23

Opening the Oak-Coffins

SOCIETY
They laid him
In an Oak Coffin.
He rested so still,
So pale his Chin.
With him fell the loveliest Tree
In the Forest.
For the last Time it gave, Lee
To the Dead.
J.V. Jensen (1925)

V. EMBALMING
The oak-coffin graves reflect a unique set of historical
events from a period where it was considered
necessary to preserve the bodies of dead princes
by creating a heavily watered (or, perhaps, even
beered) core of turfs embedding the coffin. Around
this small wet barrow an iron shell of iron oxides was
quickly formed at both the top and the bottom by
chemical processes started by the watering. This shell,
still filled with water, prevented later oxidation of the
oxygen-starved core. When broken by digging, water
would flow as from a spring, as has been reported in
connection with excavations of oak-coffins (cf. above).
On top of this small mound, the actual monument was
later to be build. In fact, this method of preservation
may not have been invented for a ritual purpose. It
could well be a traditional way of preserving meat for
longer periods of time, a technique, which in the 15th
century BC, if not earlier, was applied as the Nordic
way of embalming.
Likely, the novel interest in preservation is linked
with two other phenomena. The first is the said interest in representation at burial in terms of gifts of
beautiful mainly locally produced artefacts made by
costly exotic minerals - gold, copper, tin, glass paste
(beads), amber, etc., in addition to woollen blankets
and fine woollen clothing, plus fine wooden objects
decorated for instance with tin sprigs. To this comes
the erection of thousands and yet thousands of huge
burial mounds for the coffins.
All this is a display of power and abilities hitherto unknown: the emergence, indeed, of personified
kin-based social stratification (Randsborg 1974). In

turn, such differences in status and command abilities were put to work in control of labour, production
and manufacture, in long-distance trading and other
interaction, transportation (even in long swift canoes,
manned by dozens of paddlers, and in horse-drawn
chariots), in rituals, and, no doubt, in politics and
warfare. This is evident from the weapons, certain
symbols of power - like golden items, folding chairs
and hat-shaped tutuli with a brim (the head-gear of
the Sun-god) - the imported artefacts and metals etc.,
and, not least, in displays of religious and astronomical knowledge.

TEXTILES

The well known woollen dresses and other textiles of

the Bronze Age are of particular interest. They allow
us to meet the adult individuals of the age and area at
a level of detail very rare in Prehistory. The textiles
are all un-dyed, but in different kinds and shades of
wool. Age does not seem to play a role in type and
selection of garments.
For the females, the garments comprise a closefitting blouse of woven cloth with three-quarter long
sleeves (T-shirt), a rather short string-skirt carried
on the hips (also a ritual dress), and a very long and
large blanket-like woven skirt, as it is called (Boye
1896; Broholm & Hald 1929-35; 1939; cf. Thomsen

English translation by the present author.

24

Acta Archaeologica

1929-35; Jensen 1998). The latter has caused much

discussion as to its wear (in the graves it is simply
wrapped around the lower part of the body, with the
belt around). Perhaps it was worn under the armpits,
perhaps in a kind of toga style, sometimes even going over the head, like a blanket (but closed below
to conceal the otherwise naked abdomen, unless a
string-skirt is worn). Quite possibly, there were several styles of wearing this large piece of cloth dependent
on occasion, age, marital status etc. To all this comes
hair-nets and bonnets, a woven woollen belt, woven
blankets, leg-wrappings (pieces of woven cloth), leather shoes (uncommon, perhaps because the dead are
resting as in a bed), etc. There is a substantial variation in the female oak-coffin graves as to garments
and related articles.
For the men, the garments comprise a woven rather long loincloth (both a breast-covering and a low
edition are known), a woollen belt, an elegant woven
mantle, a heavy cap (in fact a helmet), a pixie cap, legwrappings (pieces of woven cloth), leather shoes (uncommon), woven blankets (even rare ones of white
wool), etc. There is also a substantial variation in the
male oak-coffin graves as to garments and related articles. The distinction is mirrored in the moveable personal items, like weapons and jewellery (cf. below).
Notably, no major type or piece of garments is
common to the two sexes (or genders), except blankets, leg-wrappers, and, perhaps, shoes. Women and
men of the Bronze Age would have appeared as very
different beings. The variance must have its roots in
different roles in life and society, the garments in turn
underlining, even creating, novel distinctions.
No doubt, buttoned leather coats were also in use
(against rain and cold weather), but such have never
been found deposited with the dead, who rested on
cattle-hides and were covered by woven blankets. Of
course, the hides may also have been used for protection against rain and cold, although this is less likely,
since they are not prepared for anything but the function as bed-sheets. Underwear, defined as garments
always hidden, was not used; the woollen male loincloth and female T-shirts, string- and long-skirts were
in fact the innermost garments.
The dresses are flowering and elegant, noble
perhaps being the best term to characterize them with.
Notably, furs of wild animals were only occasionally

