A treasure trove of spectacular jewellery, including some pieces which contain gold, has been unearthed in a Viking-era farm site in Denmark that dates as far back as 1,300 years.
Archaeologists working with volunteers used metal detectors to find the jewellery in different spots throughout a farmstead on Zealand, the largest island in Denmark.
The remains of the farm site called Vestervang, date from the late seventh to the early 11th centuries.
The "most spectacular" example is 2.9 inches long and shows an image of a heart-shaped animal head with rounded ears and circular eyes, according to archaeologist Ole Thirup Kastholm, of the Roskilde Museum.
The piece, made of copper alloy, may be part of a necklace, 'LiveScience' reported.
"The neck is covered by a beadlike chain. Above the creatures forelegs, there are marked elbow joints and three-fingered paws or feet, which awkwardly grasp backwards to what might be hind legs or wings," Kastholm said in the Danish Journal of Archaeology.
The object probably had three similar images originally, but only one survives. In addition to the animal image, the item, possibly a pendant, also shows three masked figures, each with a drooping moustache.
"A circular mark is seen between the eyebrows and above this, two ears or horns emerge, giving the humanlike mask an animal character," Kastholm said.
He said that the animal image itself seems to be anthropomorphic, something not unusual in Viking age art.
Another mysterious piece of jewellery found at Vestervang depicts a Christian cross and appears to have been created in continental Europe sometime between AD 500 and 750, predating the Viking-age farm site.
"The decoration consists of a central wheel cross in relief, with inlaid gold pressed into a waffle form. The waffle gold is in some areas covered with transparent red glass or semiprecious stones and forming an equal-armed cross," Kastholm said.
The item would have been used as a brooch, and Kastholm said a female of "high rank" perhaps wore it on her dress.
How the artifact arrived at a pre-Christian Viking-age farm site is a mystery.
Researchers believe such rich jewellery may have arrived at a modest agricultural settlement owing to a legendary site, named Lejre, which is located about 10 kilometres south-southeast of Vestervang.
