During excavations in 1891 at the Guldhøj burial mound in southern Jutland, Denmark, archaeologists from the National Museum of Denmark uncovered the remains of a Bronze Age folding chair. Dated to approximately 1400 B.C., this artifact is recognized as the only completely preserved chair from Bronze Age Europe.
The chair was interred with a chieftain who rested in a hollowed-out oak trunk wrapped in cowhide. The grave goods included a wool cloak fastened with a bronze brooch, two wool hats, mittens, leather shoes, a bronze ax and dagger, and ornate wooden bowls and box. Researchers believe the folding chair served as a distinct marker of the individual’s exceptionally high social standing.
Constructed from ash wood with an otter-skin seat, the chair features geometric patterns inlaid with a black tar-like substance. A 1999 study led by archaeologist Kirsten Prangsgaard determined the frame consisted of two wooden sections, each about 33 centimeters tall. When assembled at a 45-degree angle, the low stool stood roughly 24 centimeters off the ground. Bronze nails likely originally held the frame together, though these may have been removed prior to burial.
While similar folding chairs have been found in Bronze Age Egypt and Greece, those organic materials rarely survive due to less favorable weather conditions. Fragments of chairs have appeared in other Nordic chieftain graves in Denmark and northern Germany, along with a rare metal example from an early medieval German woman’s grave. However, the Guldhøj specimen remains unique in its complete preservation.
The artifact’s design, which resembles chairs from distant Mediterranean civilizations, suggests that Bronze Age Nordic and Southern European groups engaged in significant trade and gift exchange. This artistic connection is further evidenced by the four-spoked wheel on the Trundholm Sun Chariot, which mirrors Aegean designs. The museum describes both the chair and the accompanying wooden bowls as rare objects of high prestige.
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