Eis

Bronze Age hoard

Hoards are finds of metal or other objects that were deliberately buried in the earth. During the Bronze Age, around 3,500 to 3,000 years ago, there was an increasing practice of depositing bronze daggers, sickles, axe blades, cast cakes, and other metal objects. The hoards were placed in special locations, such as mountain passes, on mountains, or near bodies of water. The sickles and weapons were often intentionally broken and thus rendered unusable. This suggests that they were concealed as part of a cult. Similar to farmers returning a portion of their harvest as thanks, bronze casters and blacksmiths returned their creations to the earth. The hoard at Eis was buried 3,300 years ago and consisted of bronze weapons, tools, jewellery, costume items, and copper materials. The dagger and sickles were broken. A spiked disc was part of a magnificent necklace. Further graves containing urns from the Late Bronze and Early Hallstatt Periods (c. 1200 to 800 BCE) indicate the special significance of the floodplain landscape along the river and the importance of this waterway. A bronze sword was discovered not far from the Eis site in 1941 during the construction of the Drava power plant.