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December 23, 2021 About three thousand years ago, the ancient Danish populations may have made headdresses inspired by those common on the island of Sardinia. This was suggested by a study, published in the journal Praehistorische Zeitschrift, conducted by scientists from the Moesgaard Museum and the University of Aarhus, who analyzed a bronze helmet found in 1942 in Scandinavia. Adorned with horns and a beak, the Viks helmet may have been produced together with another very similar twin. The two objects, according to the analyzes carried out, date back to almost three thousand years ago, over 1,500 years before the Vikings reached the area.
The research team speculates that these headdresses were inspired by similar artifacts typical of distant Sardinia. Such a link would relate for the first time two regions of prehistoric Europe separated by thousands of kilometers, suggesting a previously unknown possible sea route between Scandinavia and the Mediterranean. "This study is very interesting - comments Flemming Kaul, an archaeologist from the National Museum of Denmark, not involved in the work - and suggests the possibility of cultural contacts hitherto unknown during the Bronze Age". The team, led by Heide Wrobel Nrgaard, identified organic residues on the Viks helmet, which have been radiocarbon dated.
"There are notable similarities between Scandinavian and Sardinian iconography - says Helle Vandkildem of the University of Aarhus - these similarities suggest that traders from the Mediterranean began to go up the Atlantic coast towards Scandinavia 3,000 years ago. In Scandinavia no relevant information is known. sources of metal during the Bronze Age, so demand for copper, bronze and tin may have fueled long-distance trade. " Researchers speculate that the helmets were a religious tool believed to be capable of communicating with an otherworldly deity. "These headdresses may have been on the heads of rulers for generations - observes Vandkilde - it would be an example of the exploitation of the divine as a legitimation of power".
"The existence of an Atlantic trade route between the Mediterranean and the north - says Nicola Ialongo of the Georg August University of Gottingen, who does not agree with the team's interpretation - would imply that the iconographic similarities between the helmets in Sardinia and Scandinavia are also common to Belgium, France, the United Kingdom or the Netherlands. Even assuming that the sailors covered those distances, it is reasonable to assume that they stopped in some territory halfway through the voyage ".
"The research - concludes Kaul - shows that the Vikings were not the only Scandinavian society with distant connections in the past. Already in the Bronze Age there may have been long-distance commercial connections and networks, which is very fascinating".