Archaeologists Discover a Stash of 1,500-Year-Old Weapons—Including the Only Known Roman Helmet Ever Found in Denmark

About 1,500 years ago, a powerful leader in present-day Denmark buried enough weapons and supplies to equip a small army. The chieftain’s stash includes swords, spears, lances, chainmail and the only known Roman helmet ever found in Denmark.

Researchers from the Cultural Museum in Vejle discovered the site while performing excavations ahead of the construction of a new motorway, according to a recent statement from the museum. So far, they’ve unearthed more than 100 weapons at a site called Løsning Søndermark, located just northwest of the town of Hedensted in central Denmark.

“From the very first surveys, we knew this was going to be extraordinary, but the excavation has exceeded all our expectations,” said excavation leader Elias Witte Thomasen, an archaeologist at the Vejle Museums, in a November statement. “The sheer number of weapons is astonishing, but what fascinates me most is the glimpse they provide into the societal structure and daily life of the Iron Age. We suddenly feel very close to the people who lived here 1,500 years ago.”

Researchers think the cache—buried inside the ruins of two houses—was a “massive weapon sacrifice.” Ancient residents dismantled one of the houses and buried weapons in its earthen cavity, while they buried more weapons during the construction of the other house. Experts think the weapons weren’t artifacts from a workshop or barracks, but “remnants of ceremonies or sacrificial acts linked to a chieftain’s residence.”

The site was first inhabited as far back as the first century C.E., according to the November statement. In the early fifth century, the settlement became the home of a few powerful people “who wielded the social and economic influence to assemble a retinue of warriors and participate in military campaigns.” One of them may have been the chieftain who buried the weapons.

A few months into the excavation, the researchers made an exciting new discovery: Through X-ray imaging, they concluded that two iron plates found onsite were actually parts of a Roman helmet. The palm-sized pieces were once a neck guard and a decorated cheek guard from a crest helmet, a type of headwear used in the Roman Empire around the fourth century.

The site was outside the borders of the Roman Empire, and “most people in this area were simple farmers,” as Live Science’s Kristina Killgrove writes. However, “Romans such as Julius Caesar wrote about violent Germanic warriors.” Some historians think Rome may have even supplied Danish tribes with weapons.

“The helmet may have belonged to a Germanic warlord who served in the Roman auxiliaries, bringing his personal equipment home after his service ended,” says Thomasen in the recent statement. “Alternatively, it could have been looted from a Roman legionary in battles closer to the empire’s Germanic frontier and later brought to Jutland.”

The researchers think the helmet dates to Denmark’s Late Iron Age. Roman helmets from this period are “exceptionally rare in southern Scandinavia, and there are no direct parallels to this discovery,” per the museum.

Additionally, the team wondered why only two small fragments of the headpiece were discovered.

“The answer lies in the nature of post-battle rituals during this period of the Iron Age, where weapons and military equipment were rarely deposited intact,” Thomasen adds. “Spearheads were separated from their shafts, sword blades from their hilts, and equipment was destroyed and divided among the parties involved in the conflict. The missing cheek plate and helmet bowl were likely distributed elsewhere.”

Other notable finds at Løsning Søndermark include a rare piece of chainmail armor, which would have been painstakingly crafted and likely belonged to the chieftain himself, per Live Science. Researchers also unearthed two stiff bronze necklaces called “oath rings,” which signified power during the Iron Age.

The team also excavated remains of a horse bridle, a bugle and several unidentified bronze and iron artifacts. Soon, some of these objects—including the helmet pieces—will go on display at the Cultural Museum in Vejle.

Sonja Anderson | READ MORE

Sonja Anderson is a writer and reporter based in Chicago.