in use - the seat of an odder skin for the folding chair

in No. 5A Guldhj is an exception. Also, there are
no examples of imports of North Scandinavian or
other fine furs, for instance polar bear: cattle hides
evidently being the measure of things, along with the
native wool.
The textiles are rather coarse, plain tabby fabrics
woven on standard-sized looms yielding standard
widths, but embroideries, piled fabrics, etc. are also
common. The sometime idea that mans mantle was
made from a womans long-skirt upon marriage can
be discarded for these reasons (standard-sized looms,
etc.). Apart from the full dresses in oak-coffin graves,
some of the oldest in the World, hundred of fragments
of textiles have been studied from less well-preserved
grave ensembles ( Jrgensen 1986, 15ff.). The number
of threads per centimetre is usually around five, but
fabrics with up to about 20 treads per centimetre are
also seen. There is a clear tendency towards more
warp-threads, thus more fine fabrics, over time, even
if coarse ones are still common, of course (Fig. 10).
Surprisingly, spin combinations change over time,
from mainly Z/S to S/S, a development seemingly
starting in Jylland. This phenomenon is difficult to
explain, since no particular functional value can be
attributed to one or the other spinning direction
( Jrgensen 1986, Figs. 4-6). In other words, we are
dealing with a highly interesting, perhaps even unconscious, cultural trait with little signal value, but
systematically adhered to through generations until
un-explicably changed.
As to everyday or common clothing, in particular
for the lower levels of society, fur- or leather capes
may, as indicated, have been in use against cold, in

Threads/cm

1-5

6-10

>10

Sum

Period II
Period III
Late BA

74
32
11

32
32
3

9
6
10

115
70
24

Sum

117

67

25

209

Fig. 10. Distribution of warp-threads per centimetre in textiles

from Periods II and III, and Late Bronze Age/LB (small sample),
respectively. Data from Jrgensen (1986). Randsborg del.

Opening the Oak-Coffins

particular wet weather, as well as caps of the same
materials. Both these items of clothing were found on
a male bog-body at Emmer-Erfscheidenveen in the
northeast of the Netherlands from a period contemporary with Period III in the North (van der Sanden
1996, 124 etc., with Figs. 170, 173 & 205). Indeed,
the woollen textiles, in pattern as in manufacture,
at least to an extent, do look like skin clothing in a
new and more prestigious material, even if less attractive, perhaps, and less protective in a rainstorm.
If so, they certainly represent the best of the dresses
of the age, even if improved, and often much worn
and repaired.
The observation about the particular design of the
textiles is not a new one but nevertheless real and
may add to the social understanding of Early Bronze
Age textiles in the North and their remarkable place
in history (cf. Riis 1993). Indeed, woollen clothing
was relatively uncommon in Europe in this period,
with two exceptions, the North and Greece, the latter
area with a remarkable woollen industry reflected in
the palace records and known from numerous pictorial representations (data from Bender Jrgensen
1992, 114f., 117 Fig. 140). However, very poor circumstances of find in Central Europe may account, at
least partly, for the lack of woollen garments here.
Looms were no doubt already in use for the linen
clothing known from the Neolithic in Central Europe,
but seemingly only introduced in the North with the
spinning of wool, which may not have begun in Denmark until the later Neolithic, or even later in earnest.
We have almost no information on the looms. However, loom-weights are conspicuously few, and even
spindle-whorls are practically, perhaps even fully,
unknown; an uncertain spindle-whorl of horn stems
from a male oak-coffin grave in Fldhj at Flynder,
Ringkbing County (Boye 1896, Pl. II A4). One find
of loom-weights comes from an Early Bronze Age
grave at Skrydstrup, Haderslev County, perhaps of
Period III date (Broholm & Hald 1929-35, 300; Broholm 1943f./Vol. I Grave 1109; seemingly, not listed
in AK VII). Another is from a Late Bronze Age settlement at Jegstrup, Viborg County (Davidsen 1982,
72f. with Fig. 5:11). This scarcity of loom-weights (and
certainly of spindle-whorls) no doubt has some bearing on the character of the industry, perhaps suggesting a tubular, even a horizontal loom as the common

