Female Figurine Found in Denmark Field

News June 21, 2013

(René Laursen, Bornholm Museum)
SHARE:
skalk2
(René Laursen, Bornholm Museum)

BORNHOLM, DENMARK—A gold figurine, standing just over one-and-a-half inches in height, was found recently in a field on Danish island of Bornholm. The figure is the fifth such item found in the area since 2009, and is unique among the set in that it is the only one that depicts a woman. That makes the figurine uncommon for art of its age, which is believed to be A.D. sixth century during the Nordic Iron Age. The gold woman, which weighs a tenth of an ounce and is thought to be a fertility idol, is depicted arched backward with her arms bound behind.

  • Features May/June 2013

    Haunt of the Resurrection Men

    A forgotten graveyard, the dawn of modern medicine, and the hard life in 19th-century London

    Read Article
    (Private Collection/The Bridgeman Art Library)
  • Features May/June 2013

    The Kings of Kent

    The surprising discovery of an Anglo-Saxon feasting hall in the village of Lyminge is offering a new view of the lives of these pagan kings

    Read Article
    (Photo by William Laing, © University of Reading)
  • Letter from Turkey May/June 2013

    Anzac's Next Chapter

    Archaeologists conduct the first-ever survey of the legendary WWI battlefield at Gallipoli

    Read Article
    (Samir S. Patel)
  • Artifacts May/June 2013

    Ancient Near Eastern Figurines

    Ceramic figurines were part of a cache of objects found at an Iron Age temple uncovered at the site of Tel Motza outside Jerusalem

    Read Article
    (Clara Amit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority)