[Si]
A peat bog in Jutland where in 1891 a remarkable silver cauldron was discovered. The vessel was found dismantled into its constituent pieces: twelve separate sections of sheet silver, a round plate, and two tubular fittings. When restored it was found to be 69cm in diameter and 40cm high. The wall sections are decorated in raised relief and show scenes representing ritual or mythological events. The figures on the outer face were originally covered in gold leaf with eyes of red or blue glass. Various attempts have been made to interpret the scenes as having been drawn from Scandinavian mythology, but the likelihood is that the vessel was made elsewhere, perhaps in Thrace or perhaps still further east in the area of the Black Sea.
[Sum.: A. Bergquist and T. Taylor, 1987, The origin of the Gundestrup cauldron. Antiquity, 61, 10–24]
