The Grevensvænge hoard is a find of the late

Nordic Bronze Age The Nordic Bronze Age (also Northern Bronze Age, or Scandinavian Bronze Age) is a period of Scandinavian prehistory from c. 2000/1750–500 BC. The Nordic Bronze Age culture emerged about 1750 BC as a continuation of the Battle Axe culture (the ...

(roughly dating to between 800 BC and 500 BC), discovered in the late 18th century at Grevensvænge,

Næstved Municipality Næstved is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in Region Sjælland on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in the south of Denmark. The municipality includes the island of Gavnø. It covers an area of 681 km², and has a total population ...

Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. The hoard consisted of seven bronze figurines. Its first mention is in 1779, where it is said to have been found in the ground "a few years ago". After their discovery, they were kept with the pastor at Herlufmagle, Marcus Schnabel. A drawing of four of the figurines was made in 1779, by Schnabel. The drawing shows two kneeling figures of warriors with

horned helmet Horned helmets were worn by many people around the world. Headpieces mounted with animal horns or replicas were also worn from ancient times, as in the Mesolithic Star Carr. These were probably used for religious ceremonial or ritual purposes, ...

s and axes, a leaping acrobat, and a standing woman. Five of these figurines are now lost, while two were bought by the

Danish National Museum The National Museum of Denmark (Nationalmuseet) in Copenhagen is Denmark's largest museum of cultural history, comprising the histories of Danish and foreign cultures, alike. The museum's main building is located a short distance from Strøget ...

in 1823 and 1839. Based on comparison with

petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

of the same era (e.g.

Tanumshede Tanumshede is a locality and the seat of Tanum Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 1,697 inhabitants in 2010. See also * Rock Carvings in Tanum The Rock Carvings in Tanum ( sv, Hällristningsområdet i Tanum) are a collection of ...

, Sweden), it is assumed that the figurines were originally part of an ensemble arranged on a ship. Both the twins motive and the cultic significance of the horned helmets, seems to have persisted into

early Germanic culture Early Germanic culture refers to the culture of the early Germanic peoples. Largely derived from a synthesis of Proto-Indo-European and indigenous Northern European elements, the Germanic culture started to exist in the Jastorf culture that de ...

. The kneeling warrior figures have been interpreted as the "

Ashvins The Ashvins ( sa, अश्विन्, Aśvin, horse possessors), also known as Ashwini Kumara and Asvinau,, §1.42. are Hindu deities, Hindu twin gods associated with medicine, health, dawn and sciences. In the ''Rigveda'', they are described ...

" type

divine twins The Divine Twins are youthful horsemen, either gods or demigods, who serve as rescuers and healers in Proto-Indo-European mythology. Like other Proto-Indo-European divinities, the Divine Twins are not directly attested by archaeological or writte ...

of early Indo-European religion, sons of the sky-god, known by the name of Alcis to Tacitus.

References

*R. Djupedal, HC Broholm, 'Marcus Schnabel og Bronzealderfundet fra Grevensvaenge', ''Aarbøger'' 1952, 5–59. *H. Thrane, 'Grevensvænge' in:

Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde ''Germanische Altertumskunde Online'', formerly called ''Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde'', is a German encyclopedia of the study of Germanic history and cultures, as well as the cultures that were in close contact with them. The first ...

, vol. 13, Walter de Gruyter, 1999, , p. 23.

External links

* Medieval European objects in the National Museum of Denmark {{DEFAULTSORT:Grevensvaenge figurines Nordic Bronze Age Germanic archaeological artifacts Archaeological artifacts Bronze Age art Archaeological discoveries in Denmark Figurines Ancient art in metal