The Daensen folding chair consists of the metallic remains of a folding chair that were discovered in 1899 in sand from a Bronze Age tumulus near Daensen, a part of Buxtehude, Lower Saxony, Germany. At the time, the chair was the southernmost and most richly decorated example of the eighteen known folding chairs of the Nordic Bronze Age in Northern Europe. The fittings, along with a reconstruction, are in the permanent exhibition of the Archaeological Museum Hamburg in Harburg, Hamburg. [1] [2]
The tumulus is located in a prominent location approximately 300 meters northwest of the village Daensen, at 53°25′27″N9°41′20″E / 53.424047°N 9.688783°E in open countryside owned by former farmer and municipal mayor Eickhoff. The Bronze Age tumulus is known as Backelsberg or Baaksberg and, according to local legend, contains the remains of a Chauci prince called Baak. [3] or Back [4] Before 1897, half of the northern mound was removed for sand extraction. In the centre of the mound Eickhoff's workers discovered a rectangular stone packing of boulders. Inside they found bones and a complete human skull. The workers gave the bones to a dog. Their work was witnessed by the Moisburg pastor Wittkopf who noted his observations in his Parishs book of accounts:
This hill was until 1879, removed from the north end half ago and it found a large oblong of unhewn granite, containing nothing special. Further more in the middle of a bunch of medium-sized boulders, about 4 feet high, on the shallow side of the same was lying residues of burnt human bones, a complete skull, with e.g. two very healthy molars and some other bones, which were not destroyed by fire, but by age. The skull was in the west, and there at the east there was a line gray ash-colored earth, without any epithets, and all this was overwhelmed with 3-4 feet of earth. N.B. Here lies the Germanic Chauci heros Back buried. Farmers Eickhoff's servants have profaned his rest and his head was thrown before a dog who abducted him. Sic transit gloria mundi [5]
In 1899, sand was again removed from the mound again, and this time the workers discovered a second stone circle. In its interior they found several bronze fitting and partially gold decorated fittings, including two 45 centimetres (18 in) long stripes with gold inlays, which they broke into several pieces. In November 1899, Eickhoff forwarded a part of the fitting along with a ribbed arm ring of bronze to the museum. In 1934, the museum's director Willi Wegewitz acquired the remaining fittings from Eickhoff's sons, for the museum. [4]
The remains of the folding chair consist of four bronze knobs with diameters of 36 to 40 millimetres (1.4–1.6 in) with 15 millimetres (0.59 in) long spouts and a total length of 23 millimetres (0.91 in). The end caps are ribbed and their faces decorated with a pattern of four concentric circles. A cast loop with a diameter of 29 millimetres (1.1 in) supports a ring of 28 millimetres (1.1 in) diameter with four rattle 73 millimetres (2.9 in) long plates. These components were attached to the frame of the seat. Two small knobs with diameters 27 to 29 millimetres (1.1–1.1 in) and lengths of 18 millimetres (0.71 in) were found among the baseboards of the stool. Most likely the stool had originally four of these knobs, the other two being presumed lost. There were also four bronze studs with gold plated heads. The nail heads are 18 millimetres (0.71 in) in diameter and have a pin length of 27 millimetres (1.1 in). Three figure-eight shaped bronze fittings of 41 millimetres (1.6 in) length, 15 millimetres (0.59 in) width and thicknesses of 2 millimetres (0.079 in) with line ornaments wearing a gold metal insert at the waist. The gold plate was fixed by two fine incisions in the bronze fitting and then folded on the reverse. Two rectangular bronze plates of 38 millimetres (1.5 in) in length, 7 millimetres (0.28 in) in width and about 1.8 millimetres (0.071 in) thickness are entirely covered with gold foil and bent around the edges for fixation. Furthermore, there are five rectangular fitting plates whose broken edges were put together. It is most likely that some of their fragments are still missing. Only a few organic components were preserved, one is a piece of leather, and there were seven or eight pieces of wood, one of ash, the other of maple. Among the pieces of wood, there is a corner piece and one with the mounting of the seat's leather. [4] The remains of the chair have been typologically dated to c. 1400 BC. [3]
Compared to earlier previous finds from grave mounds and tree coffin burials in Denmark, Sweden, Schleswig-Holstein, and Mecklenburg the present metal objects were identified as fitting parts of a folding chair that is typical for the Nordic Bronze Age. These numerous comparative findings in connection with the survived wooden structures of the Vamdrup folding chair found at Guldhøj in the Danish municipality of Ribe in 1891, [6] allowed a precise reconstruction of the Daensen folding chair. [4]
Due to the improper excavation and documentation of the find, precise statements about the archaeological context are not possible. The chair is the most magnificent decorated folding chair of the Nordic Bronze Age. This type of chair, or their fittings, is present in 17 comparable finds. The remains of two folding chair fittings originate from hoards, all the rest were grave goods from tree coffin or grave mound burials.
