Resenlund og Brøndumgård bronzedepoter – Kult og samfund i yngre bronzealder

The bronze deposits from Resenlund and Brøndumgård In the Late Bronze Age, bronze deposits in fields and bogs constitute a large part of the archaeological material. Huge values were deposited in the ground during this period, and the archaeological material witnesses a wide-ranging custom of sacrifice. The deposits are therefore central to the understanding of the societies, which once left their items in the ground, and new finds contribute to a more varied impression of the picture already existing of the Late Bronze Age. This article presents two hitherto unpublished deposits from the Early Bronze Age, both from Northern Jutland. These deposits contain bronze objects, which may throw new light on the ritual practice of the North Jutland society and its social identity during period IV (1100 BC - 900 BC).The composition of the Brøndumgård depot is special in that it contains part of hitherto unknown artefacts. The depot consists of a belt plate, fragments of at least two cuff-shaped bracelets, fragments of three mounts, a bronze ring, a sickle, two four-spoke wheel pendants, an eight-spoke wheel pendant, part of a neck ring with the head of a horse, and five bronze nuggets. The belt plate and fragments of a cuffshaped bracelet date the find to period IV. The decorations on the eight-spoke wheel pendant and the mounts also point towards period IV. The dating of the find is thus hardly questionable. The Brøndumgård depot was probably buried in a double- conic earthenware pot. The deposit was found at the bottom of a ridge originally marking the border of a wetland area. Several prehistoric mounds are preserved on top of the ridge. The location of the find – in a border area between firm ground and wetlands – indicates that the deposit should probably be interpreted as a wetland sacrifice; a gift to the gods at the edge of a bog, which was considered a magical gateway between the world of the humans and the supernatural during large parts of prehistory.The original use of the mounts is difficult to determine. ...