25

one (rather than the Iron Age vertical one), as well as,
possibly, another king of spinning than practiced in
other periods and regions in Antiquity, possibly using
a heavy piece of wood.
Twills, requiring a more complex loom but allowing patterns to be woven into the fabric, only appears
on the threshold of the Late Bronze Age in Central Europe (Period III in the North) and may be even later
in the Scandinavia (Bender Jrgensen 1992, 120). The
Early Bronze Age textiles only deviate from the plain
tabby by added embroidery, as seen on some female
blouses, for instance that of the famous Skrydstrup
woman (cf. Pl. 25, Addendum No. 23). The fraying
of the woollen male helmets, the belts, etc. also display additional techniques adding to the elegance of
these simple textiles in both manufacture and pattern,
and to the impressive performance of their wealthy
wearers.
A recently found female grave of (early) Period III
from Thrkow, Mecklenburg, North Germany held
a rich set of jewellery - a necklace, two armrings or
bracelets, two heavy massive ankle-rings with very
large spirals (each of about 600 grammes), tutuli large
and small, fingerings, a fibula, and an amber bead
(Schmidt 2004). The grave, holding the bones of a
women about 30-40 years of age, perhaps also yielded fragments of a leather coat (decorated with the tutuli) and textile fragments, including some claimed to
be of silk.
The silk fragments appeared at the backside of the
necklace together with fragments, likely of a woollen
blouse, the T-shirt of above. The silk fragments have
been interpreted by the excavator as belonging to a
veil, covering the head or face of the corpse. It is woven in a simple braiding-technique (Danish sprang),
used also for female caps and hair-nets found in the
oak-coffin graves. So, perhaps, this silk is not really
silk, to judge from the technique of manufacture. On
the other hand, if of silk, China is not the only possible source, since wild silk is known to have been utilized in the Ancient Eastern Mediterranean. Wild silk
is made from cocoons gathered in nature and chewed
through by the caterpillar (or, silkworm), thus producing threads of limited length, perhaps more apt
for braiding than weaving. Seemingly, such silk is
known from Egypt at about 1000 BC (21th dynasty), or
a couple of hundred years after the Thrkow Women.

26

Acta Archaeologica

At any rate, the northern Early Bronze Age find may

be a long-distance import of true excellence and great
significance, calling for further examination of the
oak-coffin textiles.
Finally, as to the bodies of the Bronze Age oakcoffin people, men cut their hair rather short, and
sometimes cut or shaved at the sides, and never displayed a beard - at least not as corpses. The hair of
the women was often longer and sometimes worn in
pony tails or even made up in elaborate tall coiffures,
as in the case of the Skrydstrup woman, herself even
a tall woman (Pl. 25). There are no indications of the
use of tattoos, cosmetics, colouring of hair, or other
improvements of natural beauty. For both sexes, pubic hair is preserved.
Were photos taken of the oak-coffin people, the
representations of the 1930s probably come closer to
a Bronze Age ethnographic reality than the modelling or even cute pictures of say the Egtved Girl
of the 1970s. This is not to deny an erotic aspect of
the performances of the Bronze Age elite, including
acrobatic cultic dancing of demi-naked string-skirted
girls, as seen on statuettes as well as the rock-carvings,
nor of male warriors lined up for battle. Power would
have emanated from all these persons, as demonstrated by the burial gifts.

