Borremose
Borremose is a raised bog in central Himmerland, Denmark south east of the town of Aars. The name translates directly as 'Borre'-bog, where 'Borre' might well be a derivation of the old word burgh meaning settlement, as seen in many other place-names.
The bog is heavily overgrown with trees and shrubs nowadays and is inaccessible in most places.
Archaeology
Borremose is famous for being the finding site of more than three bog bodies (Late Bronze Age) (Thorvildsen 1947) (Glob 1969).
The famous silver "Gundestrup cauldron" was found in the minor bog of Rævemosen less than 1 km to the north of Borremose in 1891. A bronze kettle made by Etruscans around 300 BC, has also been unearthed in the nearby bog of Mosbæk in 1875.[1] In earlier times, Borremose was much larger than what remains today and both Rævemosen and Mosbæk, was an integral part of the Borremose boglands.
Borremose is also known for and identified with a former fortified settlement dating from the middle part of Pre-Roman Iron Age (400-100 BC) (Andersen 1975) (Martens, 1994 & 2004 2007). It was constructed around 300-250 BC, as one of the largest structures of its kind in Northern Europe, but was already abandoned in 125 BC, when the houses was burned down and the whole area levelled somewhat. The area was then used for agricultural purposes until around 0 BC, when it was abandoned and left to the bog.[2] The settlement was rediscovered in 1929 during peat cutting. Originally the fort of Borremose comprised a 140 x 90 m gravel bank surrounded by a moat with earth mounds on the inner side and connected to dry land by an artificial cobbled road. The 450 m long moat, was 4 m wide, 1,5 m deep and with a flat bottom covered with sharp oaken-spikes, to slow down attacking forces. While the buildings are long gone, the site have been excavated so the mounds, moat and road are here to see once again. Similar constructions from that era, are well known from all over Europe, but for a long time, the Borremose-fortification was the only known Iron Age fortification of its kind in all of Denmark, until a similar construction was discovered at Lyngsmose near Ringkøbing in western Jutland in 1979. Because of this, such structures are sometimes referred to as "Borremose-fortifications", regardless of their whereabouts.
Some of the finds from Borremose is on exhibit at Museumcentre Aars in the town of Aars, either as copies or originals. The museum centre presents many other interesting finds from western Himmerland, like Scandinavias oldest known human skull, 10.000 years old from the Maglemosian culture. Since Borremose is so inaccessible, it is estimated to hold many interesting finds for the future.
The land around Borremose have revealed several individual settlements from the Iron Age and a few kilometres south east of the bog, the village of Østerbølle with 9 longhouses and a number of small houses, have recently been restored.[3]
There are a number of Stone Age and Bronze Age barrows near the bog. Graves from the Iron Age have also been found.
In literature
Danish fictive treatments involving Borremose include:
- Ebbe Kløvedal Reich: Fæ og frænde (1977)
- Børge Børresen: Kimbrerborgen; Gyldendal (1948)
- Børge Børresen: Kimbrertoget; Gyldendal (1949)
Sources
- Borremose Vesthimmerlands Museum (pictures) (Danish)
- Andersen, Alfred (1975), Geologiske undersøgelser omkring Borremosebebyggelsen. Aarbøger for Nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie, pp. 96–118
- Glob, Peter V (1969), The Bog People, London: Faber & Faber
- Martens, Jes. Refuge (1994), fortified settlement - central place? Three years of archaeological investigations at the Borremose stronghold (1989-1991), an enclosed settlement from the Pre-Roman Iron Age of Himmerland 35 (2), Ethnographisch-Archäologische Zeitschrift, pp. 241–276
- Martens, Jes (2004), Interpreting the Unexpected. Reflections on Failure and Success in Phosphate Mapping 28, Probleme der Küstenforschung im Südlichen Nordseegebiet, pp. 293–320
- Martens, Jes (2007), Fortified places in lowland Northern Europe and Scandinavia during the Pre-Roman Iron Age. I: Keltische Einflüsse im Mitteleuropa Während der mittleren und jüngeren vorrömischen Eisenzeit, Frankfurt am Main: Römisch-Germanische Kommission des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, pp. 87–105, ISBN 978-3-7749-3501-3
- Martens, Jes (2010), A magnate's farm at Borremose?. 33, Siedlungs- und Küstenforschung im Südlichen Nordseegebiet, pp. 181–195
- Thorvildsen, Elise (1952), Menneskeofringer i Oldtiden. Kuml, pp. 32–47
- Thorvildsen, Elise (1981), Borremosedage. Kammerat Glob, ed. H.Andersen, P.Skal og E.Thorvildsen, Højbjerg, Wormianum, pp. 43–52
- Thorvildsen, Knud (1947), Moseliget fra Borremose i Himmerland, Fra Nationalmuseets Arbejdsmark, pp. 57–67
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Borremose. |
- ↑ Imported metal kettles from pre-roman iron age National Museum of Denmark
- ↑ The fort of Borremose VisitDenmark
- ↑ Østerbølle - Iron Age village Danish agency for Culture (Danish)
External links
- Vesthimmerlands Museum Museumcentre Aars department for cultural history.
- Borremose 1001 stories of Denmark. Danish Agency for Culture.
- Borremose Information on Borremosen and the Borremose Fortification. Vesthimmerlands Museum (Danish)
- Borremose Pdf-pamphlet with maps of the site. Municipality of Vesthimmerland (Danish)