For a long time, the popular image of Vikings has been crowned by a helmet with horns. The image was reinforced by certain popular cartoons until we all recognized a Viking character by his helmet. But later we were assured that Vikings did not wear horns on their helmets, as that would be be overly risky in battle. So where did we get that idea?
In 1942, near the town of Viksø in Denmark, a peat bog yielded pieces of metal that were later revealed to be two helmets. The Viksø helmets, now in the custody of the National Museum of Denmark, have long, curved metal horns, plus eyes and beaks. The elaborate horns were thought to have belonged to medieval kings, and were erroneously attributed to Viking culture. Archaeologists knew better, and thought the helmets were more likely from the Bronze Age. But metal cannot be carbon dated.
In 2019, an archaeologist studying the helmets noticed a bit of repair work had been done to one of the helmets. There was a small bit of birch tar on one of the horns, applied before they were placed in the bog. Birch tar is organic, and scientists could carbon date the material. The results showed that the helmets were fashioned around 900 BC, centuries before Vikings ruled the area, and indeed belonged to the Bronze Age. They were nevertheless too ornate to be used in warfare. Scientists believe they were ceremonial, and may have once sported extra ornamentation such as hair or feathers. Read about the Viksø helmets at LiveScience. -via Damn Interesting
(Image credit: Lennart Larsen, Nationalmuseet)
