The Veksø helmets (or Viksø helmets) are a pair of

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

ceremonial

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

s found near

Veksø Veksø is a small town located between Ballerup and Ølstykke- Stenløse in Egedal, some 20 km northwest of Copenhagen, Denmark. The town is situated on a hill, surrounded by meadows and bogland. Veksø station is served by the Frederikssu ...

Zealand Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Overview

In 1942 a workman was digging (c. 0.7m below the moss surface) at a

peat bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and muske ...

extraction site in Brøns Mose, Viksø when he felt his spade go through something hard. Thought to be waste, the find was set aside. On later inspection, though, it was found to be a decorated bronze object with an associated wooden plate with a groove - which appeared to have been a stand for a helmet. A subsequent archaeological investigation at the discovery site in the same year returned further helmet pieces. Analysis of remains during the 1940s determined that the wooden tray was of ash, and that there may have been a feather trim to the helmet. The first technical report on the helmets was published by Norling-Christensen in 1946. It is thought that the Brøns Mose was a lake in the Bronze Age, and an extension of the modern Løged Sø waterbody - making the helmets a likely bog

votive offering A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...

. Radiocarbon dating place the wooden trays associated with the helmets to an earlier date than the helmets. Additionally shards of broken pots were found above the helmets, but may not be an associated deposit. In 2019, a worker at the National Museum of Denmark discovered birch tar on one of the horns while preparing to photograph them. A sample was subsequently sent for carbon dating. The results showed that the latest possible date of deposition was the late Nordic Bronze Age; between 857 and 907 BC.

Design and construction

Two helmets were found, almost identical in design - the primary material was a high tin

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

(16.8%) with small amounts of lead, arsenic, antimony, and nickel (all 0.1 to 1%) and traces of silver (~0.05%). Stylistically the hemispherical main part resembles the plain textile hats of the period as well as

Urnfield The Urnfield culture () was a late Bronze Age culture of Central Europe, often divided into several local cultures within a broader Urnfield tradition. The name comes from the custom of cremating the dead and placing their ashes in urns, which ...

metal helmets - the hemispheres were made from two hammered pieces joined with

rivet A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylinder (geometry), cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the deformed e ...

s in a seam running front to back across the top, with a heavy joining rim or crest across the top - either end of the crest ended in a downpointing 'hook' possibly intended to recall the beak of a

raptor Raptor(s) or RAPTOR may refer to: Animals The word "raptor" refers to several groups of avian and non-avian dinosaurs which primarily capture and subdue/kill prey with their talons. * Raptor (bird) or bird of prey, a bird that primarily hunt ...

. Ornamentation included bosses across the surface of various sizes, including two larger 'eye' positioned bosses, together with eyebrows. A row of bosses along the lower rim each terminate in an S-shaped (or Swan shaped) ornamentation - thus resembling double-sterned-ships. (''Vogelsonnenbarken''). The helmet's horns are also S-shaped, with a twist recalling both a bull's horns and the twist in a pair of lurs. Fittings between horns and crest held bird's feathers, and it has been suggested that the crest was originally adorned with a hair. The helmet has a human appearance coupled with select

zoomorphic The word ''zoomorphism'' derives from and . In the context of art, zoomorphism could describe art that imagines humans as non-human animals. It can also be defined as art that portrays one species of animal like another species of animal or art ...

elements. Overall the design takes cues from both Urnfield and Nordic culture, though some elements, such as bulls' horns are found elsewhere - such as Iberia, and Sardinia, and horned helms are also seen in contemporary descriptions of the

Sea Peoples The Sea Peoples were a group of tribes hypothesized to have attacked Ancient Egypt, Egypt and other Eastern Mediterranean regions around 1200 BC during the Late Bronze Age. The hypothesis was proposed by the 19th-century Egyptology, Egyptologis ...

in the Mediterranean and near East. Vandkilde states the helmet is thought to have been made in Scandinavia, using European bronze working techniques, though others suggest the helmet was imported from Italy. The shape of the horns suggest the Italian long-horn cattle, a subtype of the species Bos primigenius (the

aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius''; or ; pl.: aurochs or aurochsen) is an extinct species of Bovini, bovine, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of t ...

Meaning, use, and significance

'Twin' helmets were found - in some interpretations of Bronze Age beliefs the sun can be represented by 'twin gods'. Other interpretations place a significance as the helmets being representation of weapons or war, or some relation to the

Proto-Indo-European religion Proto-Indo-European mythology is the body of myths and deities associated with the Proto-Indo-Europeans, speakers of the hypothesized Proto-Indo-European language. Although the mythological motifs are not directly attested – since Proto-In ...

myth of

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 ...

. Alternatively the helmets have been interpreted as an heirloom, or possibly conferring some status or importance when worn. Ritualistic use, either giving powers from, or connection to the animal or godly world has also been suggested. The found position (ie in a bog or former water body) also places the final use of the helmets within the class of

Similar artifacts

Figures of twins with horns from a similar period and region are known - these included bronze figurines wearing horned helmets found at Grevensvænge ( Grevensvænge figurines), and horned twins of a horse's

yoke A yoke is a wooden beam used between a pair of oxen or other animals to enable them to pull together on a load when working in pairs, as oxen usually do; some yokes are fitted to individual animals. There are several types of yoke, used in dif ...

found at Fogdarp. Related horned imagery has also been found on razors (Vestrup razor), and rock-carvings from a similar place/period.

References

Sources

* * **''alt source'' * *

External links

* * * {{Helmets 10th-century BC works 9th-century BC works 1942 archaeological discoveries Ancient helmets Archaeological discoveries in Denmark Prehistoric objects in the National Museum of Denmark Germanic archaeological artifacts Nordic Bronze Age Votive offering Horned helmets Aurochs