[gothic-l] Re: The Battle of Illerup, Goths, Eruli

[hakangot]

--- In gothic-l at y..., "Bertil Haggman" <mvk575b at t...> wrote:

I just would like Bertil´s and other listmembers opinion that this 
was, as said in the article, a scandinavian coalition. The only 
coalition I can think about at this time, mentioned in Beowulf, is 
Hygelac´s assault on the frisians. An attempt to push down west-
germanic expansion to the south. One of many battles who made it 
possible for the danes to reconquer south Jutland and the smaller 
islands from frisians, heruls etc. It doesn´t necessary has to be a 
westswedish-danish war, maybe it was more complicated than that!

Friendly greetings from


Håkan Liljeberg 


> From the original homepage of the Illerup finds of weapon
> this further indicates relations with the Goths and the Eruli
> (see my short introductory review of _Odin in Azov_
> (to be published on the list).
> 
> Gothically
> 
> Bertil Haggman
> 
> 
> FINDS OF WEAPON OFFERINGS FROM ILLERUP ADAL
> 
> By Joergen Ilkjær
> 
> The river valley called Illerup Adal was drained in 1950, revealing 
large 
> weapon finds from the Iron Age. Since then the site has been 
excavated 
> during two periods, 1950-56 and 1975-85, and the past decade has 
> seen the publication of eight of a planned series of 14 
publications about 
> the finds made.
> 
> The current consensus of opinion is that the Illerup finds are 
spoils of war 
> offered to the gods. A local army appears to have defeated an 
invading 
> force, whose weapons were then cast into the lake covering the site 
of the 
> finds at that time. In excess of 15,000 weapons and pieces of 
equipment 
> from the period 200-500 AD have been excavated, making it the most 
> comprehensive find of its type anywhere in the world.
> 
>  RESEARCHERS PAST AND PRESENT
> 
> Not that Illerup Adal is the only site where such war spoils have 
been found; 
> there are in fact 50 other sites throughout Denmark and southern 
Sweden. 
> Some of these were excavated during the 19th century and have 
formed the 
> starting point for all later attempts to interpret similar finds. 
Around 1940, two 
> different theories were current regarding bog finds: one 
interpreted the finds 
> as being offerings made of items gathered together after a 
successful military 
> engagement; the other posited that the finds had been cast into the 
bogs over 
> many years and as such represented small annual offerings of the 
local people's 
> own equipment. Unfortunately, it was not possible to determine 
which of the 
> theories was correct, as the early excavations were insufficiently 
well documented. 
> It was not until new evidence was uncovered through the more recent 
excavations in 
> Illerup Ådal that the question could finally be resolved.
> 
>  EXCAVATIONS AND FINDS
> 
>  A total of 15,000 weapons and pieces of military equipment were 
> excavated from an area measuring 40,000 m2. It was often the case 
> that bundles of items were found, these having originally been 
wrapped 
> in some type of cloth. However, after 1,800 years the material has 
rotted 
> away, and only the weapons and equipment remain.
>  
>  All told, four different offerings have been identified in Illerup 
Adal. This 
> article, however, deals with the oldest and largest-scale offering, 
dating 
> from the early years of the 3rd century. Much work has been 
involved in 
> creating the following reconstruction of the course of events 
leading up 
> to the offering.
> 
> A fleet of perhaps 50 ships and 1,000 men set sail from the west 
coast 
> of the Scandinavian peninsula and made its way down through 
Kattegat 
> to attack Jutland. The force landed on the east coast of Jutland, 
but was 
> met by a well-organised army made up of forces from the entire 
region. 
> The defensive action proved successful: the attackers were 
defeated, 
> and their equipment and weapons were collected and destroyed. The 
> remnants of the weapons and equipment were then thrown into the 
lake 
> in Illerup Adal as an offering. It is not clear exactly where the 
battles in this 
> campaign took place, but presumably not too far away from the lake.
> 
> Prior to the offering, items were deliberately spoilt. Swords were 
broken 
> across and shields smashed. The round items are shield bosses, torn 
out 
> of the wooden shields and then deformed by cuts and blows.
>  
> Part of the ceremony involved destroying the weapons and equipment. 
> Next, the remnants were gathered into bundles, which were wrapped 
in 
> various forms of cloth - military cloaks, for example. The bundles 
were then 
> carried out onto the lake in boats and thrown overboard. These 
bundles 
> have been found all over the bed of the lake, which was 250 meters 
