Drinking horn
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A drinking horn is the horn of a bovid or antler of an ungulate used as a drinking vessel. Drinking horns are known from classical antiquity, especially the Balkans. They remained in use for ceremonia
The Roordahuizum drinking horn, made in the mid-16th century by silversmith Albert Jacobs Canter, kept in the Frisian Museum at Leeuwarden
Drinking horn with silver-gilt mounts (detail), Northern German or Scandinavian, late 15th century, The Hunt Museum
Collection of drawings of Scythian stelae of the 6th to 5th centuries BC. Many of them depict warriors holding a drinking horn in their right hand.
The Hochdorf drinking horn (iron with sheet gold ornaments, capacity 5.5 litres)
Aurochs
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The aurochs is an extinct species of bovine, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to 1.8 m in bulls and 1.55 m in cows, it was one of the largest
Drinking horn
…and are now only known from 17th to 18th century drawings. Some notable examples of drinking horns of Dark Ages Europe were made of the horns of the aurochs, the wild ancestor of domestic cattle which became extinct in the 17th century. These horns were carefully dressed up and their edges lipped all round…
Copenhagen Aurochse
Illustration by Sigismund von Herberstein captioned: Urus sum, polonis Tur, germanis Aurox; ignari Bisontis nomen dederant; translated: "I am Urus, Tur in Polish, Aurox in German; the ignorant ones gave me the name Bison"
Aurochs skeleton from Zealand island in Denmark on display in the Natural History Museum of Denmark
Drawing based on an aurochs bull skeleton from Lund and a cow skeleton from Cambridge, with characteristic features of the aurochs