The Late Bronze Age hoard from Bækkedal, Denmark – new evidence for the use of two-horse teams and bridles

Abstract

ABSTRACT In late summer 2014, two metal detectorists located 40 bronze objects on a small hillock west of Gammel Skørping in Himmerland. Eastern Himmerland in particular is renowned for its many Late Bronze Age hoards and the Bækkedal hoard, as the discovery is now known, underlines this trend as it represents a multi-type hoard from Late Bronze Age period V. The hoard, which was undergoing progressive plough disturbance, contains both male and female items and, astonishingly, also several metres of well-preserved leather straps that had once formed parts of bridles and harness. Moreover, several bronze fittings, including cheek pieces and phalerae, were in situ on the leather straps, thereby enabling parts of the bridles to be reconstructed. The many bronze harness-related objects show that the hoard represents the components of bridles for a two-horse team. This article gives a preliminary presentation of the hoard, with a particular focus on the metal objects and horse harness, which are then placed in a broader northwest European context.