16 September 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Bronze Age women’s jewelry set discovered in Güttingen carrot field, Swiss

A set of Bronze Age women’s jewelry was discovered by archaeologists in Güttingen, Thurgau canton, northeastern Switzerland, in a freshly plowed carrot field.

The set, which dates to around 1,500 B.C., includes a necklace made of bronze spiked discs, two spiral finger rings, more than one hundred pinhead-sized amber beads, and spirals made of bronze and gold wire. A rock crystal, a beaver tooth, a perforated bear tooth, a bronze arrowhead, a few lumps of polished iron ore, a small ammonite, and a fossilized shark tooth were among the more unusual items discovered with these opulent items.

An amateur archaeologist named Franz Zahn discovered the treasure for the first time in August of this year. After the carrots were harvested, he was traipsing through the field when he noticed some bronze discs in the disturbed ground. Zahn, an enthusiastic metal detectorist who has found a number of Iron and Bronze Age artifacts in the Güttingen region, recognized the artifacts’ archaeological importance right away and notified the Thurgau Office of Archaeology.

With the farmer’s permission, the team from the Office of Archeology arrived the next day and quickly realized that only block recovery, that is, the removal and transfer of a larger area of earth of around 50x50x50 cm with the not yet visible finds to the laboratory. At the same time, the small excavation made it clear: There was no evidence of a grave. The jewels were probably buried in an organic container or sack.

Photo: Thurgau Canton

The soil block was transported to the Frauenfeld conservation laboratory for excavation. Throughout the process, each discovery layer was meticulously documented. A similar find had already been discovered near Etzwilen two years ago.

These are typical “costume jewelry” from the Bronze Age, more precisely the Middle Bronze Age around 1500 BC. In total, 14 bronze discs were discovered. Spiked discs get their name from the round pointed nub in the center, which is surrounded by three concentric circles. Originally, each of the holes on the discs would have been used to thread a string or a leather strap, with spirals threaded in between them to act as spacers. On the site, there were eight larger gold wire spirals and eleven bronze wire spirals.

As finds from graves show, women wore necklaces with these eye-catching discs, with spirals strung between them as spacers. Eleven of these spirals were found in Güttingen. In addition, eight slightly larger spirals made of fine gold wire appeared, which weigh a total of over 21 grams. More than 100 amber beads and two finger rings with double spirals complete the ensemble.

Photo: Thurgau Canton

Was there a jewelry box hidden here? Were the bear tooth, the rock crystal and the selected fossils and stones a collection of curiosities or souvenirs from a visit to Klettgau? Or is there even more to it? Objects of this type may have been considered to have a special, protective or healing effect and may have been worn as a kind of amulet.

The set is scheduled to go on display at the Frauenfeld Museum of Archeology next year.

Thurgau Canton

Cover Photo: Thurgau Canton

Related Articles

50 Lost War Helmets Found Near Wrocław University

16 June 2025

16 June 2025

In a remarkable archaeological discovery, over 50 military helmets from both World Wars have been unearthed just steps away from...

Ancient Yayoi Period Settlement Discovered on Tokyo Condo Development Site

10 December 2023

10 December 2023

Excavations at the former site of the British Embassy in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward have uncovered the remains of a Yayoi...

2000-year-old anchor discovered at the bottom of the North Sea

26 September 2022

26 September 2022

A possible Iron Age anchor made from wrought iron was found at the bottom of the southern North Sea during...

Archaeologists find a 5,000-year-old piece of wood in Orkney, which they describe as “astonishing”

10 August 2021

10 August 2021

Archaeologists continue to make surprising discoveries in Orkney. Although organic materials are quite difficult to find, archaeologists have found a...

An 8,200-year-old temple structure found in Çatalhöyük

6 September 2022

6 September 2022

An 8,200-year-old temple structure was found during the 30th excavation season of the excavations at Çatalhöyük, one of the first...

Analysis of Butchered Bones, Somerset Pit Reveals Bronze Age Cannibalism

17 December 2024

17 December 2024

Archaeologists have uncovered the bloodiest massacre in early Bronze Age Britain and evidence of Bronze Age cannibalism. It is the...

Getting to Know Matar Kubilea

8 February 2021

8 February 2021

Hittite state’s, With its collapse in 1200-1190 BC, Anatolia entered a period of drift from holistic to dispersal. (The Hittite...

A huge artificial lake in Sicily is an ancient sacred pool that was aligned with the Stars and used 2,500 years ago, study reveals

17 March 2022

17 March 2022

A sacred freshwater pool on western Sicily’s San Pantaleo Island that dates back some 2,500 years was aligned with the...

The world’s largest Byzantine winepresses have been discovered in Israel

11 October 2021

11 October 2021

Archaeologists say they’ve discovered the world’s largest known Byzantine-era winery in the city of Yavne, south of Tel Aviv. The...

The first Dutch Neanderthal’s ‘Krijn’ face was reconstructed

7 September 2021

7 September 2021

World-renowned “paleo-artists” Kennis brothers have reconstructed the face of the first Neanderthal in the Netherlands. After more than 50,000 years,...

Researchers sequenced the DNA 1,600-year-old sheep mummy from an ancient Iranian salt mine, Chehrabad

16 July 2021

16 July 2021

A multinational team of geneticists and archaeologists sequenced the DNA from a 1,600-year-old sheep mummy discovered from Chehrabad, a salt...

Archaeologists find sunken ancient Egyptian warship under Abu Qir Bay

26 July 2021

26 July 2021

According to a press release by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the Egyptian French archaeological mission of the...

Japan Researchers Uncover Lost Villa Believed to Belong to First Roman Emperor

19 April 2024

19 April 2024

Researchers from the University of Tokyo have discovered a nearly 2,000-year-old building at a site with ancient Roman ruins buried...

1,500-year-old baptistery found in Kadı Castle-Anaia Mound in western Turkey

3 December 2021

3 December 2021

A baptistery, estimated to have been built in the 5th century AD, was unearthed in the Kadı Castle-Anaia Mound in...

Sixth-Century Sword Unearthed in Anglo-Saxon Cemetery near Canterbury, England

28 December 2024

28 December 2024

A spectacular sixth-century sword has been unearthed in an Anglo-Saxon cemetery in southeast England, and archaeologists say it is in...