Metal detectorist stumbles upon ornate 1,000-year-old Viking artifact in Denmark. See it

A metal detectorist in Denmark recently stumbled upon an artifact from the Viking era.

The object, a type of brooch known as a disc fibula, was unearthed near Skanderborg, located about 175 miles northwest of Copenhagen.

It is believed to date back to the 9th century A.D., making it at least 1,100 years old, according to a May 10 news release from Museum Skanderborg.

The artifact, which is around the size of a quarter, is decorated with three animal heads, museum officials said.

During the Viking era, men and women would have used brooches as a form of jewelry and to hold their clothing together, according to National Museums Scotland.

Women would have worn layered garments held together by brooches at both shoulders.

“Viking men wore a single brooch that held their cloaks at the shoulder,” according to the museum. “Evidence also suggests that cross-shaped pairs of brooches were worn at the shoulders by male clerics in the early church.”

Numerous brooches with Christian motifs have been found throughout Denmark, according to a 2020 study published in the Danish Journal of Archaeology.

“This may have been part of an evangelizing thrust with wider popular appeal in which these small but highly meaningful artifacts played an important symbolic role,” according to the study.

Google Translate was used to translate a news release from Museum Skanderborg.