NY DAM FIND. 



21!) 



The antiquities, none of which are of Koman origin, 

 seem to have been thrown in without any order, but spears 

 with thin iron points on the end formed the boundary of 

 the find. 



In this as in the other bog finds, weapons are twisted 

 together in extraordinary knots and many objects destroyed. 



The Nijdam Bog Find. The remarkable bog find at Nydam l 

 is extremely valuable on account of the boat, and the discovery 

 of Roman coins enables us to approximate the date of the 

 objects, 2 which is probably about the years 250 and 300 of 

 our era. 



The Nydam oak boat was discovered in 1863 near 

 Slesvig, in Southern Jutland. Its length is about 75 feet ; 

 its widest part, about 10^ feet. It held 14 benches, and was 

 rowed with 28 oars, the average length of which was 12 feet. 

 By its side was the rudder, about 10 feet long. 



The bottom plank, which is not a keel proper, is 45 feet 

 3 inches long, and of a single piece. The oar-tholes are 

 fastened to the gunwales with bast ropes, and, though they 

 have all one general shape, there are no two alike. 



The boat is clinch-built ; that is, the planks are held together 

 by large iron bolts with round heads outside, and clinch plates 



whole iron knives, between 7 and 10 

 inches long, and several handles and 

 fragments ; four oval-shaped whetstones 

 and fragments of a square one; five 

 small balance-weights; fragments of a 

 heavy wooden post and of a small twig; 

 some mountings of silver which probably 

 belonged to riding harness ; bones of three 

 animals ; &c., &c. 



1 Among the objects found in the bog 

 were 106 iron swords, all double-edged. 

 with handles of wood sometimes covered 

 with silver, or of bone or massive bronze ; 

 93 damascened in different patterns, two 

 wrought from two different pieces, and 

 only eleven simply wrought. On several 

 there are Latin inscriptions, and on one 

 blade runes inlaid in gold. The condi- 

 tion in which the swords were when 

 buried is peculiar. Generally they were 

 without hilts and bent, on many were 

 found de<M> cuts on both edges, one hav- 

 ing 23 cuts on one, and 11 cuts on the 

 other edge. Wooden scabbards, with 



mountings of bronze; mountings to 

 sword-belts ; buckles of iron and bronze ; 

 rings with loose end-mountings ; 70 iron 

 shield buckles ; iron axes ; iron bridles, 

 three ot \v hich were still in the mouths 

 of (skeleton) horses; 552 iron spear- 

 points, several ornamented with gold ; 

 several hundred spear-handles ; numerous 

 househo'd utensils of wood ; several 

 hundred arrow-shafts with traces of 

 marks of ownership on them, and some 

 with runes, &c 



2 Thirty-four Roman coins, struck be- 

 tween the years 69 and 217 A.D., are 

 so-called denarii of silver, and date from 

 the time of Vifrtlius (1), Hadrian (1), 

 Antoninus Pius (10), two of which have 

 the mark of DIVVS ; Faustina the elder 

 ( 4), Marcus Aurelhis (7) (partly as Casar, 

 between the years 140-143, and partly 

 as Imperator), Fit>i*tin<i the. i/oitnt/er (1), 

 Lucius 1 <">' (2), Lucilla (2), Cuinuta/ii* 

 (5), and Macriii'is (1). the latter a very 

 rare coin, struck in 217 A.n. 



