Mammen

On a spring day in April 1868, a couple of workers were engaged in levelling the ancient mound of Bjerringhøj in a field between the villages of Mammen and Bjerring, 15km southeast of Viborg. They dug down through the mound, and suddenly found themselves with their clogs in the burial tomb of a Viking leader – the expressions on their faces must have been priceless. They took the largest finds and showed them to the authorities, who ordered an excavation of the mound. This is what the archaeologists found: the deceased man lay in a burial chamber constructed of solid wood planks, which we now know were felled in 970/71. A slender adult man was buried here in a 3.20m coffin. He was dressed in fine clothing, including a cloak of fine wool with embroidery, in the English fashion. He was resting on a cushion of eiderdown. As grave goods, he had two axes with him. One of these was a beautiful specimen with silver inlays – the pattern of which has since given its name to one of the Viking era styles. On top of the coffin was a large wax candle, a bronze pot and two wooden buckets that had been filled with food and drink for the final journey of the deceased man. It is not clear whether the burial was Christian or dedicated to the old gods, as there are elements in the grave that could point either way. Round burial mounds from the Viking Age are highly unusual, and its most immediate parallel is the North Mound in Jelling. This is where it is supposed that King Gorm was originally buried – also in a burial chamber and with a wax candle. The extraordinarily luxurious grave goods indicate that the dead man must have belonged to the absolute elite of society, and the date of the grave indicates that it may have been that of King Harald Bluetooth himself.
Today the Bjerringhøj mound is almost invisible, but a memorial stone has been placed by the road. In 1871, a few years after the Mammen grave was discovered, a farmer digging for gravel less than 1km north of Bjerringhøj found a treasure trove dating from the same period as the grave. It included a set of magnificent horse collars, a bronze pot, a jewellery mould and a gilded fitting from a wooden casket. All of the original objects from both the grave and the treasure trove are currently exhibited at the National Museum, but copies can be seen at Gudenådalens Museum in Bjerringbro.