Bronze Age Gold Spirals May Have Been Sacrificed to Gods

A pile of 2,000 tangled gold spirals that bring to mind heaps of the fairy tale
princess Rapunzel's golden locks were recently unearthed in Denmark.

Archaeologists discovered the 3,000-year-old delicate, glittering coils each

one measuring up to 1.2 inches (3 centimeters) long in the town of Boeslunde,
on the Danish Island of Zealand, which hosts almost half of Denmark's
population.
Like Rapunzel's magical locks, the Bronze Age gold spirals may have had a sunderived power, the archaeologists said. "The sun was one of the most sacred
symbols in the Bronze Age and gold had a special magic," Flemming Kaul, a
curator at The National Museum of Denmark who co-discovered the gold, said in
a statement that was translated from the original Danish. [See Photos of the Newly
Discovered Gold Spirals]
Although the spirals' original use is unknown, it's possible they adorned cords
that decorated hats and parasols, Kaul said. "The fact is that we do not know, but
I tend to believe they were part of a priest king's costume or headwear," he said.

It's possible the priest king decked himself in gold, embellishing his cloak and hat
with the spirals. "Gold has the color of the sun, it is shining like the sun, and it is
indestructible, immortal and eternal," Kaul said. The priest king may have
sacrificed his treasure to the sun during rituals, and kept the gold safe in a wooden
box when he was feeling less reverential, he added.
Sacred location
Kaul thinks modern-day Boeslunde was once a sacred place for ancient people
during the Bronze Age, because the site hosted rituals during which people
offered gold to their gods.
The excavation site spread over a field in Boeslunde, where archaeologists found
the big lump of spirals, as well as smaller bundles of three and four coils. The
lump likely originally sat in a birch wood box with a leather lining, based on
remnants found at the scene, the researchers said.
The recent discovery of just over half a pound (200 to 300 grams) of gold adds to
Boeslunde's growing reputation as the gold capital of northern Europe during the
Bronze Age.
"It shows that the place had a special significance for the Bronze Age people
when they chose to sacrifice several kilos of gold," said Kirsten Christensen, the
golden spirals' other co-discoverer and curator at the Museum Vestsjlland on
Zealand.
Previous excavations in Boeslunde found 10 gold rings, six of which were large
and heavy and four of which may have been "oath rings" possibly used in
connection with swearing oaths in courts andtypically found in sacrificial
settings, Kaul said.
In the 1800s, local farmers found six gold vessels at Borgbjerg Banke, about
1,640 feet (500 meters) from the current archaeological site. The 10 rings weigh
just under 8 pounds (3.5 kilograms) and the vessels, including bowls and beakers,
weigh more than 2 pounds (1 kg).
Christensen and Kaul think there are more treasures awaiting discovery in
Boeslunde, and with support from their respective museums they plan to continue
their hunt, armed with metal detectors, in the near future.
(Original article on Live Science)