The pair of lurs from Ulvkær, north Jutland

The discovery and its archaeological interpretation

Abstract

The pair of lurs from Ulvkær, north Jutland

The discovery and its archaeological interpretation

In the summer of 1988 three fragments of a lur were found in a heap of peat that had been unloaded in Tornby in the north-western part of Vendsyssel (1). The peat came from a building plot in Hirtshals (2), but direct investigation was not possible as the plot had been covered with sand (fig. 1). With the finder's help (fig. 2) Vendsyssel Historiske Museum then searched the dump in Tornby with a metal detector. All the parts of a complete lur were found, lur 1, and parts of a second lur, lur 2 (ML figs. 1-4). The lurs went to the National Museum as treasure trove, and in 1989, after conservation and restoration, were deposited in Vendsyssel Historical Museum.

The site

The lurs had been dug out with a mechanical excavator during the replacement of about 2400 m3 of earth at a building plot in Ulvkær on the edge of the town of Hirtshals (fig. 3). Geotechnical borings (3) had here revealed a layer of aeolian sand, underlain by peat resting on sand. Various methods of study, including pollen analysis (see Bent Aaby's contribution below) showed that the lurs had lain near the top of the peat and had originally been placed on the surface of an open alder swamp. The water table had been high, but only occasionally reached the surface to form pools.

Fig. 4 is a map of a 2.5 x 1.5 km area around the place where the lurs were found, showing contours and areas with peat (5). The lurs were found near the southern edge of the eastern peaty area, not far from dry land.

Description of the finds

There were found all the parts of lur 1, fig. 5, and JNS fig. 4), and most of lur 2 (ML fig. 9). A detailed description is given by Marianne Lundbæk, a technical examination by Birthe Gottlieb, and an account of the restoration by John Nørlem Sørensen. Here we will add some remarks on the curve of the lurs, exemplified by lur 1 (fig. 5).

The lurs are curved in two planes at right angles to one another, the planes of the mouth tube and the plane of the bell tube, though the latter begins to bend to one side away from its main plane near the lock which joins the two tubes. It is the direction of this slight bend that decides whether the main tube will be to the right or Ieft of the mouth-piece when the lur is being blown. Lur 1 bends to the right here and lur 2 to the Ieft (6). Thus the lurs must be a pair.

As well as the lurs there was found pottery, mainly of Bronze Age type, some bones of sheep, dog and cattle (7), and a flint flake in the dump. The relationship between these diffe­rent finds, if any, is unknown.

The Ulvkær lurs compared with other lurs

We know of 60 lurs (8): 37 come from Denmark (9), 13 from southern Sweden, 5 from northern Germany, 4 from southern Norway, and 1 from Latvia. The lurs are from 35 precisely localized and 2 unlocalized sites (fig. 6). They usually occur in pairs. Altogether 21 pairs are known. The Ulvkær lurs are the first pair found in Denmark since 1894.

The lurs vary in size, shape, decoration and technology (11). Based on these a developmental sequence can be proposed (12). The earliest lurs are dated to the end of the Early Bronze Age, period III, and the remainder, and vast majority, to the Late Bronze Age, periods IV-V/VI (13).

The Ulvkær lurs most resemble the youngest lurs. However their bore has not been measured in the same way as done by Holmes (14). The greatest resemblance is between the Ulvkær lurs and a pair of lurs from Revheim in SW Norway, fig. 7 (15). These two pairs are among the smallest, and are almost the same size, while their bell-discs bear a simple decoration consisting only of a raised rim around the circumference and bosses, of which there are five on the Ulvkær and seven on the Revheim lurs (fig. 8a). There are also similarities in the form of the mouth-piece (fig. 8d) and lock (fig. 8c). Further differences are the three loops on the back of the disc of the Revheim lurs where there are none on the Ulvkær lurs (fig. 8b).

Broholm, who assigned the Revheim lurs to the end of period V or the beginning of period VI, thought they differed considerably from the Danish lurs known at that time (16). As far as dating is concerned, Oldeberg places the Revheim lurs in period V (17). We may therefore take it that the Ulvkær lurs can be dated to period V or perhaps the beginning of period VI (18).

It can be hoped that future studies will tell us more about the finer differences between the Revheim and Ulvkær lurs, but whatever the result, it can in all events be said that the lurs add to the impression of close connections between northern Jutland and SW Norway in the Bronze Age (19).

The Ulvkær lurs as cult objects

The lurs are wind instruments (20) and together with shields, oversized axes, the gold bowls and the Viksø helmets, all of which occur in pairs (21), are usually regarded as cult requisites. As well as the symbolical significance of occurrence in pairs and the rare character of the objects themselves, the method of deposition is seen as evidence that they had a cultic function.

A closer examination of the circumstances shows that all (intact) discoveries were pairs of lurs (the Brudevælte find however was of three pairs) and were only rarely associated with other objects. One of the exceptions is the newest Swedish find, the hoard from Fogdarp in Scania (22). Of the lurs only the two decorated discs were deposited, but there were items of horse gear. The Fogdarp hoard was found in a field, which distinguishes it further from the other discoveries, which were all from bogs (23).

In two cases closer details are available about conditions at the place of discovery, namely at Lommelev (24) and at Radbjerg (25). At both sites animal bones were found, and at Radbjerg also human bones as well as sherds and flint from the Bronze Age. At Radbjerg it was also established that the lurs had been laid out on a dry bog surface and later been grown over. The conditions at Ulvkær were similar to those at Lommelev and Radbjerg. The lurs had been laid out on the dry surface of an open alder swamp, and pottery, animal bones, and a flint flake was found as well. There is no evidence at any of the sites that the pottery, bones, and flint had been deposited simultaneously with the lurs, although this is very likely at Radbjerg. However they do show that the sites had a cultic character and that pottery (containing food offerings), animals, and perhaps human beings were sacrificed at them.

There are various opinions as to why the lurs were laid on the surface of sacral bogs, It can be that as cult objects it was forbidden to use them for other purposes (26); or that they were hidden away when not in use because too sacred to be seen by people who had not been initiated into the rituals (27); or that they were put there by the bronze founders to acquire the proper patina (28); or that cultic equipment from the sanctuaries may have been deposited because it was thought that sacrifices like this gave better results than rituals did (29).

According to Thrane it was some distance from the settlements to the cult sites where the ritual gear was deposited. This need not, however, have been so far from where it was used and the rituals took place (30). Also in this respect Ulvkær fits into the picture, as the nearest find from the Late Bronze Age is a couple of kilometers from where the lurs had been laid (31).

Most of the lurs were found in the last century. According to Kristiansen this is true also of other hoards from the Late Bronze Age (periods IV-V). In his opinion the peat layers that contained the Bronze Age finds are now largely dug away, so that future discoveries of hoards will be few (32). This agrees well with what was found at Ulvkær, for the lurs were found in a bog sealed by a thick layer of blown sand and thereby spared from peat cutting and cultivation.

Per Lysdahl