The two horned helmets were uncovered by a peat cutter in Viksø, Denmark, in 1942 and have just been dated to 900 B.C. — confirming they were never worn by Vikings.
National Museum of DenmarkThe horned helmet had fittings that formerly carried feathers and a horsehair mane .
For long than living memory , horned helmet have dominated the popular image of the Vikings . But new research shows that this daunting headdress antecede the Norse warriors by nearly 2,000 geezerhood — and that the Vikings likely never wore horned helmets at all .
The tie between horned helmet and Vikings was already so unshakable that when a peat tender unearth a couple of them from a bog in 1942 , they were assumed to be from the Viking era , which start around 800 A.D.
National Museum of DenmarkThe horned helmets had fittings that formerly carried feathers and a horsehair mane.
But this supposition was only held in the pop sphere , as scholars soon dated them to the Nordic Bronze Age between 1750 and 500 B.C. Only late , however , have scientists established a more precise date . harmonize toCNN , however , Danish archeologist Helle Vandkilde has now officially dated them to between 907 B.C. and 857 B.C.
“ For many year in popular culture , people associated the Viksø helmet with the Vikings , ” said Vandkilde of Aarhus University . “ But our research corroborate that the helmet were deposited in the bog in about 900 B.C. , almost 3,000 years ago and many hundred before the Vikings or Norse dominate the region . ”
Still , the geological dating of the Viksø helmets has given expert much to ponder . According toLiveScience , historiographer and archaeologists have already begun to reevaluate how tightly connected Bronze Age civilizations truly were — and how imagination of tusk helmet spread across Europe .
National Museum of DenmarkOne of the horned Viksø helmets on display.
National Museum of DenmarkOne of the horned Viksø helmets on presentation .
The two horned helmets were discovered in a peat bog in the area of Brøns Mose in the township of Viksø at the summit of World War II . A farmer digging peat stuck metal about two pes below the surface , which led to a airless review by his foreman . It was then that the two workers understand they had uncovered fragments of a decorated bronze object .
research worker from the National Museum of Denmark shortly identified the remnant as parts of two helmet . They also dug up the corpse of a wooden slab from the bog that was thought to have been used as a stand for the helmets to be ritualistically placed in the peat bog .
National Museum of DenmarkThe tar found on one of the horns was finally dated in 2019.
But the helmet proved puzzling . The metal of the helmets could n’t be dated using carbon 14 technique , and the experts began to suspect that the ancient wooden slab must have been placed in the bog far originally than the helmet . outstandingly , it was only in 2019 that one of Vandkilde ’s peers spotted young clew .
“ She discover that there was principal constitutional material in the horn and speak to a colleague at the National Museum responsible for the collection , and they agreed to send a sample for right-down dating , ” say Vandkilde .
National Museum of DenmarkThe tar regain on one of the horns was finally dated in 2019 .
National Museum of DenmarkHistorians believe the helmets were used as symbols of power rather than as battle gear.
Aspublishedin thePraehistorische Zeitschriftjournal , the study discover that this fabric was birch tar stuck to one of the horns , which can be carbon dated . Before this study , researcher dated the helmet by analyzing their style and symbology .
“ Typology is quite often a good first step , chronologically utter , but it is very important when we can have absolute dates , as we can with carbon 14 , ” said Vandkilde . “ We now lie with with this novel date that the helmet were deposited in the bog , perhaps by someone stand on a wooden chopine , around 900 B.C. ”
fit in to Vandkilde , these helmets starkly resemble exchangeable depictions in rock art and figurine of the same geological era across Spain , Sardinia , and Scandinavia .
The subject suggested these helmet , which had trying on used for attaching feathers and horsehair , were worn for symbolic displays of tycoon rather than for battle . At the time , Scandinavian civilisation were shift from Sun worship to deities associated with animal . And the helmet ’ design elements showcase this passage .
The front of the helmets features two gravid eye and a bill , symbolizing a shuttlecock of prey , while the top crownwork of the helmet would have once have horsehair turn off like a mane . And the two massive horn represent a bull .
“ Our study shows that Norse depictions of horned warrior occur at the same fourth dimension as very similar look-alike in Sardinia and southwestern Spain , ” she tell . “ This testify to the tight connections between the great civilizations of Bronze Age Europe ; the first globalisation base on long - distance patronage in metals , estimate , and luxury . ”
National Museum of DenmarkHistorians conceive the helmets were used as symbols of power rather than as battle gear .
According toThe Smithsonian , the current possibility holds that Phoenician travelers reached Europe from the Levant by sea across the Mediterranean . The bailiwick said that the Near East and the Mediterranean “ vaunt a inscrutable history of tusk - helmet figures join with divine rulership and with warfare . ”
Since Scandinavia had scarce metallic element resource , their civilisation welcomed trading copper and atomic number 50 with cultures from Southern Europe . moreover , with no imagery of horned helmet come forth across the land - free-base trade routes across the Alps , it seems decipherable that these cultures were seafaring in their dealings .
“ These [ helmets ] are new indications metals were trade further than we thought , ” said Vandkilde . “ Ideas were conscientious objector - traveler . ”
After read about horned helmets prey the Vikings by millennia , learn about32 Viking facts that reveal one of history ’s most misunderstood civilization . Then , study aboutthe Viking berserkers who get into a trance - like rage during struggle .
