A few years ago, two amateur archaeologists who used metal detectors found four large, heavy gold rings in a field in southwestern Zealand, Denmark. Since then, archaeologists have been doing excavation on the site in search for more Bronze Age artifacts.

Just earlier this year, the same field yielded an unexpected crop — some 2,000 spirals made of gold.

The delicate curlicues of gold, tangled together in a pile, were pounded thin. Together, they weigh just about half a pound.

Photo: Flemming Kaul, the National Museum of Denmark

The coils, made from thin gold filaments measure about 3cm long and date from between 900 BC and 700 BC.

Photo: Flemming Kaul, the National Museum of Denmark

Archaelogists are still not sure what the gold spirals’ purpose was, but some believe they were probably part of a religious ritual.

Photo: Flemming Kaul, the National Museum of Denmark

Gold was sacred to the Bronze Age people of Northern Europe. It represent the sun and the immortality that it embodied, and as such was often sacrificed to their gods.

H/T Smithsonianmag