The Gundestrup Cauldron is a highly intricate silver vessel believed to have originated between 200 BC and 300 AD, with a more specific range of 150 BC to 1 AD. This places it in the late La Tene period or early Roman Iron Age. Remarkably, it stands as the largest known example of European Iron Age silver craftsmanship, boasting a diameter of 69 cm (27 inches) and a height of 42 cm (17 inches). Discovered disassembled in 1891 in a peat bog near Gundestrup village in Aars, Himmerland, Denmark, it now primarily resides at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen. Copies of the cauldron can also be found in other museums, and it was showcased in the UK during the 2015-16 Celtic-themed exhibition.
The cauldron is not in complete form, comprising a rounded bowl-shaped bottom referred to as the base plate. Above this base plate are five inner plates and seven outer plates, with an eighth missing outer plate necessary to encircle the cauldron completely. Only two parts of the rounded edge at the top of the cauldron remain. The base is largely smooth and lacks adornments inside and out, except for a decorative round medallion at the center of the interior. In contrast, all other plates are intricately adorned through repousse, a technique involving the pushing out of silver from below. Additional methods like gilding and inlaying were employed to enhance the details. No other components of the cauldron's structure were discovered, and its total weight is just under 9 kilograms.
Despite its discovery in Denmark, it exhibits craftsmanship, metallurgy, and imagery with Gallic and Thracian origins. The style and techniques used in the panels closely resemble those found in Thracian silverwork, while much of the imagery, particularly the depictions of human figures, originates from Celtic traditions. Attempts to closely link the depicted scenes to Celtic mythology remain a subject of debate. Additionally, some elements of the iconography can be traced back to the Near East.
While cauldrons were typically associated with Celtic elites and were important prestige items in the Iron Age, they were usually simpler and smaller in scale compared to the Gundestrup Cauldron. It stands out as an exceptionally large and complex object with few comparable examples, aside from a substantial fragment of a bronze cauldron also discovered in Rinkeby, Denmark. The unique preservation conditions of wetlands in Scandinavia have yielded several artifacts of types that were likely once common but have since disappeared.
Scholars have extensively examined the Gundestrup Cauldron, considering it a fascinating testament to the diverse influences in European art. It also stands out for its uncommon narrative elements in Celtic art, although the original meaning behind its imagery remains a subject of ongoing study and speculation
The Gundestrup Cauldron was stumbled upon by peat excavators in a small peat bog known as Ruwemose, situated not far from the larger Borremose bog, on May 28, 1891. The Danish government awarded a substantial reward to the individuals who discovered it, but later, they engaged in bitter disputes among themselves regarding its division. Paleobotanical investigations of the peat bog conducted at the time of the discovery indicated that the ground was dry when the cauldron was deposited, and the peat gradually accumulated on top of it. The way it was stacked suggests an effort to make the cauldron inconspicuous and well-hidden. Another study of Revemose in 2002 suggested that the peat bog may have been in existence when the cauldron was buried.
When the cauldron was unearthed, it was found disassembled into five long rectangular plates, seven short plates, one round plate (often referred to as the "base plate"), and two fragments of pump and compressor pipes. These components were stacked inside a curved base. Additionally, a piece of iron from the ring, originally placed within the silver tubes at the cauldron's edge, was discovered. It is assumed that the eighth plate is missing because the circumference of the seven outer plates is smaller than that of the five inner plates.
Several meticulous full-size replicas of the Gundestrup Cauldron have been created. One of these replicas is housed in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, while others can be found in France, including at the Gallo-Romain-de-Fourvière Museum in Lyon and the Musée d'Archeologie Nationale in Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
Due to its discovery in pieces, the Gundestrup Cauldron had to undergo a reconstruction process. The traditional arrangement of the plates was determined by Sofus Müller, who was the first of many analysts to study the cauldron. His reasoning was based on the position of solder traces along the bowl's edge. In two instances, puncture marks that penetrated both the inner and outer plates also aided in establishing the order. In its final form, the plates are organized in an alternating pattern of female and male images, implying that the missing eighth plate likely belongs to a female figure. However, not all analysts are in agreement with Müller's proposed order. Taylor has argued that, except for two instances involving punctures, the order cannot be ascertained solely from the alignment of the solder. His argument is that the plates are not adjacent but separated by a 2 cm gap, casting doubt on whether they can be confidently considered as forming a coherent narrative in this arrangement. Nevertheless, as Larsen has pointed out, his research not only confirmed the order of the inner plates as established by Müller, Klindt-Jensen, and Olmsted, but also determined the order of the outer plates based on rivet holes, solder alignment, and scratches.
The Gundestrup Cauldron is primarily composed of silver, with significant amounts of gold used for gilding, tin for soldering, and glass for the eyes of the depicted figures. Experimental data suggests that the materials used in crafting the vessel were not added all at once, indicating that the cauldron represents the work of artisans spanning several centuries. In terms of quality, the repairs made to the cauldron, of which there are numerous examples, generally fall short of the original craftsmanship.
Silver was not a commonly used material in Celtic art, especially on the scale seen in the Gundestrup Cauldron. With the exception of occasional small jewelry pieces, gold and bronze were more prevalent for prestigious metalwork. During the time when the Gundestrup cauldron was crafted, silver was typically obtained through the smelting of lead-silver ores. When comparing the lead isotope concentrations in the cauldron with those in other silverware cultures, it has been suggested that the silver came from several ore deposits, primarily located in Celtic northern France and West Germany during the pre-Roman era. Lead isotope studies also indicate that the silver used for the cauldron's plates was prepared by repeatedly melting ingots and/or scrap silver. It is possible that three to six different batches of recycled silver were used in crafting the vessel. Notably, the circular "support plate" may have originally been a falera and is generally believed to have been added to the bottom of the bowl as a later repair, soldered to mend a hole. An alternative theory posits that this falera was not initially part of the bowl but served as decoration for a wooden covering.
The gold used can be categorized into two groups based on purity and the concentrations of silver and copper. The less pure gilding, which is thicker, may be considered a later repair, as the finer and cleaner inlay is more resilient alongside the silver. The adhesion of the common gold is relatively poor. The absence of mercury in the gold analysis suggests that the Gundestrup Cauldron did not employ a fire-resistant gilding technique. Instead, the gilding appears to have been applied mechanically, which explains the closely spaced stamped marks found on the gilded areas.
A lead isotope study similar to the one conducted for silver was also performed for tin. It was found that all tin solder samples had isotopic compositions matching lead ingots from Cornwall in western Britain. The tin used for joining the plates and bowl, as well as for creating the glass eyelets, exhibited a remarkable uniformity in its high purity.
Furthermore, X-ray fluorescence analysis was employed to determine the composition of the glass inserts within the Gundestrup Cauldron. The glass was found to have a natron-lime type composition, containing elements that could be attributed to lime sand and mineral soda, characteristics typically associated with the eastern Mediterranean coast. This analysis also helped narrow down the timeframe for glass production, indicating that it occurred between the second century BC and the first century AD.