In Oegstgeest a unique silver-and-gold bowl was found dating from 600 AD. According to Leiden archaeologist Jasper de Bruin, the find shows that an international trading settlement was located near Oegstgeest.
The originally silver bowl can be dated around 400 AD and comes from Eastern Europe (or even further east). Two centuries later, the bowl is richly decorated with gold paintings, red semi-precious stones and gilded fittings with a suspension system. The gold disc on the bottom and the mounting plates are reminiscent of earlier finds in the German Rhineland from the beginning of the seventh century, but the suspension system on two rings has an English or Scandinavian influence.
Jasper de Bruin:“Because the makers of the bowl seem to have been inspired by different European styles, we assume an international trade network. This notion is reinforced by the excavation site where the shell was found:this is not a small farming village but a larger settlement, where international ships and traders managed to find their way. A predecessor of the famous Dorestad.”
No Dark Ages
Right next to the A44 highway, on the border of Leiden and Oegstgeest, Leiden University has had an archaeological excavation site for years. Archeology students can gain practical experience here. Previous excavations at this site had already changed the picture of the region in the early Middle Ages. Not only did the settlement turn out to be much larger than expected, quays and jetties were also found. So more than just farmers lived along the ancient Roman limes and the nearby rivers.
The image of the Dark Ages, a period of decline after the departure of the Romans in the fifth century, is increasingly difficult to maintain. Although there are no written sources from the first centuries after the Romans, richly decorated and internationally oriented archaeological finds point to a mixed society.
This also applies to the silver bowl, which teacher Jasper de Bruin excavated with his students. De Bruin:“The shell did not lie in the ground as a whole, but in a great many shards. The first gold disc came up, so we immediately knew it was something special.” The ground around the location of the disc was chipped and taken away for further investigation. From this came a lot of loose pieces of weathered silver and more gilded fittings. After months of puzzling and gluing, a bowl has emerged. De Bruin:“Although repaired, the shell really looked like this. We have recovered more than 90 percent of the shards, so we are only missing small parts of the precious metal and the paintings.”
Mythology or not?
De Bruin interprets the three gold-painted scenes at the edge of the bowl as hunting scenes, with fighting bucks and running deer. Here you can also see mythological mythical creatures, with a human leg protruding from the mouth. Because of these samples, and because of the location on the edge of a stream, De Bruin thinks this is a religious scale. The bowl would have been used to offer sacrifices or to wash for a ritual.
Because this is the only scale of its kind in the Netherlands and even unique in Western Europe, this conclusion is mainly interpretation. Further investigation into the international role of this coastal region and its inhabitants is necessary to confirm this vision.