New Finding at Tisso

A four-centimeter bronze plate with a horse engraved was found at Tisso (dan. Tissø). Archaeologists are wondering if the plate was an object of worship at the Viking Age.

The unique piece of the bronze plate was found when archaeological excavation at a small Viking farm in the vicinity of Tisso lake was carried out this year. In the Viking Age there was a small swamp on the site and there were conducted religious rituals there. Previously a few silver objects had been found there, which are rare coins and adornments.

There were other findings at Tisso showing the importance of horse in the Viking Age, for example, a small gold plate with a horse engraved and a lot of bronze plates similar to the just found one. On the site there were also found pieces of clothing with images of horses on, and amulets depicting scenes from Scandinavian mythology which also include horses.

There were also discovered bridles, harness, and some other objects. In the settlement, among the bone remains there were found more horse bones than in other similar Viking settlements. The preliminary analysis shows that most of them have scratches like those left after meat cutting.

According to Norse sagas of ancient times, horse was a part of ritual sacrifice; which might have also taken place at Tisso.

 

 

By materials Historie-Online