26 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

One-of-a-kind 1000- years-old gold earring found in Denmark

A metal detectorist in Denmark uncovered a one-of-a-kind piece of 11th-century gold jewelry that had never been seen in Scandinavia before.

Experts claim that the stunning gold earring found at a field near Bøvling in West Jutland, Denmark, may have been gifted to a Viking chief 1,000 years ago by the Byzantine Emperor.

The crescent-shaped earring from the 1000s, found by a metal detectorist, consists of a golden plate with enamel decoration depicting two birds around a tree or a plant. Only 10 or 12 examples of them are known worldwide, and this is the first one ever discovered in Scandinavia.

The piece is made of cloisonné enamel in shades of purple, green and blue is divided by gold threads to form a stylized design of two birds on either side of a tree. One theory is that it depicts the Tree of Life that is understood in both Islamic and Christian ways of thinking. This type of earring design has been found in Egypt, Syria, Byzantium, and Russia. The jewelry found is most similar to the Arabic examples, which originated in Egypt.

The back of the earring – photo by Søren Greve, The National Museum of Denmark
The back of the earring – photo by Søren Greve, The National Museum of Denmark

The find is a beautiful and quite unusual gold earring from the 11th century, according to Peter Pentz, who is a museum inspector at the National Museum of Denmark. “It is completely unique to us, we only know of 10-12 other specimens in the whole world, and we have never found one in Scandinavia before,” he says, adding that the Vikings have brought home thousands of silver coins from their travels, but almost never jewelry.

According to Pentz, the earring likely comes from Cairo due to similarities with other crescent-shaped earrings in museum collections.

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the finest, he rated the Bvling discovery as an “eight,” not least because of the beautiful enamel work akin to the Byzantine relief Dagmark Cross discovered in 1683 in one of the royal graves in Saint Bendt’s Church in Ringsted.

Dagmar cross
Dagmar Cross. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

“In quality, the enamel on the earring is not quite as good as the Dagmark Cross. But where the Dagmark Cross was found in a queen’s grave, where context lends itself, the earring was found without any context whatsoever in a field in West Jutland. It’s a little fascinating with detector finds that you can imagine quite a lot”, Prentz said.

“We had expected to find such a fine and invaluable piece of jewelry like this together with a large gold treasure or in a royal tomb and not on a random field in Bøvling,” notes Peter Pentz.

The discovery was made by Frants Fugl Vestergaard, who has doing metal detecting for the last ten years and had even gone over this field several times before.

The earring will be placed in a secure display at the National Museum, where it is part of the Viking exhibit “The Cruise”, which focuses on Vikings’ voyages to the Middle East. Here guests can take a close look at it along with other Vikings’ treasures.

Source:National Museum

Related Articles

Rare textiles and dwellings discovered in the submerged Neolithic settlement near Rome

6 June 2023

6 June 2023

Underwater archaeologists have discovered rare, well-preserved textiles, basketry, and cordage from the early Neolithic period in an area near Rome,...

No Ancient Super-Highway: The Reality of Europe’s Erdstall and the Scotland-Türkiye Tunnel

28 April 2025

28 April 2025

The internet continues to buzz with the captivating notion of an immense, prehistoric tunnel network stretching from the Scottish Highlands,...

Submerged Roman structure of concentric walls discovered on Italy’s western coast

3 June 2024

3 June 2024

Archaeologists have recently uncovered a significant Roman-era structure submerged near the coastline of Campo di Mare on Italy’s western coast....

Structures in Turkey’s Panaztepe pointing out a 5,000-year-old settlement found

8 November 2021

8 November 2021

In the 5000-year-old Panaztepe settlement located in the Menemen district of Izmir, structures thought to belong to the oldest period...

The newly discovered fossils are 200,000 years old in Denisova Cave

29 November 2021

29 November 2021

Scientists have discovered the earliest remains of a human lineage known as the Denisovans. Researchers have identified stone artifacts connected...

Researchers have found in miniature ceramic bottles evidence of the oldest known use of cosmetics in the Balkans

14 July 2021

14 July 2021

In miniature ceramic bottles from excavations ascribed to the Lasinja Culture in the Southeast Prealps and the Vinča Culture in...

Earliest evidence of forest management discovered at the La Draga Neolithic site in Spain

19 July 2023

19 July 2023

Archaeologists have discovered the earliest evidence of forest management at the La Draga Neolithic site in northeastern Spain. A scientific...

Largest-Known Flower Preserved in Amber Is Nearly 40 Million Years Old

20 January 2023

20 January 2023

The largest-known fossilized flower encased in amber, dating back nearly 40 million years, was again discovered in the Baltic region...

Tutankhamun of Kazakhstan, “Golden Man”

1 August 2024

1 August 2024

The Golden Man, the main symbol of Kazakhstan’s independence, is a warrior’s costume from about the 5th century BC that...

Silver coins found near the ruins of the medieval monastery in Holy island

10 November 2021

10 November 2021

Archaeologists have discovered a silver coin on Lindisfarne, known as Holy Island, in the northeast of England. Dig Ventures is...

A rare 6,000-year-old elephant ivory vessel was unearthed near Beersheba

9 April 2024

9 April 2024

A recent excavation near Beersheba in southern Israel uncovered an ivory vessel crafted of elephant tusks dating to the Chalcolithic...

The discovery of a 380-million-year-old heart sheds new light on our bodies’ evolution

16 September 2022

16 September 2022

Researchers from Curtin University have discovered the world’s oldest heart in a ‘beautifully preserved’ ancient jawed fish fossil 380 million...

Discovery Shedding Light on Ancient Maritime Trade: 1,500-Year-Old Trade Shipwreck Found off Türkiye’s Ayvalık

21 December 2024

21 December 2024

‘Turkish Sunken-Ships Project: Blue Heritage’, a 1500-year-old trade shipwreck was found off the coast of Ayvalık district of Balıkesir. Under...

Ancient Elegance Revealed: Exquisite Jewelry and Amulets from the 26th Dynasty Discovered at Karnak

4 March 2025

4 March 2025

In a remarkable revelation that sheds light on ancient Egyptian craftsmanship, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, alongside the...

The inhabitants of Pınarbaşı Höyük in central Turkey may be the ancestors of the Boncuklu Höyük and Çatalhöyük neolithic human communities

27 July 2022

27 July 2022

The Department of Excavations and Researchs, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Turkey, attracted...