18 September 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

1400-year-old gold foil figures found in pagan temple

Archaeologists have discovered a votive gold hoard during road development works in Vingrom, south of Lillehammer on the shores of Lake Mjøsa Norway.

The 5 gold pieces are tiny, about the size of a fingernail. They are flat and thin as paper, often square, and stamped with a motif. Usually, they depict a man and a woman in various types of clothing, jewelry, and hairstyles.

The objects were discovered in the remains of a pagan temple, where previous excavations have uncovered thirty similar stamped gold objects in the vicinity over the past three decades.

Archaeologist Kathrine Stene was the project leader for the excavation, which has been ongoing along the road here all summer and into autumn, due to the upgrade of the E6 highway between Mjøsa Bridge and Lillehammer.

“It was incredibly exciting,” Kathrine Stene said.

The pagan temple measures around fifteen meters in length. Archaeologists have found five gold foil figures in the last couple of weeks.

Tiny, as thin as paper, made of gold, and stamped with motifs of men and women in stylish costumes. Photo: Museum of Cultural History / University of Oslo
Tiny, as thin as paper, made of gold, and stamped with motifs of men and women in stylish costumes. Photo: Museum of Cultural History / University of Oslo

According to the researchers, the objects date from the Merovingian era sometime between AD 550 to the Viking Age.

The latest objects were found beneath the structure in the wall runs and in adjacent postholes, suggesting that they were ritually placed as votive offerings in the form of a sacrifice or a religious act to protect the building before it was constructed.

In 1993, the temple at Hov was discovered entirely by chance. County conservator Harald Jacobsen noticed the soil while driving along the E6. He thought it looked like what archaeologists call cultural layers, or soil containing human traces. A quick investigation proved him correct, and the discovery of two gold foil figures indicated that this was no ordinary location.

The five new gold foil figures. One of them appears to have been intentionally crumpled. Photo: Museum of Cultural History / University of Oslo
The five new gold foil figures. One of them appears to have been intentionally crumpled. Photo: Museum of Cultural History / University of Oslo

Smaller excavations during the 2000s led to the discovery of 28 gold foil figures, and what is referred to as a temple, a house for pagan religious practices.

In Norway, findings of gold foil figures are rare. The 35 from the temple in Vingrom represent the largest collection found in this country.

However, 100 gold foil figures were found in a similar temple at Uppåkra in Sweden, and more than 2,500 gold foil figures were found in a field on the Danish island of Bornholm.

So, “There must be more of them here,” researchers believe.

Museum of Cultural History

Cover Photo: Aerial view captured by a drone of the excavation site. The temple was situated between the modern-day E6 highway and the county road. Photo: Museum of Cultural History / University of Oslo

Related Articles

2400-year-old artifacts discovered in the Black Sea’s first scientific underwater excavation

25 March 2024

25 March 2024

Dozens of historical artifacts dating from the 4th century BC to the 12th century AD were unearthed in the first...

The first Bull Geoglyph discovered in central Asia

29 September 2021

29 September 2021

Archaeologists from the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of History of Material Culture (IIMK RAS) and LLC Krasnoyarsk Geoarchaeology discovered...

New AI Tool ‘Fragmentarium’ Brings Ancient Babylonian Texts Together

6 February 2023

6 February 2023

An artificial intelligence (AI) bot was developed by linguists at the Institute for Assyriology at Ludwig Maximilian University in Germany...

Archaeologists made a remarkable discovery in Kosovo: Evidence that the great Byzantine Emperor was of Dardanian origin

19 August 2023

19 August 2023

A mixed team of international and local experts led by Professor Christophe J. Goddard has unearthed a monumental inscription of...

4,000-Year-Old Lion Jaw Bone Unearthed in Kültepe

14 September 2021

14 September 2021

Excavations continue in Kültepe, the starting point of Anatolian written history. During the excavations, a 4,000-year-old lion jawbone was unearthed....

Bronze Age Treasure Found in Swedish Forests

30 April 2021

30 April 2021

A man who studied the forest to make a map for the orienteering club in western Sweden made an incredible...

Archaeologists have discovered the origins a Herefordshire Stone Age monument

22 August 2021

22 August 2021

Archaeologists have finally uncovered the mysterious origins of Arthur’s Stone, named after the mysterious legends of King Arthur, who inspired...

Recent Excavations Unveil Five Remarkable Statues, Shedding Light on Perge’s Roman Heritage

12 February 2025

12 February 2025

During the excavations in the ancient city of Perge in Antalya, one of the most organized Roman cities of Anatolia,...

Gold coin hoard discovered in a cup beneath a North Yorkshire kitchen floor is being auctioned off

7 September 2022

7 September 2022

A couple in North Yorkshire found an early 18th-century gold coin hoard buried under the floorboards of their kitchen. The...

Four 1,900-year-old Roman swords found in Judean Desert

6 September 2023

6 September 2023

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced the discovery of four extremely well-preserved Roman swords hidden in a cave in the...

Archaeological Complex from the Bulgar-Golden Horde Period Discovered in Tatarstan

22 March 2025

22 March 2025

Recent archaeological research conducted in the Alekseevski municipal district, located in the Republic of Tatarstan, has uncovered an archaeological complex...

A rare sheep carriage and ancient chariots found near mausoleum of China’s first emperor

28 October 2023

28 October 2023

A rare “six-sheep” carriage and a four-wheeled wooden chariot were discovered near the mausoleum of Qinshihuang, China’s first Emperor during...

1,500-Year-Old Imperial Stone Inscription Unearthed in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia

18 August 2025

18 August 2025

A newly unearthed stone inscription, tentatively named the “Stele of the Emperor’s Northern Tour,” has been discovered in the vast...

‘Frankfurt Silver Inscription’ Archaeologists Unearth Oldest Christian Artifact North of the Alps

13 December 2024

13 December 2024

An ancient silver amulet unearthed in Frankfurt pushes back Christianity’s history in the region by 50 to 100 years. The...

Drought Unveils Lost Hellenistic-Era City and Cemetery Beneath Mosul Dam

30 August 2025

30 August 2025

Severe drought conditions in northern Iraq have uncovered a remarkable archaeological treasure. The discovery, revealed as water levels at the...