Drouwen: End of a ‘Nordic’ Rainbow?

This article has three parts. Section 1 describes the Late Bronze Age hoard of bronzes in a pot, found near the village of Drouwen, Drenthe in December 1984. Section 2 examines the character, origins and dating of this hoard. The pot and almost all of the bronzes are of types which were previously totally absent or very rare in this region. The hoard was apparently a collection of old objects imported as scrap metal, intended to be melted down for the manufacture of new bronzes. It seems to have originated in the Middle or Lower Elbe area, c. 200 to 300 km to the east. Section 3 is a brief survey of the remarkable series of finds of Bronze Age material in the vicinity of Drouwen: the Early Bronze Age ‘Sögel’ chieftain’s grave; the Late Bronze Age hoard of 1939, and other finds from the urnfield; a Scandinavian sword found nearby. These suggest some sort of extraordinary connection between Drouwen and the North European cultural area in the Bronze Age, especially in the Late Bronze Age.