The Artistic Papsaare Macehead – Weapon or Symbol of Power?

Abstract

The article provides a survey of an archaeological find from 2016 – a macehead of moulded bronze found in the village of Papsaare in Parnu County. Human faces are depicted on two opposite side of the middle section with hemispheres between them that are separated by grooves into six “leaves”. Maceheads with images of humans are extremely rare in Europe. Until now, only one macehead with a man’s face was known to exist from Sweden, and another from Norway. A macehead with the full figures of two clerics was found in Finby, on the Aland Islands. The Papsaare macehead was apparently produced in the second half of the 12th century or the 13th century somewhere in northern Europe. It was probably the power symbol of a noble or military leader, which could also be used as a weapon if necessary.