Balkåkra Ritual Object

The Balkåkra Ritual Object is an item from the Bronze Age found in Balkåkra, Sweden in 1847. Its use and purpose remain unknown.

Balkåkra Ritual Object, side view
Balkåkra Ritual Object, view of the bronze disc.[1][2]

History

The object was found in a bog in Balkåkra socken close to Ystad in Scania, Sweden in 1847. It has been dated to c. 1500 – 1300 BC, i.e. early Nordic Bronze Age. A later date in the Urnfield period has also been suggested by other authors.[3] A similar item was discovered in 1913 in Haschendorf/Hasfalva in Austria, not far from Sopron in Hungary.[4][5] It has been suggested that the object found in Balkåkra may have been imported from the Danube region or northern Italy and not produced locally.[6][7] A similar miniature object of Nuragic origin was found in Vulci, Italy, together with a Nuragic 'priest' (or priestess) figurine wearing a conical hat.[8][9][10][11] The Vulci find has been dated to the 9th century BC but the objects may be significantly older.[3][12]

Balkåkra Ritual Object, lateral view

Description

The item consists of a round frame made of bronze perforated with holes and carried by ten wheels. A flat and loose bronze disc placed on top of it. The disc is decorated with concentric zig-zag patterns.[7] The diameter of the disc is 42 centimetres (17 in) and is slightly concave.[6]

The inside of the Haschendorf ritual object is marked with two sets of engraved lines indicating numbers or simple numerals from I to IIIII (I, II, III, IIII, IIIII). The same numbers appear on the Balkåkra object where they are marked with dots instead of lines. These are thought to represent instructions for assembly of the objects.[3]

Interpretation

It is not known what purpose the item served, but it has been assumed that it had a ritual use. Suggestions have been made that it could have been a gong, a drum, a throne or a burning glass.[6][7]

The concentric zig-zag lines on both discs are thought to represent the rays of the sun. They have also been interpreted as encoding a solar calendar.[13] The four-spoked wheel was also a common solar symbol in the European Bronze Age.

The finding of a similar miniature object together with a Nuragic figurine is of particular interest. Nuragic 'priest' figurines, often depicted with tall conical hats, have been compared to the conical Golden Hats from central Europe, dating from the Middle and Late Bronze Age, which are thought to have been worn by priests, and possibly 'astronomer-priests' or 'priest-kings'.[14] The symbols on the Berlin Gold Hat have been interpreted as encoding the Metonic cycle of a luni-solar calendar.[15][16] Both the Nuragic figurines and golden hats have also been compared to petroglyphs and figurines from the Nordic Bronze Age, such as petroglyphs in the Kivik Kings' Grave in Sweden.[17]

References
  1. "The Balkåkra and Haschendorf discs (llustration) (Randsborg 2006)".
  2. Randsborg, Klavs (2006). "Calendars of the Bronze Age". Acta Archaeologica. 77: 62–90.
  3. Szabo, Geza (2016). "Local and Interregional Connections Through the Comparison of the Hasfalva Disc and the Balkåkra Disc". Bronze Age Connectivity in the Carpathian Basin. Editura Mega. pp. 345–360. ISBN 978-606-020-058-1.
  4. "Ritual objects from Balkåkra and Haschendorf/Hasfalva (illustration) (Gömöri 2012)".
  5. Gömöri, Janos (2012). "The cultic bronz disk from Hasfalva".
  6. Freij, Henry (1977). ""Balkåkratrumman"" (PDF) (in Swedish). Swedish National Heritage Board. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  7. Ullén, Inga. "Solen och stjärnorna" (in Swedish). Swedish History Museum. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  8. "Nuragic priest figurine with cult objects".
  9. Gömöri, Janos (2012). "The cultic bronz disk from Hasfalva".
  10. Sperber, Lothar (2003). Springer, Tobias (ed.). Gold und Kult der Bronzezeit. Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg. p. 208. ISBN 3-926982-95-0.
  11. Arancio, Maria Letizia (2008). Vulci: La tomba dei bronzetti sardi.
  12. Sperber, Lothar (2003). Springer, Tobias (ed.). Gold und Kult der Bronzezeit. Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg. p. 208. ISBN 3-926982-95-0.
  13. Randsborg, Klavs (2006). "Calendars of the Bronze Age". Acta Archaeologica. 77: 62–90.
  14. Sperber, Lothar (2003). Springer, Tobias (ed.). Gold und Kult der Bronzezeit. Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg. pp. 205–211. ISBN 3-926982-95-0.
  15. "Golden Ceremonial Hat ("Berlin Gold Hat")". Neues Museum Berlin.
  16. Menghin, Wilfried (2008). "Zahlensymbolik und digitales Rechnersystem in der Ornamentik des Berliner Goldhutes". Acta Praehistorica et Archaeologica. 40: 157–169. doi:10.11588/apa.2008.0.71505.
  17. Sperber, Lothar (2003). Springer, Tobias (ed.). Gold und Kult der Bronzezeit. Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg. pp. 215–216. ISBN 3-926982-95-0.
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