In our kitchens, all of us have glassware used for pouring drinks. A chalice is a glass meant for special drinks, and we don’t call it a glass. Have you ever wondered why? The chalice goes back two thousand years, when an aurochs horn was adapted for drinking. Certainly, jewellers soon found how this horn could be decorated and turned it into a luxury object. It reached the Baltic countries already covered with embellishments, sometimes very impressive ones. There is no doubt that in European mythology aurochs horns were a symbol of the highest status and power, and the owner of a sumptuous horn was an extraordinary person in the community. Here you see a highly ornate horn decorated with silver bindings. Similar finds occur in Scandinavia. This horn could hold approximately a litre of liquid!