Broddenbjerg idol

The Broddenbjerg idol is a wooden ithyphallic figure found in a bog at Broddenbjerg, near Viborg, Denmark and now in the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen. It is dated to approximately 535–520 BCE.

The figure was discovered in a bog in spring 1880 by someone cutting peat. It is carbon-dated to approximately 535–520 BCE, the later Bronze Age, making it the oldest such figure in Denmark;^[1][2] prior to testing, it had been dated later, to the Roman Iron Age.^[3][4][5] It is made of an oak branch which was undoubtedly chosen for its shape and is approximately 88 cm (35 in) high,^[6] with no arms, two legs formed by the natural branches, and an erect penis approximately 28 cm (11 in) long, the head of which has been marked off by scoring.^[2] One leg is broken off; the other is tapered, so that the figure would presumably have been placed upright in the marshy ground.^[1][2] At the top a face has been carved, with a pointed chin which may indicate a beard;^[1] this has been seen as an indication that the figure was created by a Celtic culture.^[3] The right eye is much more fully indicated than the left, which is only a line; several other such carved figures also have asymmetrical faces.^[7][8] A line beneath the face may indicate a neck-ring or the top of clothing.^[1][2] Resin had been applied to the groin area and the phallus.^[1][2]

It is one of the best known from Denmark of a group of presumed cult images that have been found mainly in wetlands and peat bogs throughout northern and central Europe.^[4] An altar-like arrangement with stones for grinding corn and clay vessels which may have contained food for offerings were found beside it.^[1][2][3]

See also

• Dagenham idol