Comparison of the composition of iron pans in Danish burial mounds with bog iron and spodic material

Abstract

Excavations of Danish burial mounds dated to the South Scandinavian Early Bronze Age (1700–1000 BC) occasionally show thin iron pans encapsulating the interior of the mounds. When strongly cemented these pans can be classified as placic horizons. The encapsulated core was often wet and anaerobic and in Jutland well-preserved oaken log coffins with remnants of organic artefacts and human beings were discovered. Various theories for the development of these pans have been proposed. The chemical composition of the cement of two iron pans in burial mounds is compared with that from a bog iron deposit and a spodic horizon. This shows that the cement from the iron pans is similar to that in bog iron and not to the spodic material.