BURIAL GIFTS

In Denmark, bronze, in fact copper and tin, and gold

are not present naturally in the ground, nor are they
in the wide surrounding regions. Every gramme had
to be imported from the South in the Bronze Age.
Studying the hoards or deposits, one is surprised at
the wealth of artefact metal. Studying the grave goods
of the same metals, one is being equipped with an
excellent social data-set regarding this distant age.
In the rare case of the oak-coffin graves we are even
unusually well-informed about the clothing for men
and women, as we have seen above, as well as hairdos and other enculturation of the body.
The male graves of the Early Bronze Age hold
bronze weapons - sword, dagger, weapon axe (Period
II), and possibly lance/spear - along with certain accessories, including razors, tweezers and flint strike-alights (never found with women, perhaps because it is

in fact a degenerated flint-dagger of latest Stone Age

type). Jewellery is rare with the men, but golden armrings or bracelets do occur in quite a number of cases.
Other ornaments include double-buttons, either one
large (Period II) or a couple small (Period III), and
fittings (joining hooks, also Period II) for the shoulder
sword belt, as well as pairs of tutuli with a semi-spherical centre. Like the heavy weapons and the gold, these
particular tutuli dominate in richly equipped graves
and are thus symbols of a particular high rank. The
wealthy graves also monopolize bronze vessels (often
imported), fine wooden vessels (decorated in tin- and
bronze-sprigs, and possibly accompanied by a horn
spoon), folding-chairs (likely symbols of high rank
too), staffs to drive chariot horses, etc. Other tools,
e.g., for metal-production or surgery, are very rare
in the graves. Agricultural and other heavy tools are
practically unknown. The equipment clearly refers to
the personal inner sphere of the deceased.
The razors correspond well with the fact that beard
is never recorded from the oak-coffin graves, where
hair, even pubic hair, is otherwise completely preserved. However, not all male graves were equipped
with razors and a particular status might be ascribed
to the men with such. Perhaps these were men always
clean shaved, or at least clean-shaved on certain occasions, possibly individuals with a priestly function.
The tweezers, very often accompanying razors, are
something of a puzzle, but likely a tool for personal
hygiene, perhaps, like the razor, even used in surgery
(to close a wound).
No doubt, the existence of a complex pattern of official male functions, likely overlapping, are revealed
by both costly and special artefacts in the graves, as
well as by other means. The position of commanding
warrior (officer) is made evident by fine weaponry
and other items. Chiefly functions are likely indicated
by folding chairs and gold arm-rings or bracelets; high
rank by special tutuli; driver of chariots by special
staffs, etc. To this comes sea-captain (skipper), as indicated by images of manned ships. Various ceremonial
or priestly functions also seem clear, including persons with particular cosmological knowledge (cf. below), and diviners (defined on the bases of containers
with amulets, in fact items used even in recent times
for divination). The function of surgeon is indicated
by finds of surgical tools or instruments. Incidentally,

