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3,000-year-old sword found in Denmark


An 82cm Bronze Age sword was recently discovered by amateur archaeologists near the Danish town of Svebølle, Museum Vestsjælland announced on Wednesday.

3,000-year-old sword found in Denmark
Decoration on hilt of Nordic Bronze Age sword [Credit: Søren Kiehn, Museum Vestsjælland]
Local residents Ernst Christiansen and Lis Therkelsen had taken their metal detector along when they were out for an evening stroll in a field in western Zealand when the machine alerted them to the presence of something under the ground.

When they dug down some 30cm, they found what appeared to be the end of a sword. Recognizing the potential importance of the discovery, the two amateur archaeologists reburied the object and contacted Museum Vestsjælland the next morning.

3,000-year-old sword found in Denmark
Arne Hedegaard Andersen holds Bronze Age sword [Credit: Søren Kiehn, Museum Vestsjælland]
Museum inspector Arne Hedegaard Andersen joined the pair the next day and together they uncovered what the museum called “an incredibly well-preserved sword”.

“The sword is so well-preserved that you can clearly see the fine details. And it is even sharp,” the museum wrote in a press release.

3,000-year-old sword found in Denmark
Finders Ernst Christiansen and Lise Therkildsen with the Bronze Age sword [Credit: Museum Vestsjælland]
The museum believes that the sword dates to Phase IV of the Nordic Bronze Age, or somewhere between 1100 and 900 BC.

The sword will be displayed at Kalundborg Museum on September 7th before being processed and catalogued.

Source: The Local [September 01, 2016]