An Iron Age rich shield from Dürrnberg near Hallein, Land Salzburg

Abstract

In grave 373 of the Eislfeld at the Dürrnberg near Hallein, which was robbed in antiquity, there appeared next to a bronze cauldron, a high-handled cup and three iron lance-heads, as well as a gold decorated fibula with terminal knob, the remains of a wooden shield covered with thin iron sheeting. This stood almost vertically against the chamber’s wall or even hung on it. The shield was made from two layers of alder-wood stuck together. The grain of both layers ran at right angles to one another, thus increasing the stability of the piece. In the middle of the shield was a wooden boss in the form of a spindle. The iron rim-fittings suggest that the shield was not oval in shape, but resembled that of an animal’s hide. This is decorated with peculiar fittings of iron sheeting with fine adornments in the style of the earliest La Tène art. A comparison revealed that the shield corresponds largely with a representation on the stone relief of Bormio in Lombardy.