Tuesday, 9 December 2008

The National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen


We went to two fantastic museums in Copenhagen, and the National Museum of Denmark was definitely the best.  It probably had one of the best archaeological displays I've seen in a long time.  

Highlights included:
  • The entire exhibit of Danish prehistory was excellent.  Reallly well-displayed, and with good information to accompany the artefacts.  They had tons of interesting stuff to see, from the earliest artefacts (about 15,000 years old: lithics, bone tools, and art!) to bronze horns called Lurs.  It was pretty fantastic, and even my non-archaeologist husband agreed!
  • Lots of burials in hollowed out tree-trunks, which was pretty interesting to see.
  • Late prehistoric stone carvings, stelae and rock art.  Awe-inspiring stuff.
  • Bronze-age hoards of metal and amber.  The quantity of material that was uncovered from some of these sites was staggering.
  • Vikings, vikings, vikings!  Need I say more?
  • Upstairs, the original palace rooms were preserved, and the museum transformed from a modern, well-curated exhibit to a more old-fashioned museum with curio cabinets filled with antiquities and odds-and-ends.  It was interesting to compare the two approaches to museum curation.  
We really enjoyed the hour and a half that we spent here, and I would highly rate this among museums we have recently been to.  The material was accessible, well-explained, and just plain interesting.  There's something here for everyone!  

P.S. It's FREE!

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