Allgemein

Nydam Boat (1:10 Model) In late summer 1863, Conrad Engelhardt also excavated three boats in Nydam Moor. Only one of these has survived. All three vessels were rowing boats. The original represented here by the model was constructed of oak and, measuring approximately 23 m in length and 3.3 m in width, was the largest…

Precision Weapons   Swords were optimised for fast and controlled movements, making them efficient weapons for precise thrusts and cuts. The sword was held as an extension of the arm to maximise reach. This was facilitated by a flatter pommel – and the development of hilt forms followed precisely this tendency. As the relatively small guards…

Identity in the Mirror of Past and Present  Identity is a frequently used concept today, although no universally accepted definition exists. It emerges through the interaction of self-perception and external attribution and changes over the course of a lifetime. Characteristics such as gender, origin, age, occupation, or social environment shape both how individuals understand themselves and how they are perceived by…

What Became of the Boats from the Nydam Moor?  The largely intact oak boat from the Nydam Moor was kept in storage in the attic of the Flensburg Grammar School throughout the war. The pine vessel, recovered in the presence of King Frederik VII, was covered with peat and left on a meadow close to the excavation…

Audio transcript: Oh, hello. I wasn’t expecting any visitors. But please, come closer! Do excuse the chaos… I am currently packing the objects from the collection of Nordic antiquities into crates, to safeguard them from hostile hands. It’s such a shame! Ten years of work on the collection. Ten years of meticulous effort, but also frustration and trouble.  I should have seen it coming. From…

Christian Jürgensen Thomsen  Christian Jürgensen Thomsen (1788–1865) was a Danish archaeologist and director of the Danish National Museum in Copenhagen. While curating and organising the “Collection of Nordic Antiquities,” he developed the Three-Age System: the division of prehistory into the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. This framework provided human history with its first chronological structure…

Bent & Broken Several sword blades from the Nydam Moor had already been broken prior to deposition.  Location: Nydam bogMaterial: Iron  This sword fragment from Kalkriese is likewise broken at both ends. The fracture edges are bent, indicating that the damage occurred before the sword had corroded.  Location: Kalkriese Material: Iron 

Torn Off & Broken Apart  The shield rim fittings from the Thorsberg and Nydam moors were violently torn from the shields and broken into fragments. In some instances, the entire shield rim was removed, and the fittings still preserve remains of the wooden shield board.  Location: Thorsberg bogMaterial: Copper alloy, wood  Numerous torn-off shield rim fittings were also recovered at Kalkriese,…

Pried Off & Damaged  Many shield bosses from the Thorsberg and Nydam moors display a pronounced wavelike deformation of the rim. This indicates that they were forcibly levered from the shield board.  Numerous shield bosses are dented and pierced. In isolation, such damage might still be interpreted as traces of combat. However, many of the punctures clearly originated not…

Twisted & Bent  Several spearheads and lance heads from the Nydam Moor are severely bent – to such an extent that this cannot plausibly be interpreted as damage caused in combat.  Location: Nydam bog Material: Iron  This pilum is likewise bent far too extensively for the deformation to be explained by combat activity. Damage associated with plundering is also…