Opening the Oak-Coffins

marital status (or at least age) for the men is probably
indicated by the inclusion of weaponry, commonly
swords, in the grave.
The contemporary female graves hold bronze
jewellery, arm-rings or bracelets, neck-rings or necklaces, other rings, round belt-plates and, rarely and
late, belt-boxes, ordinary tutuli with a point, etc. Gold
is rare. In some cases, bronze daggers are also seen.
Beads (amber or glass) are rare, but do occur.
In deposits, bronze sickles are often found with female items, but they are next to completely unknown
in the graves. Such sickles may have been used in
ceremonial harvesting carried out by women. Indeed,
from images, female participation in ceremonies is
quite evident, including acrobatic dancers (in string
skirt only). Women may also function as diviners
(again defined on the basis of amulets). Incidentally, marital status (or at least age) for the women is
difficult to define on the bases of particular artefacts,
but may transpire from inclusion of full jewellery in
the grave. Rank (and/or higher age) might be indicated by certain items otherwise held by men, like
a dagger, the odd tutulus with semi-spherical centre
(among ordinary tutuli), or even by a fibula.
The two sexes (or genders), but mainly the men,
hold fibulas (cloth fasteners), small knives, combs (in
horn or bronze), in addition to various ceramics, etc.
The distribution of bronze and gold wealth in the
graves shows a remarkable distinction between richly
and poorly equipped interments, even though the
burial customs are basically are same: single graves
in mounds (Randsborg 1974) (Figs. 12-13, with Fig. 14
Left). This variation stems from several factors, including age and sex: the very few children being poorly
equipped, and the few females being less copiously
equipped than the numerous males, although there
are also examples of wealthy women (cf. below). For
the two sexes (or genders), there are far more poorly
than richly equipped graves.
However, there is one remarkable exception, the
male Period III graves from the north-western part of
Jylland ( Jutland), a region rich in prime agricultural
soils, fishing (in both the North Sea and the Limfjord
inlet or sound), etc. (Fig. 14 Left). Here there are very
few poorly equipped male graves, the majority holding about 600 grammes of bronze, usually in the form
of a sword, in addition to a particularly high amount

27

of gold, including bracelets. Clearly, this particular regional Bronze Age elite is setting itself apart from the
rest of the population, while at the same time closing
ranks in a rather egalitarian structure with respect to
display of wealth. The truly unique structure is accompanied by swords much worn (cf. Kristiansen
1983, 19) and by a clustering of high status graves into
two micro-regions: South Thy and North and West
Salling, likely the centres of two competing kingdoms
(or sub-kingdoms), separated by the larger island of
Mors (Fig. 14 Right).
The whole region is almost an island in itself, commanding the one end of a long Continental route (the
eastern sub-kingdom) as well as the seaway to Norway (the western one). The competing double kingdom no doubt posed a danger to the construction,
especially since the area was, probably, ecologically
endangered. There are signs of de-forestation (oakcoffins substituted by stone-coffins, house timers of a
very low quality), and even very marginal lands were
taken under plough - all probably due to a very high
population. In the centres, in particular, the number
of graves is at least twice or three times as high as it
ought to be, compared with the rest of the country and
the agricultural potential. In all other regions/periods
of Periods II-III of the Early Bronze, the numbers of
graves correlate with the measures of production of
the regions in question (cf. Randsborg 1997).
Adult age is an important factor in the display of
wealth as demonstrated by the fact that men are not
receiving swords and other significant male items until towards the age of about 20. A case in point is a
grave with a sword found at Krukskrven, Malm in
Skne/Scandia (Hkansson 1985, 26 no. 35, cf. 192),
where the dead adult male is (a little) less than 20
years of age. The man in No. 2 Borum Eshj grave
B with a sword scabbard (only holding a dagger) is
20-22 years old (Pl. 19). Incidentally, the case of a
dagger in a sword-scabbard is usually taken to reflect
a miserly family, but might also be a symbol of a near
adult status at death. The coffin is orientated NorthSouth, a rare orientation, in particular with the head
towards the South, as here (Randsborg & Nybo 1984).
Perhaps, the young man of Borum Eshj is hiding yet
more secrets, as the nearby stone-settings and other
structures, perhaps of a cultic nature, might also indicate (Boye 1896, 50).

28

Acta Archaeologica

Opening the Oak-Coffins

29

Fig. 11. Belt-plate, neck-ring, dagger in scabbard with metal ferrule, tubes for string-skirt, animal teeth beads (3 dog, 1 wild boar), and clay
cup and vessel. From richly equipped female Period II grave at Bustrup, Ramsing parish, Viborg County (Broholm 1943f. Vol. I, Grave 741;
AK XII, no. not yet given). After AK.

