Research The four horses of an Iron Age apocalypse: war-horses from the third-century weapon sacrifice at Illerup Aadal (Denmark) Andres S. Dobat 1 , T. Douglas Price 2 , Jacob Kveiborg 3 , Jørgen Ilkjær 3 & Peter Rowley-Conwy 4 Illerup Aadal Copenhagen N 0 km 200 The Illerup Aadal weapon sacrifice mirrors the material world of a Germanic army from c. AD 210. Apart from the personal equipment and the weaponry of more than 400 warriors, it comprises four horses. The present paper gives the first conclusive analysis of the skeletal remains of these animals, involving osteological investigation and strontium isotope analysis. The results shed new light on the character of the sacrificial ceremonies which unfolded in the aftermath of Iron Age battles; on the nature of cavalry and its significance in Iron Age warfare; and on the much debated question as to where the army of Illerup Aadal had originally come from. Keywords: Scandinavia, Denmark, Illerup Aadal, Roman Iron Age, horses, sacrifice, warfare Introduction Since the late nineteenth century, more than 30 so-called weapon sacrifices dating from the period between the pre-Roman Iron Age and the Migration period (c. 350 BC–AD 600) have been discovered and investigated in the area of modern-day Denmark. While varying considerably in size and composition, all finds include various types of weapons, elements of personal equipment and other objects. Historical and archaeological parallels suggest that the finds represent the votive offerings of a victorious army to some sort of war god. 1 Department of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Moesg˚ ard All´ e 20, Højbjerg, DK 8270, Denmark 2 Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA 3 Moesg˚ ard Museum, Moesg˚ ard All´ e 20, Højbjerg, DK 8270, Denmark 4 Department of Archaeology, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK C  Antiquity Publications Ltd. ANTIQUITY 88 (2014): 191–204 http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/088/ant0880191.htm 191