Gundestrup

The find spot of a great silver cauldron of late pre-Roman Iron Age in a bog in northern Jutland, Denmark, that was clearly a votive offering. On the 12 plaques which decorate both the inside and outside of the bowl are scenes from Celtic mythology. The cauldron was probably manufactured in Romania or Bulgaria or possibly Thrace during the 1st or 2nd century BC.

Find-spot of a great silver cauldron of the late pre-Roman Iron Age near Aalborg in Jutland, Denmark. The cauldron was found dismantled in a peat bog and is thought to have been put there as a votive offering. It weighs c9 kg and the eight outer and five inner plates are decorated in relief in the Celtic art style, with scenes of warriors, gods, heroes and exotic animals and human sacrifice. One of the most important figures is identified as the Celtic god Cemunnos (‘the homed one’) shown wearing a tore, symbol of status, and flanked by a deer on one side and a wolf on the other. The cauldron was probably imported from somewhere in the La T₺ne province, perhaps somewhere in eastern Europe, in the 1st or 2nd century bc.