A history of the Vimose finds

Abstract

A history of the Vimose finds

The story of the finds and excavations of the Vimose bog on Fyn takes its beginning in the early 19th century. Finds had been made there earlier on, but the first artefacts were sent to "Oldnordisk Museum" in Copenhagen (now the National Museum) in 1848. More artefacts followed during the next half century, as described in the article.

In 1858, an unsuccessful attempt was made to excavate the bog. The article describes the following two excavations in 1859 and 1865 to give an account of the changes in the intellectual approach. The excavation of 1865, which was published in 1869, had unpleasant consequences for a person involved. An outline of events concerning Vimose illustrates the general development in Danish archaeology, which became still more professional during this period.

In 1848 and 1849, Mrs Louise Brorson, who was married to the vicar of Allese, sent a number of artefacts to the museum. Among these was a very unusual bronze figure depicting the head of a griffin (fig. 1). The finder had informed her, that this object had been placed at the end of a long stick, with some coloured material, which had crumbled away. He described it as a flagstaff, perhaps from the ship, which he assumed lay beneath the flagstaff. Today the griffin head is described as part of a helmet. However, the information in this old account suggests that it should perhaps rather be interpreted as part of a genuine Roman standard.

After the death of her husband, Mrs. Brorson asked the succeeding Allese vicar to send the artefacts to "Oldnordisk Museum". During the following many years, the reverend Mr Meldal thus carefully and loyally sent the bog finds to the museum.

By the middle of the 19th century, bog finds were an important topic in Danish archaeology.

The reason, as already sensed by Mrs. Brorson, was the fact that these finds could give information of what was regarded as the national roots of the Danes. During the early 1850ies the young keeper of historical monuments, Mr J. J. A. Worsaae, wished personally to excavate the Vimose bog, but he never got the opportunity. Archaeological excavations were in the making and very expensive.

In 1856, another person entered the scene, and in 1858, he performed what he described as excavation attempts in the Vimose bog. These did not turn out very well but resulted in a professional excavation the following year.

Mr C. F. Herbst, an employee of "Oldnordisk Museum", conducted the 1859-excavation. The excavation lasted three weeks and cost 300 Rdlr., which according to Director C. J. Thomsen, almost made the museum insolvent. Beforehand, Mr Herbst had prepared himself thoroughly, and the excavation bears the impress of precision (figs. 2 and 3). Almost four hundred artefacts were found, including the remains of a dugout -perhaps the very same one observed in 1848/49. The archaeologists uncovered some finds in a position that indicated that they had been floating on water for a while. Others seemed to have been stuck into an overgrowing lake. Mr Herbst found what he interpreted as the eastern and western boundaries of the area containing finds. Peat cutting in the area north of the boundary between the Broby and the Allese associations of landowners had also proved this area to contain finds. However, he was unable to excavate here.

The excavation resulted in nothing but the acquisition of more artefacts for the museum, which did not meet them with the appreciation they deserved. In addition, the excavation had to be published.

The delivery of artefacts continued, and another excavation took place in 1865. Denmark had been at war in 1863/64 with Prussia and Austria. The war concerned the duchies of Slesvig and Holstein. Denmark lost the war. The loss of two large bog finds supplemented the loss of land: the Thorsbjerg find and the Nydam find, which the leader of the Flensborg Collection, Mr C. Engelhardt, had previously excavated in the duchy of Slesvig.

During the war, he had fled to Copenhagen. Mr Engelhardt had arrived at "Oldnordisk Museum" as the very man they needed to carry out yet another excavation at Vimose. Mr Herbst had been either unable or reluctant to take this task upon himself.

Mr Worsaae raised most of the necessary finance for the 1865-excavation. "Oldnordisk Museum" and the Museum of Odense contributed small sums. One of the most important results of this excavation was the establishing of the size of the find area, which turned out to be much larger that previously assumed. Around two thousand two hundred artefacts were excavated.

The 1865-excavation had an unpleasant aftermath, as the relations between Mr Herbst and Mr Worsaae deteriorated. After Mr Worsaae having become the director in 1866, Mr Herbst withdrew ever more into himself. In 1868, he handed in his resignation.

Mr Herbst was unable to meet the director's unconditional demand, that he should publish the excavations at Vimose in print. Engelhardt, on the other hand, was able to do this, although he had renounced the right to publish the excavation already in 1865. The museum had employed Mr Engelhardt in the beginning of 1867, and he published the two excavations in 1869. The publication shows signs of seediness, partly due to the difficult relations between the museum colleagues. The professional conclusions in the book are contradictory. Yet, even today the book remains a useful and often consulted catalogue of artefacts.

After the excavation in 1865, artefacts kept turning up during the seasonal peat cutting. A large treasure-trove and a reward were given to the finder of a well-preserved chain mail in 1871 (fig. 4). In spite of this, the museum was unable to staunch the growing demand for Vimose finds put forward by collectors and antique dealers.

The last excavation at Vimose had cost more than fifteen hundred Rdlr. Yet, many artefacts had been left in the bog. However, professional excavations were not resumed in the remainder of the 19th century. Instead, Worsaae obtained more than twice this sum for an even larger project, a complete registration of the Danish antiquities: from 1873, the museum employees toured the country to record the historical monuments.

During the 1880ies the provincial museums, including the museum in Odense, obtained government authorisation and were appointed a supervising archaeologist from "Oldnordisk Museum". The archaeologist Sophus Müller, director of a museum division of "Oldnordisk Museum", cooperated with the big scale collectors. One of these was the pharmacist, Mr Mikkelsen of Odense (fig. 5 and 6). Christen Mikkelsen handed in artefacts to the museum in Copenhagen but also created his own private collection of archaeological finds. This large collection, consisting of more than 450 items, was later obtained by the museum of Odense.

Stine Wiell