a key, three iron nails, an axe, two jingles, a spearhead, bronze wires, fragments of bronze and iron, and the remains of a casket—was published, but the helmet fragment passed over as a saddle mounting. After leading "an unnoticed existence" for some 130 years despite being on display, the fragment was finally recognized as the remainder of a helmet by Elisabeth Munksgaard, the assistant keeper at the museum's Department of the Prehistory of Denmark. Publishing her realisation in 1984, she noted that "the best finds are often made not in the field, but in the museums." Typology A date of 950 to 970 AD has been suggested for the Tjele tools, placing them, and the helmet fragment, towards the end of the Viking Age, which lasted from the end of the eighth century to the middle of the eleventh. The contemporary Gjermundbu helmet was found near Haugsbygd, Norway, while fragments from three others were found in Gotland, Sweden — one in Lokrume and one in Högbro — and in Kiev, Ukraine. These five helmets, the only ones known from the Viking Age, appear to be descendants of the earlier Scandinavian Vendel Period and Anglo-Saxon helmets, and the end of the line of "crested helmets" that appeared in Europe around the sixth century. In this context the Tjele fragment is one of two such helmets known from Denmark, joined by the pre-Viking ( 550–700 AD) Gevninge helmet fragment, discovered in 2000. References Bibliography 10th-century artifacts 1850 archaeological discoveries Archaeological discoveries in Denmark Archaeological discoveries in Europe Individual helmets Medieval helmets