June 15, 2007 — One thousand years before the cartoon character Mickey Mouse was even a glint in Walt Disney's eye, a French artist created a bronze brooch that looks remarkably like the famous rodent, according to archaeologists at Sweden's Lund Historical Museum, which houses the recent find.
The object, dated to 900 A..D., was excavated at a site called Uppåkra in southern Sweden.
Although made of bronze, the brooch ornament likely adorned the clothing of an Iron Age woman. Excavations at nearby sites, such as at Järrestad, have yielded other unusual pieces of jewelry, such as a necklace with a pail fob at the end and another necklace strung with 262 pieces of amber.
The bronze brooch may remind modern viewers of Mickey Mouse, but archaeologist Jerry Rosengren from Lund University told Discovery News that it actually represents a lion.
"Similar shaped jewelry representing lions originated in France around 700 A.D.," he said. "After 200 years, some French artist, who probably never saw a lion in his entire life, came up with this fantasy version."
Rosengren explained that lions became an important symbol to Scandinavian royals and warlords, particularly after Judeo-Christian teachings were introduced to the area.
The Bible mentions lions 157 times. Even before the Biblical era, this wild cat was an important symbol representing power, strength and victory in battle for some of the earliest Middle Eastern cultures.
Prior to the lion symbol's introduction to Sweden, royals there associated themselves with the wild boar, an ancestor to pigs that aggressively defends itself with its sharp tusks when threatened.
At Uppåkra, Rosengren also excavated Roman coins, stamped gold foil, various surgical instruments, figurines depicting Scandinavian gods and goddesses and a large temple complex that once was devoted to the Norse religion.