Given the role of the folding chair in placing the sitter above others who are seated on the floor, it is possible that the individual buried in Daensen was a high-ranking person, a religious official or chieftain. The absence of further grave goods may indicate that the grave had been raided by antique grave robbers. Comparably equipped graves with folding chairs typically included additional offerings such as jewellery, household items, and weapons that are absent in Daensen.
The size of the ribbed bronze arm ring bracelet found and provided by farmer Eickhoff to the museum must come from a burial of a woman, supporting the interpretation of the burial of a religious leader.
More recently, in Endsee, another village of Bavaria in southeastern Germany, a Medieval high-status burial dated to about 600 AD is that of a woman with a similar chair included among her extensive grave goods that has an unusual, full metal frame. [7]
Similar folding chairs also originate from Ancient Egypt, whose most famous specimen comes from Tutankhamun's tomb of 1330 BC, [4] demonstrating the extensive international connections of the later Bronze Age.
A kurgan is a type of tumulus constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons, and horses. Originally in use on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, kurgans spread into much of Central Asia and Eastern, Southeast, Western, and Northern Europe during the third millennium BC.
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or kurgans, and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built for various purposes, may also originally have been a tumulus.
The Tumulus culture was the dominant material culture in Central Europe during the Middle Bronze Age.
A folding chair is a type of folding furniture, a light, portable chair that folds flat or to a smaller size.
The Hochdorf Chieftain's Grave is a richly-furnished Celtic burial chamber near Hochdorf an der Enz in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, dating from 530 BC in the Hallstatt culture period. It was discovered in 1968 by an amateur archaeologist and excavated from 1978 to 1979 by the State Historical site office known as the Baden-Württemberg Landesdenkmalamt under the direction of German archeologist Jörg Biel with association from excavation technician Fritz Maurer. By then, the burial mound covering the grave, originally 6 m (20 ft) in height and about 60 m (200 ft) in diameter, had shrunk to about 1 m in height and was hardly discernible due to centuries of erosion and agricultural use.
The Vix Grave is a burial mound near the village of Vix in northern Burgundy. The broader site is a prehistoric Celtic complex from the Late Hallstatt and Early La Tène periods, consisting of a fortified settlement and several burial mounds.
Bush Barrow is a site of the early British Bronze Age Wessex culture, at the western end of the Normanton Down Barrows cemetery in Wiltshire, England. It is among the most important sites of the Stonehenge complex, having produced some of the most spectacular grave goods in Britain. It was excavated in 1808 by William Cunnington for Sir Richard Colt Hoare. The finds, including worked gold objects, are displayed at Wiltshire Museum in Devizes.
The Inariyama Kofun (稲荷山古墳) is a kofun burial mound located in the city of Gyōda, Saitama Prefecture, in the Kantō region of Japan. The tumulus was designated a National Historic Site in 1938 and re-designated as a Special National Historic Site of Japan in 2020 as part of the Sakitama Kofun Cluster. It is also referred to as the Sakitama Inariyama Kofun (埼玉稲荷山古墳) or the Gyōda Inariyama Kofun (行田稲荷山古墳) to disambiguate it from other tumuli using the name of "Inariyama" in other parts of the country.
