A 22-year-old archaeology student has uncovered a trove of Viking treasures, a local museum said Monday.
Gustav Bruunsgaard stumbled upon the “Viking hoard” while walking with a metal detector in Elsted, Denmark during the spring, according to Moesgaard Museum. On his first search, the young archaeologist found a bracelet. But on a return trip, he managed to uncover six more of the pieces of the jewelry, which have now been assessed by Danish and other international experts.
The pieces were dated to the 800s, early in the Viking Age, and likely originated in Southern Scandinavia while at least one may have come from Russia or Ukraine, the press release noted. The pieces together weigh over half a kilo (a little over 1.1lbs), representing a substantial sum in Vikings’ measure of value.
Bracelets like those found by Bruunsgaard were part of a common weighted system, sort of like how our currency works today. The location where they were uncovered has already been revealed to have once housed Viking settlements. (RELATED: Archaeologists Uncover 1,200-Year-Old Gold-Laden Lord’s Tomb)
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“The Elsted farm treasure is a fantastically interesting find from the Viking Age, which connects Aarhus with Russia and Ukraine in the east and the British Isles in the west. In this way, the find emphasizes how Aarhus was a central hub in the Viking world, which went all the way from the North Atlantic to Asia,” Moesgaard Museum historian Kasper H. Andersen said in the press release.
The items are currently on display at the museum.
