The sorceress from Blidegn
Among the grave goods in a woman's grave at Blidegn there was a fossil sea urchin. The whole archaeological find is now at Møntergården in Odense. Photo: Jens Gregers Aagaard.
Intro
A fossil sea urchin, a bundle of willow twigs and various other strange grave goods were found in 1935 by excavators in a woman’s grave at the farm, Blidegn, near Korinth, south Funen.
A fossil sea urchin, a bundle of willow twigs and various other strange grave goods were found in a woman’s grave at the farm, Blidegn, near Korinth, south Funen. The grave dates from c. AD 150 and was discovered in 1935. The archaeologist was astonished and concluded that “this woman buried during the Roman Iron Age here at Brende Lydinge in southern Funen must have been involved in sorcery and is likely to have been a ’wise woman’ into the bargain”. One thing is certain, the woman enjoyed a special status in the community during her lifetime.
At the bidding of the gods
Faith and rituals have shaped life on Funen since antiquity. In the hope of gaining the gods’ favour, Funen’s inhabitants dispatched grave goods to the kingdom of the dead, constructed churches and wore both Thor’s hammers and Christian crosses.
Magical animals
Nature and faith have been closely linked since the earliest Stone Age. Back then, people on Funen lived by hunting, fishing and gathering edible plants. They were dependent on nature, which, therefore, became a central part of their religious world. But magical properties have also been attributed to nature much later in history.
This location is part of the exhibition 'Funen – at the centre of the universe', at Møntergården in Odense. Read more about the exhibition on our website.