The Neolithic and Bronze Age gold finds in Central Germany - An overview. In: Harald Meller, Roberto Risch , Ernst Pernicka (eds.): Metals of Power - Early Gold and Silver. 6th Central German Archaeological Day from October 17 to 19, 2014 in Halle (Saale) (= conferences of the State Museum for Prehistory in Halle. Volume 11 / II). State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt / State Museum for Prehistory, Halle (Salle) 2014, ISBN 978-3-944507-13-2 , pp. 666–670 ( online ).
  • Harald Meller (Ed.): Glutgeboren. Middle Bronze Age to Iron Age (= booklets accompanying the permanent exhibition in the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle. Volume 5). State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt / State Museum for Prehistory, Halle (Salle) 2015, ISBN 978-3-944507-14-9 , p. 145.
  • Karl Reuß : Find reports from the Provincial Museum in Halle a. S. In: Annual journal for the prehistory of the Saxon-Thuringian countries. Volume 9, 1910, pp. 75-77, Taf. XIIb ( online ).
  • Bettina Stoll-Tucker : Enigmatic gold from the Bode. In: Harald Meller (ed.), Juraj Lipták: Beauty, Power and Death. 120 finds from 120 years of the State Museum for Prehistory in Halle. Accompanying volume for the special exhibition from December 11, 2001 to April 28, 2002 in the State Museum for Prehistory in Halle. State Office for Archeology Saxony-Anhalt, Halle (Saale) 2001, ISBN 3-910010-64-4 , pp. 96–97.

Web links

Commons : Goldschale von Krottorf  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Reuss: Find reports from the Provinzial-Museum zu Halle a. P. 1910, p. 75.
  2. ↑ Harald Meller (Ed.): Glutgeboren. Middle Bronze Age to Iron Age. 2015, p. 145.
  3. ↑ Harald Meller: The Neolithic and Bronze Age gold finds in Central Germany - An overview. 2014, p. 668.
  4. ↑ Harald Meller: The Neolithic and Bronze Age gold finds in Central Germany - An overview. 2014, pp. 668-669.
  5. ↑ a b Harald Meller: The Neolithic and Bronze Age gold finds in Central Germany - An overview. 2014, p. 669.
  6. ^ Karl Reuss: Find reports from the Provinzial-Museum zu Halle a. P. 1910, p. 77.
  7. ↑ see for example Judith M. Grünberg: Krottorf, Ldkr. Bördekreis. 1995, No. 18.