The Leubingen tumulus is an Early Bronze Age "princely" grave of the Leubingen culture,, dating to about 1940 BC. It is located near the hills of Kyffhäuser in Leubingen, an Ortsteil of Sömmerda in the eastern German state of Thuringia.
The Archäologisches Museum Hamburg is an archaeological museum in the Harburg borough of Hamburg, Germany. It houses the archaeological finds of the city of Hamburg and the neighbouring counties to the south of the city. It focuses on northern German prehistory and early history as well as the history of the former city of Harburg. The museum is also home to the cultural heritage landmarks commission of the city of Hamburg and the adjacent district of Harburg in Lower-Saxony and thus supervises all archaeological undertakings in the region.
The Wulfsen horse burial is an early medieval horse burial, consisting of three horses, that was discovered in 1974 in a Saxon grave field in the village of Wulfsen, in the German district of Harburg. The find was rescued as a varnish profile, which is on display in the permanent exhibition of the Archaeological Museum Hamburg in Harburg, Hamburg.
The Tangendorf disc brooch is an Iron Age fibula from the 3rd century AD, which was dug up in 1930 from the sand of a Bronze Age tumulus near Tangendorf, Toppenstedt, Harburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The front of the elaborately crafted garment fibula is decorated with a rear-facing four-legged animal, probably a dog or a deer. It is one of Harburg's most important finds from the period of the Roman Empire, and is in the permanent exhibition of the Archaeological Museum Hamburg in Harburg, Hamburg.
The Metzendorf-Woxdorf head of burial is the Neolithic burial of a single human skull that was found in 1958 in the Seevetal district of Woxdorf, in Harburg, in Lower Saxony. The find is currently the only one of its kind of the Single Grave Culture in Germany and is in the permanent exhibition of the Archaeological Museum Hamburg in Harburg, Hamburg.
The Maschen disc brooch is an Early Medieval fibula, which was found in 1958 during archaeological excavations of the late Saxon grave field near Maschen, in the Lower Saxony district of Harburg, Germany. On its face side, the fibula shows an unidentified saint with a halo. It was found in a woman's grave of the beginning of the Christianization of northern Germany, and is in the permanent exhibition of the Archaeological Museum Hamburg in Harburg, Hamburg.
Part of series of articles upon Archaeology of Kosovo
The Dairizuka kofun (内裏塚古墳) is a Kofun period burial mound located in what is now the Kashima neighborhood of the city of Futtsu, Chiba Prefecture in the Kantō region of Japan. The tumulus was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 2002, with the area under protection extended in 2009.
The Armorican Tumulus culture is a Bronze Age culture, located in the western part of the Armorican peninsula of France. It is known through more than a thousand burial sites covered by a tumulus or otherwise. The culture is renowned for some exceptionally richly endowed burials of chieftains of the time, which are contemporary with the elite of the Wessex culture, in England, and the Únětice culture, in Central Europe.
The Kajiyama Kofun (梶山古墳) is a Kofun period burial mound located in the Okamasu, Kokufucho, neighborhood of the city of Tottori, Tottori Prefecture in the San'in region of Japan. The tumulus was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1979.
The Ageshima Kofun (上島古墳) is a Kofun period burial mound in the Kunitomi-chō neighborhood of the city of Izumo, Shimane, San'in region, Japan. The tumulus was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1957. It is believed to have been built in the middle of the 6th century, towards the end of the Kofun period.
The Ōzuka Kofun (王塚古墳) is a Kofun period decorated kofun burial mounds, located in the Jumei neighborhood of the town of Keisen, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The tumulus was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1937, and elevated in status to that of a Special National Historic Site in 1956
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