Images of Many Kinds: Viking-Age and Early Medieval Ornaments from Denmark at a Time of Change

The Viking Age and early medieval period in Denmark was marked by extensive social, political and religious change but also strong continuity. Following the Conversion to Christianity old norms and beliefs were gradually replaced by new ways of thinking, new institutions and practices, even by new fashions in both dress and ornament. A wide variety of ornaments dating from the ninth to the twelfth centuries have been recovered over the past decades, the vast majority by means of private metal detector usage. Many of the jewellery motifs resemble those depicted in contemporary coinage or in the architecture and inventory of early churches but whereas coins and church buildings were very much associated with the upper levels in society, the small items for personal use, most of them of copper alloy, offer a different perspective on changing fashions and the integration of Christian beliefs in late Viking-Age and early medieval Denmark.