Amateur archaeologists find Denmark's largest ever viking gold treasure

Three amateur archaeologists have made an unique finding of the largest ever treasure of Viking gold in Denmark, it was reported here Thursday.

A total of seven bangles, six gold and one silver, dating back to around the year 900, have been found in a field in Vejen Municipality on the Danish island of Jutland, the National Museum of Denmark said in a press statement released on Thursday.

With a combined weight of around 900 grams, the finding is the largest ever discovery of Viking gold in Denmark.

"We really felt that we had found the gold at the end of the rainbow when we found the first bangle, but as there appeared more, it was almost unreal," said Marie Aagaard Larsen, who together with her husband Christian Nedergaard Dreioee and their friend Poul Noergaard Pedersen made the discovery.

Peter Pentz, a Viking expert at the National Museum, believed that it is a unique treasure as "to find one of these bangles is major, so it is very special to find seven."

"The Viking Age is actually silver age' when it comes to the discovery of a treasure. The vast majority of treasure contained only silver. If there was gold, it was always a small part, not like here, the majority," Pentz said.

He added that the bangles could have been used by a Viking leader to form alliances or to reward his faithful followers.

According to Lars Grundvad, curator of Soenderskov Museum, the seven new-found bangles are associated with a 67-gram gold chain which was found in the same area back in 1911.

"One of the gold bangles was made in the so-called Jelling style, so was the gold chain from 1911. And when they are found in the same field, I think they may well be part of the same treasure trove," said Grundvad.

Soenderskov Museum plans to display the finding before it is sent to the National Museum in Copenhagen for further study. Endit