A discovery of a metal detectorist in Denmark has asked questions about the origin of the iconic sutton Hoo -Helm, thought for decades to have links to Sweden.
The detectorist found a small metal stamp on an island in the south of Denmark, with similar markings such as those on the famous helmet.
Peter Pentz, a curator in the National Museum of Denmark, says that the discovery creates the possibility that the Sutton Hoo -Helm has in fact originated in the country.
The archaeologist told the BBC that if the helmet had indeed come from Denmark, this could change our understanding of power relations in North Europe from the 7th century.
The copper alloy stamp shows AA Warrior on horseback. [BBC]
Sutton Hoo is considered the cemetery of King Raedwald, a ruler in Oost -anglian who died in 624ad.
For the first time excavated in 1939, more than 260 artifacts were discovered on the Suffolk estate, including a helmet dressed with iron and copper, considered one of the largest treasures of the period. Other items, such as a shield and drinking horns, also show a connection with Scandinavia.
The helmet, now housed in the British Museum, is decorated with various motifs, including two small panels with warriors on horseback.
It is believed that it was influenced by earlier Roman style and historians rather thought it could come from Uppland, in East Sweden, because similar motifs that warriors are displayed on horseback are also discovered on helmets there. Historians think it might have been an heirloom or diplomatic gift.
But researchers from the National Museum of Denmark now say that the recently excavated metal stamp has a “striking parable” with the motifs of the helmet.
Curator Peter Pentz said that the stamp is “the nearest link we have ever seen” between Denmark and the Sutton Hoo Helmet [BBC]
The vegetable part Copper alloy stamp was found two years ago, by the local archaeologist Jan Hjort. He says he was searching a field with a metal detector on the Danish island of Taasinge, when he dug up the metal object.
At first he thought it was a common “photo album”, but after further investigation he realized that it was something “extraordinary”, he told the BBC.
“What is unique is the motive,” he says. “It's a very powerful image.”
“The stylistic similarities are so important,” says Mr. Pentz, the curator. “This is the nearest link we have ever seen.”
Similar motives were also found in Germany, but this is the first dug in Denmark.
The cemetery of Sutton Hoo was first discovered by an autodidactic archaeologist, Basil Brown in 1938 [Topical Press Agency / Stringer]
Mr. Hjort's find was handed over to a local museum, but it was only recently studied.
The item measures only 5 cm by 4 cm (2 by 1.6 inches) and is now considered a stamp or “Die”, also known as a “patrice”.
Although the pattern is not identical to the Sutton Hoo -helmet, Mr. Pentz says after a close study of the two fragmented helmet panels, there are “many similarities”.
“If we concentrate on the horse itself, we see that it is the same horse,” he says, pointing to his nose, moons, ear and tail.
He thinks the Sutton Hoo and Danish motives are closer than their Swedish counterparts, which suggests that the helmet might come from or around the Danish island.
The curator believes that Taasinge may have been home to a 7th -century metal workshop – a thin sheet of silver, possibly used for producing foils, and other metal leftovers has been found in the area.
“I would say that this dice comes from the same workshop, or comes from the surroundings of the Sutton Hoo -Helm,” says Mr. Pentz. “Production probably took place here or trade.”
The excavation of the cemetery of Sutton Hoo was dramatized in the film De Graaf in 2021. [Larry Horricks/Netflix]
The cemetery of the Anglo-Saxon ship in Sutton Hoo, near Woodbridge in Suffolk, is generally regarded as the “Valley of the Kings” of England. The discovery from 1939 was recently dramatized in the Netflix film of 2021, The Dig.
“It really brought about a revolution in our understanding of the Anglo-Saxons,” says Laura Howarth, an archeology and engagement manager at Sutton Hoo, now an estate National Trust.
Anglo-Saxon refers to groups of people who came to England from Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark. Even 86 years later there have been fresh excavations on the site and new theories that appear about the funerals.
The Sutton Hoo -Helm was meticulously put together again after it was first discovered in hundreds of pieces. And can now be seen in the British Museum. Mrs. Howarth calls the helmet the “face of the Anglo -Saxon period”.
“It is the artistry and the craftsmanship behind the helmet,” she says. The Danish discovery shows that Sutton Hoo is “not a complete book”, adds MS Howarth.
“Looking at it, it is definitely a part of this kind of designs that are currently taking place,” she says, pointing out that there are other items with strong ties with Sweden in the Sutton Hoo Burial Grave and a German motive also shares close similarities.
Mr. Pentz believes that the new find builds on a theory that Denmark was more important in this era than previously thought, making it possible to place Sweden and England in the edge of a central Danish “power base”.
However, MS Howarth of the National Trust is more skeptical. “It is quite a lot to determine exactly the relationship and the power dynamics that existed between Denmark, Sweden and the community at Sutton Hoo at the moment, just based on one find,” she says.
Mr. Pentz says that there are “some obstacles” in his theory. The Sutton Hoo Helmet films were fragmented in countless pieces and the Danish stamp is very worn out.
As the next step he hopes that there will be a detailed 3D scanning of the motives.
The find was also discovered in the area that has seen little excavation work, and it is possible that the stamp has been traded or transported from elsewhere.
It will be shown in April in the National Museum of the Land in Copenhagen.
