The Dune hoard

In 1881, one of Europe’s largest medieval hoards was discovered at the Dune farm on Gotland. The findspot has given the hoard its name: the Dune hoard. The treasure contains a wide variety of objects such as bowls, brooches, spoons, and jewellery in both gold and silver, originating from different parts of the world.

  • Viking Age

    AD 800 – AD 1100

  • Middle Ages

    AD 1050 – AD 1520

  • Modern Age

    AD 1520 – AD 2025

Archaeologists believe that the Dune hoard was gathered over several hundred years. Perhaps it belonged to a wealthy family where each generation added to the collection. How it later ended up buried in the ground is uncertain. It could have been connected to the Danish king Valdemar Atterdag’s invasion of Gotland in 1361. The Danish attack resulted in Gotland’s farms being plundered and many farmers losing their lives.

Many of the bowls in the hoard are imaginatively decorated, some featuring fabulous creatures. On one of the objects, a cup, there is a magical inscription, a so-called Arepo or “Sator square,” together with a pentagram.

A gilt silver bowl on a small foot. The sides are decorated with animal shapes.

Bowl

Part of the Dune hoard from Gotland.

On view at Historiska museet in the exhibition Guldrummet

Several cups, spoons, discs, bracelets and other objects of gilt silver.
The Dune hoard. Photo: Gunnel Jansson, The Swedish History Museum/SHM, CC-BY 4.0.

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