The Gundestrup Cauldron is one of the most important
objects ever discovered in a bog.
Made of
silver, the cauldron depicts in a series of seven raised plates various scenes that illustrate
deities and, perhaps, human sacrifice. It was found in the Raeve bog in 1891
near Gundestrup, Denmark. Interestingly enough,
this bog is near Borre Fen (where Borremose
Man and Borremose
Woman were later found).
P. V. Glob
in
his book The
Bog People describes one of the inner plates (below): It "probably
depicts a man being sacrificed over a cauldron. Warriors in procession
on either side of the tree of life which springs from the
cauldron in which the sacrificial blood is collected. The
lower row of warriors are on foot, perhaps prisoners of war
about to be sacrificed, but the men of the upper row are on
horseback and are thought to represent the sacrificed men
translated into new glory.... The vessel represented could
also be regarded as a rejuvenation back, rather than a
cauldron for sacrifices, but this would not conflict with the
general interpretation we have just suggested."
