The deposits were made from approximately 100 BC to 500 AD and are clearly votive in nature. However, it is doubtful that they were dedicated specifically to
Thor. The placename may reflect worship of Thor there by Danes during the
Viking Age rather than by Angles during the Roman Iron Age. And as Engelhardt noted, although the 'Thor's hammer' symbol occurs on several finds from the site, it is a motif that can be found in many non-Germanic contexts, even on Native American artefacts. They include early examples of clothing, both Germanic and Roman, in particular the footed trousers, which are commonly dated to the 4th century but which now appear to be no later than 300 AD; objects of Roman workmanship including two
phaleræ, military decorations in the form of richly decorated gold discs in diameter made in the 3rd century in the workshop of Saciro, thought to have been near
Cologne, which have the image of a seated man with a spear, possibly a representation of
Mars; and objects of Germanic workmanship, notably the
Thorsberg chape, a piece of a scabbard bearing one of the earliest inscriptions in
runes. Some of the Germanic
fibulæ and shield bosses of ultimately Roman origin appear to be from Germanic tribes in
Greater Germania, who were in closer contact with the Romans than the Angles. After approximately 200 AD, the deposition of weapons increased, possibly as a result of conflict between tribes such as the
Marcomannic war (166 to 180 AD). Many of the objects deposited, especially the weapons, have been made useless by breaking, bending, etc. It was common practice among Celtic peoples to ritually "kill" such weapons. In addition to the weapons and other man-made objects, the deposits in the bog include isolated bones. Just outside the moor is an Iron Age
tumulus with a
stone circle. ==See also==