30

Acta Archaeologica

16000

60

14000
50

Number of graves

40
10000

8000

30

6000

Burial wealth (g bronze)

12000

20

4000

10
2000

0
1

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

Weight classes (of 100 g bronze)

Fig. 12. Male Period II graves in Denmark (closed high-quality finds only). The graves are distributed in 100-gram classes with respect
to amount of bronze in the grave-goods. Sample: finds in the National Museum by 1969.
Adding the gold items - by giving 1 g gold the value of 100 g bronze, for instance - the tendencies of the diagram would only be emphasised, since gold concentrates in the graves rich in bronze (Randsborg 1974, 49).
Also shown is the distribution of burial wealth in each 100-gram bronze class. Note the bi- or trimodal distribution of the wealth, and
that the small top echelon of the sample holds more than half the bronze (in addition to by far most of the gold). Cf. Fig. 13, female graves.
Based on Randsborg (1974). Randsborg del.

It should also be noted that swords, like other artefact types, come in several classes of weight, from
slender blades of less than 200 gram to full metalhilted specimens of more than one kilogram. Weight
systems were seemingly also applied, including a
half-pound of 264 grammes and a smaller unit onetenth this weight, or, 26 grammes, the latter in use
even for gold (e.g., Eiwanger 1989; Malmer 1992;
Sperber 1993; and, Pare 1999 summing up Nordic
and European evidence). The smaller unit is known
also from Egypt during a period corresponding to the
Early Bronze Age in the North. In fact, long-distance
travel of information, symbols and items character-

izes the earlier part of the Bronze Age (most recently,

Kristiansen & Larsson 2005; and below).
Women receive rich heavy jewellery (not merely
arm-rings or bracelets and other trinkets) at the age of
about 15+ years (No. 18 Storehj, Egtved is a women
of about 16-18 years, cf. Pl. 9). A lavishly equipped
woman, possibly the richest in Denmark in Period II
but only about 20 years of age, or a little more, comes
from a simple grave in a beach barrier at Hverrehus,
Viborg County (Broholm 1943f. Vol. I Grave 728)
(Fig. 30). The jewellery here comprises a neck-collar, a
large belt-plate with special numerical and cosmological properties (cf. below, Chapter X), 4 arm-bands/

31

Opening the Oak-Coffins

16000

60

14000
50

12000

Number of graves

10000

8000

30

6000

Burial wealth (g bronze)

40

20

4000

10
2000

0
1

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

Weight classes (of 100 g bronze)

Fig. 13. Female Period II graves in Denmark (closed high-quality finds only). The graves are distributed in 100-gram classes with respect
to amount of bronze in the grave-goods. Sample: finds in the National Museum by 1969. Adding the few gold items - by giving 1 g gold
the value of 100 g bronze, for instance - the tendencies of the diagram would only be emphasised, since gold concentrates in the graves
rich in bronze (Randsborg 1974, 49).
Also shown is the distribution of burial wealth in each 100-gram bronze class. Note that the small top echelon of the sample holds
more than half the bronze (in addition to by far most of the gold).
In comparison with the male graves (Fig. 12), the female ones are not only fewer but also definitely poorer in bronze (as well as in gold).
The number of female graves corresponds to the number of male graves holding more than 400 g bronze. Incidentally, in Period III, the
number of female graves in relation to the male ones is somewhat higher. Based on Randsborg (1974). Randsborg del.

bracelets, 14 tutuli, 50 or more tubes decorating the

string-skirt, a comb even of bronze, and a heavy full
metal-hilted dagger. Two contemporary female graves
were nearby, also rather well equipped, though not
lavishly: the one burial, apart from jewellery, remarkably, was holding a sword (substitute for the common
dagger?). Adult equipment likely reflects adult status
and social maturity, usually marriage, even though
the Hverrehus women seem to fall in a special category, in particular as to the form of burial. In fact,
since these prominent females were not buried in the


A double-grave is a slight possibility.

standard mound, they might have been foreigners perhaps drowned, even killed, visitors (cf. the beach
burial) - or holders of special positions.
A large stone cist in a burial mound at Bustrup,
Viborg County yielded another wealthy women from
Period II: only 20-25 years of age and buried with a
neck-ring, a belt-plate, four beads of animal teeth (one
wild boar, two dog), and a full metal-hilted dagger,
the scabbard even with a bronze ferrule (Broholm
1943f. Vol. I Grave 741) (Fig. 11).
Other social distinctions than age and sex (or gender) may also have been at work. Older men might
not carry weapons, like No. 2 Borum Eshj, Grave A,

