Abstract:

In 1896 a remarkable hoard was discovered near Ommerschans in the eastern Netherlands that included a spectacular object: a giant bronze sword. It was obtained by the landowner and kept by a forester, until it was first documented by archaeologist J.H. Holwerda in 1927. For over 85 years it remained in private ownership and inaccessible to science. Over time this sword, or rather dirk, would prove not to be a singular exception. Instead it is now part of a select family of six discovered in England (Oxborough and Rudham), France (Plougrescant and Beaune) and the Netherlands (Jutphaas and Ommerschans). In 2017 the Ommerschans hoard was obtained by the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities, bringing all six into the public domain.

The Plougrescant-Ommerschans type swords are some of the most spectacular finds of the European Bronze Age. They are extremely rare, beautiful, expertly crafted and too large and heavy to wield as weapons. Furthermore, their strong resemblance seems to have been crucial, as all six are extremely alike in design, decoration, metal composition and size (with the exception of Jutphaas). But why?

This book aims to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding this exceptional group of larger-than-life Bronze Age blades. It offers a detailed overview of the discovery and find context of the Ommerschans hoard, as well as a physical description and analysis of all finds. Also included is a comparative overview of the other five swords, including the primary publication of the Rudham dirk. The findings are subsequently interpreted focusing on their contextualisation within Bronze Age deposition practices, the importance of the visual cohesion of this group, the power and role of aggrandised objects and their potential purpose within the social and metaphysical realm of Bronze Age communities.

Contents

1. Introduction
Luc Amkreutz and David Fontijn

Part I The Ommerschans hoard. History and context

2. The one that got away: The Ommerschans hoard – found, lost and found again
Luc Amkreutz

3. ‘A nasty den of ghostly apparitions’: The site in its natural and archaeological context
Joris Brattinga and Luc Amkreutz

4. The hoard with dirk from Ommerschans: Reconstruction of the place of deposition
Corrie Bakels

Part II The Ommerschans finds. Description and object research

5. The Ommerschans sword: A description
Luc Amkreutz and David Fontijn

6. The making of the dirk: What can chemical analysis and imaging techniques tell us?
Ineke Joosten, Luc Megens, Tonny Beentjes, Luc Amkreutz, Yueer Li and Lambert van Eijck

7. Replicating the Ommerschans sword: Interview with a bronze smith
Karsten Wentink, Luc Amkreutz and Jeroen Zuiderwijk

8. Not at all random: Description of the small objects in the Ommerschans hoard
Luc Amkreutz and David Fontijn

9. About the great little objects in the Ommerschans hoard: A study into the metal composition, corrosion and wear
Bertil van Os, Liesbeth Theunissen, Ineke Joosten and Luc Megens

10. Shine on you crazy diamond: Functional analysis of the stone and flint tools from the Ommerschans hoard
Karsten Wentink, Annelou van Gijn and Ineke Joosten

Part III Interpreting aggrandised objects and deposition. Origins, parallels and perspectives

11. Does size matter? The Jutphaas find – a dirk-sized ceremonial Bronze Age object and its aggrandised counterparts
David Fontijn and Luc Amkreutz

12. The French dirks: Plougrescant and Beaune
Rolande Simon-Millot and Léonard Dumont

13. British ceremonial weapons revisited: A new Plougrescant-Ommerschans dirk from East Rudham, Norfolk, and its typological, geochemical and landscape context
Stuart Needham and Neil Wilkin

14. A comparative metallurgical analysis of the six dirks of Plougrescant-Ommerschans type
Liesbeth Theunissen and Bertil van Os

15. Unfinished business? Blunt questions about the Caistor-St-Edmund–Melle rapiers
Eugène Warmenbol

16. Aggrandised axes at the end of the Early Bronze Age in Central Europe: The hoard from Kläden in Saxony-Anhalt
Regine Maraszek

17. Strange by design: The Tollebeek spearhead revised
Valerio Gentile and Bastiaan Steffens

Part IV Synthesis

18. Religion and metal rush: Deposition of valuables from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age in Scandinavia
Helle Vandkilde

19. Larger than life: Interpreting the Ommerschans hoard
Luc Amkreutz and David Fontijn

List of authors