History's Mysteries by Brian Haughton

Author:Brian Haughton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Red Wheel Weiser
Published: 2010-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

– Chapter 20 –

The Puzzle of the Golden Hats (Central Europe)

Berlin Golden Hat.

A group of ancient conical gold foil vessels from sites in Switzerland, Germany, and France are among the most baffling archaeological finds anywhere in the world. There are four known examples of these enigmatic objects: the Golden Hat of Schifferstadt, near Speyer, southwest Germany; the Avanton Gold Cone, from near Poitiers, western France; the Golden Cone of Ezelsdorf-Buch, near Nuremberg; and the Berlin Gold Hat. Many theories have attempted to explain these beautiful “Golden Hats.” Were they parts of Bronze Age suits of armor, wizard’s hats, ceremonial vases, or perhaps even ritual calendars? Recent research by historians at Berlin’s Museum of Pre- and Early History has cast some fascinating new light on the possible function of these objects.

The so-called Golden Hat of Schifferstadt was the first of these objects to be discovered, during agricultural work in a field 0.62 miles north of Schifferstadt on April 29, 1835. This well-preserved, cone-shaped “hat” is 11.6 inches in height, with a diameter of 18 centimeters at its widest part and a weight of about 0.77 pounds. The object is hammered from a single sheet of thin gold, the composition of which is 86.37 percent gold, 13 percent silver, 0.56 percent copper, and 0.07 percent tin. The surface is subdivided into horizontal ornamental bands, applied using the repoussé technique (hammering and pressing designs in relief). These decorated zones bear systematically stamped disk and circle motifs surrounded by concentric circles.

When the Golden Hat of Schifferstadt was discovered it was standing upright in a rectangular pit about 2 feet below ground with three bronze axes leaning against it. These associated axes date the Golden Hat somewhere between the 15th and the 13th centuries BC (the Middle to Late Bronze Age), and the assemblage has the appearance of a ritual deposit. Throughout the years, Bronze Age pottery fragments and animal bone have been picked up in the surrounding fields, which suggests the presence of a settlement, on the edge of which the Golden Hat and its associated metal work were placed. The Golden Hat of Schifferstadt is now on display in the Historisches Museum der Pfalz in Speyer.

The Avanton Gold Cone was discovered in 1844, in a field near the village of Avanton, about 7 1/2 miles north of the city of Poitiers. The object seems to have been damaged, as it has no flanged “brim” like the other Golden Hats. The Avanton Cone is 1.8 feet in height and weighs 0.63 pounds. Like the other “hats,” its ornamentation is divided up into horizontal bands, in this case decorated with concentric circles of varying diameters. It has been dated to c. 1000–900 BC (the Late Bronze Age), and is now exhibited in the Musée d’Archéologie Nationale at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris.

The Golden Hat of Ezelsdorf-Buch was found in 1953 while clearing tree stumps between the villages of Ezelsdorf (Franconia) and Buch (Bavaria) in Southern Germany. The “hat” was apparently discovered just more than 3 inches below the surface but unfortunately was not immediately recognized for what it was.

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