32

Acta Archaeologica
14000

20

18
12000
16

Number of graves

12
8000
10
6000
8

Burial wealth (g bronze)

10000

14

4000

4
2000
2

0
1

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

Weight classes (100 g)

Fig. 14. - Male Period III graves in northwestern Jylland ( Jutland), Denmark (closed high-quality finds only). The graves are distributed in
100-gram classes with respect to amount of bronze in the grave-goods. Sample: finds in the National Museum by 1969.
Adding the gold items - by giving 1 g gold the value of 100 g bronze, for instance - the tendencies of the diagram would only be strongly
emphasised, since gold concentrates in bronze-rich graves, and the graves in question are very rich in gold (Randsborg 1974, 50).
Also shown is the distribution of burial wealth in each 100-gram bronze class. Note the highly remarkable distribution of the graves, with
more rich than poor interments. This unique pattern produces a novel correspondence between the distribution of the burial population and
that of burial wealth, or, the establishment of a particular class within the elite monopolizing all wealth, and perhaps even all land and other
critical resources.

who also is 50-60 years old (Pl. 14), while a man who
is 40-50 years old, or a little more, from Grave 67,
Valleberga, Skne is fully equipped (Strmberg 1975,
30f.). Age determinations of mature and even older
persons are difficult, though.
Nevertheless, men probably stopped being active
warriors at the age of about 50. The man of No. 2 Borum Eshj, Grave A is actually wearing a very thick
helmet-like scull-cap, perhaps a symbol of his former
status in the line of battle. The Valleberga Grave 67
man is interesting in being slender with poorly developed muscles, not a born warrior, in spite of both
a sword and an axe. The dagger of some women,
found in both poor and rich graves, may refer to a

sword-bearing husband, but might also be a symbol

of maturity in itself, as in the case of No. 2 Borum Eshj, Grave C (not dendro-dated), a women of 50-60
years (Pl. 20). Significantly, No. 18 Storehj, Egtved,
a woman of 16-18 years of age, has no dagger (Pl. 9).
However, the above Hverrehus and Bustrup graves
- women of 20(+) and 20-25 years of age, respectively
- hold powerful daggers. Possibly, daggers might be
included in female grave from the age of about 20,
just as the swords in male graves. Belt-plates - symbols
of the Sun (cf. below) - occur with both young and old
women, all possibly with a cultic function (cf. No. 18
Storehj Egtved as well as Borum Eshj, Grave C:
Pls. 9 and 20).

Opening the Oak-Coffins

33

Fig. 14. - Distribution of Period II and III graves in northwestern Jylland ( Jutland), Denmark (closed high-quality finds only) (cf. Figs. 12-13).
After Randsborg (1975).
The Period II pattern is the standard one, found across the whole country in both periods, with no or only a few closed graves in each parish.
The Period III pattern, by contrast, shows two (or even more) significant sub-regional clusters of graves. The clusters indicate that the region
in question is not a political unity, but prone for conflicts (which may have led to its downfall, even though pressure on the natural resources
likely was the base factor).
Furthermore, the male Period III graves of the region show the remarkable concentration of wealth outlined in Fig. 14 Left and commented
on above.

Even local and temporal circumstances play a role

in display. Thus, women become better represented
and richer in grave-goods in Period III, even receiving
more golden artefacts - gold, no doubt, being the metal of the Sun itself (cf. Randsborg 1974). Furthermore,
as already mentioned, there are almost no poorly
furnished male graves in Northwest Jylland in Period
III. The latter phenomenon is probably a reflection
of sharp social distinctions generated in a crisis-ridden
society where, incidentally, even very marginal lands
were under plough. The plentiful marine resources of
the region were obviously not sufficient to avoid food

shortages (Rasmussen & Adamsen 1993, 142f./J.-H.

