A trove of 3000-year-old weapons containing a large number of bronze axe heads was found late April in a field in the village of Hegra, near Stjørdal, Norway. According to the experts the objects date back to the Late Bronze Age between 1100-500 BC.

Most of the finds were made by archaeologist aided by six private metal detector hobbyists from the area, although first discoveries were made in this field in January by two brothers who found nine socketed axes, a spearhead, a casting mould, and a fragment of a possible bronze lur (a long natural blowing horn). The trove from the site now consists of 30 Bronze Age artefacts with 24 axe heads discovered.

Archaeologists suppose that the objects may have been buried as part of a religious sacrifice or they might have been cached temporarily, with the intention of recasting the metal later – a known practice in Later Bronze Age

(after Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s University Museum, Julie Gloppe Solem, Eirik Solheim, PhysOrg, Science Daily & Russia Times)