Bronze Age

The open landscape and the age of burial mounds

The Bronze Age was the age of agriculture and cattle breeding, when an ever-growing population could be fed and when this form of livelihood really took hold in the form of solid houses in settlements (see, for example, Egehøj).

During the Bronze Age, agriculture expanded at the expense of the forest, and large herds of cattle grazed in the forest, creating the open, so-called overgrazed landscape seen, for example, at Trehøje on Mols.

It is the grave finds and settlements that paint a picture of the Bronze Age chieftain societies, which were strongly influenced by increasing foreign relations and trade. Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. Unlike flint, which is found naturally in Denmark, bronze had to be imported. Initially, finished products were imported for the leading chieftain families, but when domestic bronze casting began, the use and application of the metal spread among more ordinary people – especially for jewelry and weapons, as we know from the period's many rich grave and sacrificial finds. Based on the rich gold finds from the period, the Bronze Age is also popularly referred to as the "golden age" of antiquity. Bronze brought with it many cultural impulses, and in exchange for bronze, cattle and amber, among other things, were exported.

Settlements grew and took on a more specialized form in the Bronze Age, and at the same time, professional specialization began in society. Metalworking, which produced unique jewelry, weapons, and the well-known lurs, reached its peak during this period.

There were good natural conditions for massive settlement in the Bronze Age. Large areas of relatively light sandy loam were cultivated with the simple ard plow, which, unlike the medieval reversible plow, simply turned the soil. On the old seabed and in the fertile river valleys, there were fertile grazing areas for cattle and other livestock, while the rich resources of the sea were exploited and the forest provided building materials for, among other things, the longhouses in the settlements. Easy access to the sea also enabled trade and the exchange of ideas with other, often distant, tribal communities.

Excavations and finds have provided a detailed insight into Bronze Age burial customs and ways of life. During the approximately 1,300 years of the Bronze Age (1,700-500 BC), there were major changes in burial customs, and some of the world's best-preserved and richest grave finds come from Denmark (see, for example, Borum Eshøj).

There are more than 25,000 protected burial mounds from the Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages scattered across the country, but with the exception of forests and other uncultivated areas, the large groups of mounds from ancient times have now mostly been reduced to isolated mounds. Intensive agriculture and other modern, mechanized land use have destroyed thousands of ancient monuments in recent centuries. Only in a few places—most often in contiguous uncultivated areas—can the burial mound groups of the past still be sensed. See, for example, Thorsø Høje and Trehøje.

The largest and highest mounds were built in the Early Bronze Age (1700–1000 BC), but only a few people were buried in them (see Hohøj, Stabelhøje, and Jelshøj). The mounds were erected as burial sites for the leading families of the tribal community, where, for example, the chieftain and his family were buried in wooden or stone coffins and given rich grave goods. The deceased were often dressed in beautiful woven garments.

New burial mounds were later built around the first large mounds, and new graves were also added to the older mounds, gradually creating the burial ground. The wooden coffins made from hollowed-out oak trunks can be incredibly well preserved. The peat layer of the mounds initially acted as a sponge, retaining rainwater. Later, an airtight and protective layer was formed naturally by iron compounds from the peat, which prevented the natural decomposition of the grave.

In the Late Bronze Age (1,000–500 BC), burial customs changed. Cremation was introduced in Denmark and was first seen in cremation graves built in solid stone coffins (see Egehøj).

Grave goods also began to take on a more symbolic character, as they usually had to be burned anyway. It became easier and perhaps also more common to be buried.

By the end of the Bronze Age, cremation had become the norm, and with it came the emergence of the urn grave, which we still use today. The burial urns, which may be decorated with facial features or shaped like a small house, were mainly buried secondarily on the sunny side of the old burial mounds or placed in their own small burial mounds around the old large mounds. Such mounds have only been preserved in exceptional cases on uncultivated land (see, for example, Trehøje and Hohøj).

The impressive mound construction of the Bronze Age still leaves its mark on the Danish landscape. The mounds bear witness to a colossal joint effort driven by shared ideals and religion. It is also thought-provoking that the mounds represent a major religious investment of fertile farmland, where large and fertile agricultural areas were cut for peat for use in mound construction.

Another well-known aspect of Bronze Age spiritual life is rock carvings. Rock carvings are images, figures, or symbols carved into stone. Compared to other Scandinavian countries, there are not many rock carvings in Denmark. The explanation is simple: with the exception of Bornholm, there are no cliffs in Denmark, and the rock carvings were therefore limited to being carved on individual stones, which, compared to a mountain surface, have a very limited area. With the exception of the large rock carving fields on Bornholm with figurative scenes, which are more similar to the rock carvings in southern Sweden, most Danish rock carvings are therefore usually individual ornaments or images.

Most Danish rock carvings were carved on stones at ancient burial sites (see Mandbjerghøj). The many small bowl-shaped depressions – known as "bowl marks" – are the most common type of rock carving, often found carved into the tops of the capstones of Neolithic stone cairns, which were also reused by Bronze Age people for their burials in many cases.

If you would like to see more, click here:

Click here to visit the Bronze Age sites in the Heritage Guide.

See more about the Bronze Age on the National
Museum's website and the "Gods and Graves" project.

Watch or rewatch DR's fantastic series: "The History of Denmark" - "The Age of Metals."

And below, all children and childlike souls can take a thrilling educational journey through the Bronze Age with Sigurd Barrett: