Bronze head from Gamla Uppsala

Bronze head from Gamla Uppsala

This bronze head in a copper alloy has been nicknamed Batman owing to the similarities to a certain comic character. He belongs to a series of figurines that are prevalent in the Vendel Period and Viking Age. They can be found from Russia in the east to England in the west. While most of the other figurines have large horns with bird finials, this particular one has considerably smaller horns. A number of the other horned figurines have been interpreted as depictions of Odin, but this presents a deviation from the general pattern. The find was done at Gamla Uppsala and is reported in  Ljungkvist, J., 2009. Kartering med metalldetektor och bebyggelsestudie i norra Gamla Uppsala. (Gamla Uppsala ? framväxten av ett mytiskt centra. Rapport 2.) Uppsala.