wide 
> and 400 meters long.
> 
> During the course of 18 years (spread over two periods), these 
ancient 
> bundles and their contents of swords, spears, lances, shields, 
knives, 
> combs, Roman silver coins, bridles, tools and much more were 
recovered 
> one by one after having spent as much 1,800 years in the sediment 
of the 
> lake. The finds were brought to the Moesgard Museum, preserved, 
described, 
> sorted, and then compared with similar material from as far afield 
as the 
> Black Sea, Scotland, Africa and the Arctic.
> 
> The Illerup finds are exceptional, because of both their sheer 
quantity and their 
> condition. The alkaline nature of the soil has preserved iron so 
well that two 
> hundred Roman swords, for example, could be used today had they not 
been 
> ceremoniously broken and bent prior to being cast into the lake.
> 
> PIECING TOGETHER THE JIGSAW
> 
>  The excavation teams found more than one thousand fragments of 
deliberately 
> destroyed weapons which it has been possible to match up. If, for 
example, 
> fragments from the same sword have been found in two different 
bundles, it 
> is concluded that these were offered on the same occasion.
>  
> One of the most important questions (i.e. whether the weapons were 
offered 
> on one particular occasion or whether they constitute a series of 
small, annual 
> offerings) could now be solved by piecing together the fragments of 
the destroyed 
> items. If, for example, parts of a broken sword could be found in 
two or more different 
> bundles, then clearly these bundles must have been part of the same 
sacrificial 
> ceremony. Researchers have now succeeded in putting together more 
than a 
> thousand fragments, and consequently it is now known that in excess 
of twelve 
> thousand items were cast into the lake on one particular occasion 
at the beginning 
> of the 3rd century AD.
> 
> It is now also clear that the Illerup find is made up of the 
material from four different 
> offerings in exactly the same place but with as much as a hundred 
years between 
> each ceremony. It seems clear, therefore, that it was the local 
population that carried 
> out the ceremonies. But who was the enemy?
> 
> Light has been shed on this question by studying the personal 
property of the attacking 
> warriors. 150 tinder boxes and combs from the oldest Illerup 
ceremony show that the 
> attacking forces had sailed from the west coast of the Scandinavian 
peninsula, i.e. 
> from modern-day Norway and the adjoining regions of western Sweden
> 
> After years of research it is now possible, in the light of the 
finds from Illerup Adal, to 
> reconstruct harness and other equipment for horses and the 
equipment used and worn 
> by the warriors of the time. In the longer term, it will be 
possible to create a detailed 
> picture of the defeated army whose equipment made up the offering.
>  
> AN ARMY OF THE ROMAN IRON AGE
> 
> The sacrifices appear to have consisted of all of the army's 
equipment and, even 
> though we have only excavated 40 per cent of the oldest site, it is 
nevertheless 
> now possible to begin to describe the makeup of this army and in 
the process 
> gain an impression of the political structure that led to its being 
assembled in 
> the first place.
> 
> A red-painted shield with a boss crafted in silver and gold; this 
splendid item of 
> equipment was the property of the commander of an enemy army. Runic 
inscriptions 
> name several such persons.
>  
>  These masks of gold-plated silver were crafted in Scandinavia, and 
prove that as 
> early as 200 AD smiths were able to use embossed foil techniques, 
gold plating, 
> and soldering.
>  
> Work on the shields has shown that there were three levels in the 
army's hierarchy: 
> a top tier, represented by five shields whose bosses are fashioned 
of gold and 
> silver; a tier of about 40 with shields with bronze bosses; and a 
level of around 300 
> who had shields with iron bosses. Comparisons with other finds from 
the same 
> period confirm this division. The size of the attacking force means 
that it must have 
> been put together from a significantly large geographic area, which 
makes it likely 
> that it was formed as the result of a military alliance. The 
existence of such an alliance 
> must in turn reflect the political conditions prevalent on the 
Scandinavian peninsula 
> during this period.
> 
> As already mentioned, Illerup is not an isolated phenomenon, in 
that we know of similar 
> offerings made from the same period in all the areas boundering on 
Kattegat. The 
> offering of spoils of war tells us of historical events not 
mentioned in written sources.


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