Bech). The country was even so depleted of forest in
Period III that stone-coffins substituted for oak-coffins
in the burial mounds.
Gold concentrates in the relatively few graves
very rich in bronze, mainly of males (as do a number
of cheap but special items, such as folding chairs,
staffs for driving chariot horses, and brimmed Sunhat tutulus badges). Since gold obviously is costly (approximately 100 times more than bronze by weight),
much bronze is also costly, and less bronze, by consequence, less so. There is no way one can belittle the

34

Acta Archaeologica

costs and role even of just a little bronze in Northern

Europe in the Bronze Age.
Reading the 100-gram bronze classes of male
graves (or groups thereof) for instance in Period II as
approximate levels of burial (and likely other) wealth,
one notes a remarkable and highly interesting distinction between richly and poorly equipped graves (even
if all the men clearly belong to the elites in society)
(Fig. 12).
Collectively, the top about 20% of the men hold as
much bronze as the rest of the sample (80%). Interestingly the top about 25% of the men, with more than
about 600 grammes artefact bronze in the grave, even
form a separate group or class in terms of burial
wealth, not only commanding about two-thirds of
this, but also setting themselves off from the rest of
the princes. A second, and more numerous, class is
made up by men with around 400 grammes bronze.
A third and indistinctive class is made up of the
many men with less than 100-200 grammes bronze
in the grave, usually too little for even a light swords
blade.
In the contemporary group of female graves, distinct classes of burial wealth are not seen, even
though graves with more than 400 grammes bronze
may form a separate group (Fig. 13). Again, the top
20% or so of the burials command half the burial
wealth. In terms of numbers, the female graves are
matching only the men with more than 400 grammes
bronze, supposing a traditional 1:1 marriage pattern.
If the top-echelon males have two wives on the average (they also live longer, cf. below), there is perhaps
only enough females for the men with more than 800
grammes bronze in the grave. Nevertheless, women
(and children) are buried in the same fashion as the
men, thus bestowed the same honours. As we shall se
below, the women even carry solar symbols - in the
form of belt-plates - reflecting a far deeper knowledge
than the mere observation of this celestial body.
Women are practically never engaged with metalworking in traditional societies. Thus, men probably
made the fine Nordic bronzes and other metal items
on a basis of particular but simple skills often carried
to extremes. In support of this are a few metal-making
tools found in male contexts across Europe. Foreign
contacts, including acquisition of metals, were also a
domain of the men, to judge by find contexts defined

by gender. In the public sphere - if we may use this

term for the Bronze Age - the role of women was
probably linked to cultic performances like processions and dance, as indicated by the rock-carvings.
Interestingly, Bronze Age woman of in Southern
Scandinavia - unlike all their European sisters - were
also armed. As we have noted above, daggers, often with a fine full-metal hilt, occur in many female
graves in Periods II and III. However, women never
carried anything akin to the solid flange-hilted weapons with blade and hilt in one, thus meant for serious
fighting, nor any other kind of sword, lance or axe.
Thus, women were not official fighters, but certain
females carried the junior trappings of such, likely to
signal their rank, or even their marital status as married women (wives of sword bearers).
Finally, the burial mounds most likely do not hold
the entire population of the Early Bronze Age, even
though there is a substantial number of graves without grave-goods in the mounds (graves without goods
are usually undated). Certainly, women (and children) are far poor represented than the men. The extraordinary case of very many rich male graves in the
north-western part of Jylland in Period III - actually
making up the majority of the male graves with their
swords and golden armrings/bracelets - certainly suggests that even large male groups of the general population were not buried in the majestic mounds. On
the other hand, even simple graves without mound
could hold important personages like the young Lady
of Hverrehus, one of the best equipped women from
Period II (Broholm 1943f. Vol. I Grave 728) (Fig. 30).
Still, it would seem that we have no knowledge of the
burial places of the vast majority of the population,
apart, perhaps, from a few graves without a covering
mound.
Translated into cattle and land, such economic distinctions are remarkable indeed and go a very long
way to explain the sublime Nordic Bronze Age culture, including its fine textiles and bronzes, elaborate
ceremonies, chariots, large and no doubt also fast and
far-reaching boats, and, in particular, extraordinary
acquisition of exotic raw materials through foreign
connections. This said in full acknowledgement of the
fact that high organization and social mobilization of
resources is but one element of the intelligence of a
culture.