By Laura Geggel
A metal detectorist in Germany has unearthed an Early Middle Ages hoard that contains 200 artifacts, including a pendant that may be a cross or an unfinished Thor’s hammer.
A metal detectorist in Germany has discovered a Viking Age hoard that includes about 200 riches from the European world, including Arabic coins, ingots, and a pendant that may be a cross or an unfinished Thor’s hammer.
If the pendant is a cross, it’s “possibly an early sign of the onset of Christianisation” in the region, Birte Anspach, a spokesperson for the State Archaeological Office of Schleswig-Holstein, told Live Science in an email.
The hoard was found in northern Germany near Haithabu, an important maritime trading center during the Viking Age (A.D. 793 to 1066). Christianity started spreading at Haithabu when St. Ansgar traveled there in the ninth century.
“However, it was not the case that Ansgar came — and suddenly everyone turned away from the old gods and followed the Christian faith,” Anspach said. “Christianisation was a long process that spanned several generations.”
For the next century, most people around Haithabu remained pagan. But archaeologists have found Christian symbols in burials there from this time, so this pendant may be one of the few that belonged to an early convert.
The eyelet on the pendant is “located on the longer part of the ‘cross’, so that the piece hangs upside down when worn,” Anspach noted.
It’s also possible that the pendant is an unfinished Thor’s hammer. Such pendants symbolized adherence to the old Norse gods as Christianity was taking root in Scandinavia and other parts of Europe. In Norse mythology, the divine hammer — known as Mjölnir — was crafted by dwarves for the gods of Valhalla, and Thor later used it in his war against giants.
This article was originally published in Live Science on June 14, 2025.
