According to experts, the cache recently discovered by Vejlemuseerne in Denmark is being hailed as one of the largest and most significant of its kind. The discovery was made by Ole Ginnerup Schytz, a first-time treasure hunter who stumbled upon a stash of 1,500-year-old gold artifacts that dated back to the Iron Age. The discovery was made in a field near the town of Jelling in southwestern Denmark last December. Since then, it has been deemed as one of the most important finds in Danish history.

Schytz recounts how, after hearing the device activate, he carefully moved aside soil to uncover the small, but significant, bent piece of metal.

“It was scratched and covered in mud,” he tells Steffen Neupert of Danish broadcast station TV Syd. “At that time, I had no idea what it was, so all I could think of was that it looked like the lid of a can of herring.”

As it turns out, the amateur metal detectorist had uncovered the first of 22 pieces of sixth-century gold jewelry, weighing just over two pounds.

Talking to TV Syd, Schytz describes the discovery as “the epitome of pure luck.” He also notes, “Even though Denmark is a country of 16,621 square miles, I was fortunate enough to choose the exact location where this incredible find was made.”

Close-up view of gold artifact found in the cache Konserveringscenter Vejle / Vejlemuseerne

Months after Schytz’s chance discovery, the Vejlemuseerne in Jutland has finally revealed the ancient treasures to the public.

According to archaeologist Peter Vang Petersen, this is the biggest find in the 40 years he has been at the National Museum [of Denmark]. He explains to TV Syd, per Artnet News, that similar finds can only be traced back to the 16th and 18th centuries.

The haul primarily consists of bracteates, which were popular medallions in northern Europe during the Migration Period (approximately 300 to 700 C.E.). These pendants were usually inscribed with magical symbols or runes and worn by women for protection.

Experts have identified several unfamiliar symbols on the newly unearthed bracteates. Director of research at the Vejle museums, Mads Ravn, tells Agence France-Presse (AFP) that interpreting these symbols could help shed light on the little-understood societies that inhabited the region before the Vikings.

“It is the symbolism represented on these objects that makes them unique, more than the quantity found,” says Ravn.

One of the medallions depicts the Norse god Odin and appears to be based on similar Roman jewelry that celebrated emperors as gods, reports TV Syd.

“Here we see Nordic mythology in its infancy,” says Vang Petersen, as quoted by the Sun. “The Scandinavians have always been good at getting ideas from what they saw in foreign countries, and then turning it into something that suits them.”

Many of the symbols seen on the bracteates are unfamiliar to researchers. Konserveringscenter Vejle / Vejlemuseerne

Older artifacts found in the cache include gold coins from the Roman Empire that were converted into jewelry. One depicts Constantine the Great, who ruled between 306 and 337 C.E. The coin’s presence suggests that Jelling, known to be a cradle of the Viking civilization between the 8th and 12th centuries, was a center of power with trade links across the European continent, according to Artnet News.

The objects’ immaculate craftsmanship points to their original owner’s probable high status.

“Only an individual at the very top of society would have been able to collect a treasure such as the one found here,” stated Ravn.

Upon excavation of the site where Schytz discovered the hoard, experts uncovered the remains of a village longhouse. “Without the discovery made by the amateur treasure hunter, we would not have been able to predict the existence of an unprecedented warlord or great figure who lived here long before the kingdom of Denmark emerged in the following centuries,” added Ravn.

Archaeologists believe that the gold was buried as a form of protection against invaders or as a final offering to the gods. This discovery is dated back to around 536, a time when a volcanic eruption in Iceland caused extensive damage by covering the sky with ash, leading to famine in Scandinavia. Other similar discoveries of gold in the region, such as the collection of 32 artifacts found on the island of Hjarnø, have also been dated to that same period.