ABSTRACT

The Scandinavian sites where military equipment was sacrificed represent an archaeological source that provides a unique view of a synchronous cross-section of the equipment of a group of warriors acting as a unit in the areas of northern Europe outside the Roman Empire. Weapons and military equipment dominate but personal belongings, horse harnesses and tools are also often found. Given the absence of weapons and military equipment made of iron, the spectrum of finds from the Thorsberger Moor cannot be directly compared with those from the other sites. In the 1990s, with its long-term publication strategy, Illerup Adal became a reference point for all the other military-equipment sacrifices. The physical and chemical conditions in the Thorsberger Moor with its very low pH mean that only artefacts made of non-ferrous or precious metal, wood, leather, glass or pottery are found. In general, it assumed for Thorsberger Moor that Roman spathae were part of the essential basic equipment of Germanic fighting units.