Silver cauldron from Denmark dating to 200 BC to 300 AD
The Gundestrup Cauldron; exterior plates b, g, e
Gundestrup
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Discovery site in Denmark
Another view; exterior plates d, e, c, fAnother view; from left, exterior plates b, f, a
The Gundestrup cauldron is a richly decorated silver vessel, thought to date from between 200 BC and 300 AD,[1][2] or more narrowly between 150 BC and 1 BC.[3] This places it within the late La Tène period or early Roman Iron Age. The cauldron is the largest known example of European Iron Age silver work (diameter: 69 cm (27 in); height: 42 cm (17 in)). It was found dismantled, with the other pieces stacked inside the base, in 1891, in a peat bog near the hamlet of Gundestrup in the Aars parish of Himmerland, Denmark (56°49′N9°33′E / 56.817°N 9.550°E / 56.817; 9.550).[4][5] It is now usually on display in the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, with replicas at other museums; during 2015–16, it was in the UK on a travelling exhibition called The Celts.[6]
The cauldron is not complete, and now consists of a rounded cup-shaped bottom making up the lower part of the cauldron, usually called the base plate, above which are five interior plates and seven exterior ones; a missing eighth exterior plate would be needed to encircle the cauldron, and only two sections of a rounded rim at the top of the cauldron survive. The base plate is mostly smooth and undecorated inside and out, apart from a decorated round medallion in the centre of the interior. All the other plates are heavily decorated with repoussé work, hammered from beneath to push out the silver. Other techniques were used to add detail, and there is extensive gilding and some use of inlaid pieces of glass for the eyes of figures. Other pieces of fittings were found. Altogether the weight is just under 9 kilograms.[7]
While the vessel was found in Denmark, it was probably not made there or nearby; it includes elements of Gaulish and Thracian origin in the workmanship, metallurgy, and imagery. The techniques and elements of the style of the panels relate closely to other Thracian silver, while much of the depiction, in particular of the human figures, relates to the Celts, though attempts to relate the scenes closely to Celtic mythology remain controversial. Other aspects of the iconography derive from the Near East.[8]
Hospitality on a large scale was probably an obligation for Celtic elites, and although cauldrons were therefore an important item of prestige metalwork, they are usually much plainer and smaller than this. This is an exceptionally large and elaborate object with no close parallel, except a large fragment from a bronze cauldron also found in Denmark, at Rynkeby;[9] however the exceptional wetland deposits in Scandinavia have produced a number of objects of types that were probably once common but where other examples have not survived. It has been much discussed by scholars, and represents a fascinatingly complex demonstration of the many cross-currents in European art, as well as an unusual degree of narrative for Celtic art,[10] though we are unlikely ever to fully understand its original meanings.
^Nielsen, S; Andersen, J; Baker, J; Christensen, C; Glastrup, J; et al. (2005). "The Gundestrup cauldron: New scientific and technical investigations”, Acta Archaeologica, 76: 1–58. ISSN 0065-101X
^Jouttijärvi, Arne (2009), "The Gundestrup Cauldron: Metallurgy and Manufacturing Techniques”, Materials and Manufacturing Processes, 24: 960–966. ISSN 1042-6914
^NMD, "The dating and origin of the silver cauldron"; Koch
^Bergquist, A K & Taylor, T F (1987), "The origin of the Gundestrup cauldron", Antiquity 61: 10–24.
Gundestrup The Gundestrupcauldron is a richly decorated silver vessel, thought to date from between 200 BC and 300 AD, or more narrowly between 150 BC...
intact actual cauldrons with apparent cultural symbolism include: the Gundestrupcauldron, made in the 2nd or 1st century BC, found at Gundestrup, Denmark...
most famous is plate A of the GundestrupCauldron, a 1st-century BC vessel found in Denmark. On the GundestrupCauldron and sometimes elsewhere, Cernunnos...
posture", providing a direct parallel to the antlered figure on the Gundestrupcauldron. Iconography associated with Cernunnos is often portrayed with a...
figures have also been found, such as an antlered figure on the Gundestrupcauldron, found on northern Jutland, Denmark, in 1891, which has been dated...
be around 2,000 years old due to its similarity to the Gundestrupcauldron, the Chiemsee cauldron was later attributed to the 20th century though its origins...
Celtic coins also depict such a wheel. The half-wheel shown in the Gundestrupcauldron "broken wheel" panel also has eight visible spokes.[citation needed]...
breastplate of Augustus. The carnyx also appears on the side of the Gundestrupcauldron. A small bronze boar carnyx dating from the Iron Age was found in...
indications of any mass migration from Jutland in the early Iron Age. The GundestrupCauldron, which was deposited in a bog in Himmerland in the 2nd or 1st century...
leaping figure wearing a horned helmet and holding a wheel on the Gundestrupcauldron from Denmark, dating to the 1st century BC. This helmet is of a different...
Celtic mythology, and possibly one of the figures depicted on the Gundestrupcauldron. He has stag antlers on the top of his head. His role in the religion...
the combination of a horned helmet and a wheel on plate C of the Gundestrupcauldron (c. 100 BCE), were found in Orange, France. Other Celtic helmets...
of the artwork of the Gundestrupcauldron, provide comparative analyses of Celtic and Thracian traditions. Images on the cauldron have many features that...
two women have been dated to the Nordic Bronze Age. In 1891, the Gundestrupcauldron was found in a nearby bog. In 1946, Borremose man was discovered...
surmounting the Anguiped (a snake-legged human-like figure). The Gundestrupcauldron has been also interpreted mythically. Along with dedications giving...
connection between the female deity with elephants portrayed on the Gundestrupcauldron and Gajalakshmi. Cave 16 (Kailasa Temple), Ellora Caves Gajalaxmi...
before and during the Roman period. It appears three times on the Gundestrupcauldron, and in Romano-Celtic Gaul was closely associated with the horned...
no use for constructing any kind of history of [such] practices". Gundestrupcauldron Cernunnos Gutasaga Possehl, Gregory L. (2002). The Indus Civilization:...
Europe and is among other things reflected in the finding of the Gundestrupcauldron. The tribal Danes came from the east Danish islands (Zealand) and...
the Goat of Mendes. For many years scholars have interpreted the GundestrupCauldron's images in terms of the Celtic pantheon. The antlered figure in plate...
helmets outside of Germanic sources are on interior plate E of the Gundestrupcauldron, dating to the La Tène period or early Roman Iron Age, which is commonly...
with torcs hanging from his antlers or held in his hand, as on the Gundestrupcauldron. This may represent the deity as the source of power and riches,...
matured and harmonized the elements making it up. The 1st century BC Gundestrupcauldron, is the largest surviving piece of European Iron Age silver (diameter...
surrounded by animals. This in turn is related to a figure on the Gundestrupcauldron, who sits with legs part-crossed, has antlers, is surrounded by animals...
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