People have always been preoccupied with beaty, but beauty also serves a function. Jewellery and other decorative objects said something about who you were – so it made sense to bring them with you in the grave.

 

Glass and amber beads were worn as hair decoration and necklaces, mostly by women. Button brooches were intricately decorated accessories, which likely carried important symbolic meaning. They were only worn by select women within the family, and passed down through generations.

 

Tiny works of art, so-called gullgubber (golden men), may have been offerings to the gods, placed beneath mead hall pillars for good luck. Many of these objects depicted a man and a woman wearing button brooches on their clothes.

 

Weapons and tools were also often decorated with carvings and beautiful ornamentation.