page_title: Gullgubber
hierarchical_section_title: Gullgubber
caption_attribution_description: English: [D-III-1] guldgubber showing a wraith holding its right arm with its left hand
context_page_description: Gullgubber or guldgubber, guldgubbar, are art-objects, amulets, or offerings found in Scandinavia and dating to the Nordic Iron Age. They consist of thin pieces of beaten gold, usually between 1 and 2 cm². in size, usually stamped with a motif, and are the oldest examples of toreutics in Northern Europe.
  The word gullgubbe means "little old man of gold" and is taken from a report published in 1791 by Nils Henrik Sjöborg, in which he said that villagers in Ravlunda, Scania who found them in the dunes called them guldgubbar.
  Approximately 3,000 gullgubber have been found, from approximately 30 sites in Norway, Sweden, and the greatest number in Denmark. No fewer than 2,350 were found at the settlement of Sorte Muld on the Danish island of Bornholm, while over 100 were found at Lundeborg, near Gudme on the Danish island of Funen, and 122 at Uppåkra, Scania, Sweden. Relatively few gullgubber have so far been found in Norway, although 19 were found during excavations at Vingrom church in Oppland between 2003 and 2005, and the distribution of finds may be affected by modern circumstances as much as the political situation at the time they were laid down.
context_section_description: Gullgubber ([ˈɡʉ̀lɡʉbəɾ]) or guldgubber (Danish), guldgubbar (Swedish),  are art-objects, amulets, or offerings found in Scandinavia and dating to the Nordic Iron Age. They consist of thin pieces of beaten gold (occasionally silver), usually between 1 and 2 cm². in size, usually stamped with a motif, and are the oldest examples of toreutics in Northern Europe.
  The word gullgubbe means "little old man of gold" and is taken from a report published in 1791 by Nils Henrik Sjöborg, in which he said that villagers in Ravlunda, Scania who found them in the dunes called them guldgubbar.
  Approximately 3,000 gullgubber have been found, from approximately 30 sites in Norway, Sweden, and the greatest number in Denmark. No fewer than 2,350 were found at the settlement of Sorte Muld on the Danish island of Bornholm, while over 100 were found at Lundeborg, near Gudme on the Danish island of Funen, and 122 at Uppåkra, Scania, Sweden. Relatively few gullgubber have so far been found in Norway, although 19 were found during excavations at Vingrom church in Oppland between 2003 and 2005, and the distribution of finds may be affected by modern circumstances as much as the political situation at the time they were laid down.
  They date to the late Iron Age, from the end of the Migration Age to the early Viking Age, particularly what is referred to in Norway as the Merovingian era, in Sweden as the Vendel era, from 550 to about 800, but can be hard to date because they are often found in contexts that do not establish date. It seems likely that they replaced bracteates, which require far more metal, after obtaining gold from the Byzantine Empire became difficult.
caption: A "wraith" gullgubbe
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