Evidence of Viking trade and 'Danelaw' connections? Inset lead weights from Norway and the western Viking World
This article presents and discusses the use and itineraries of inset lead weights from Norway and the wider Viking world. The weights, which are mostly inset with decorated metalwork, coins and glass are likely to be of 'Insular-Viking' manufacture, which developed in the late 9th and/or e...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of York
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Internet Archaeology |
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| Online Access: | https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue56/10/index.html |
| _version_ | 1797330055751270400 |
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| author | Aina Margrethe Heen-Pettersen |
| author_facet | Aina Margrethe Heen-Pettersen |
| author_sort | Aina Margrethe Heen-Pettersen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article presents and discusses the use and itineraries of inset lead weights from Norway and the wider Viking world. The weights, which are mostly inset with decorated metalwork, coins and glass are likely to be of 'Insular-Viking' manufacture, which developed in the late 9th and/or early 10th century. While the Norwegian corpus has generally received attention for its 'Irish' style of metalwork and therefore Irish affiliation, this article demonstrates how some of the material may rather have travelled to Norway via England. Here, they were extensively used in Viking milieus and the Irish-style insets were probably carried eastwards from Ireland by some of the historically attested groups who joined the Viking armies in England. The alternative route suggested for the weights which ended up in Norway has several implications, especially for providing potential evidence for integrated contact between the Danelaw area and Norway.
The article also investigates fragmented mounts, a material phenomenon found in Viking and Norse contexts on both sides of the North Sea. While these mounts are often regarded as one group, the article identifies different practices in the fragmentation of this material, based on morphological details. It is suggested that 're-fashioned' pieces, i.e. those carefully cut into pieces and reworked into dress ornaments can be separated from 'hack-bronze' – those that appear to have been fragmented in the same manner as hack silver and other metals intended for reuse as scrap or as bullion. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T07:15:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1c4f202b3b9445dfbf71b72f36632d19 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1363-5387 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T07:15:12Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | University of York |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Internet Archaeology |
| spelling | doaj.art-1c4f202b3b9445dfbf71b72f36632d192024-02-03T01:17:48ZengUniversity of YorkInternet Archaeology1363-53872021-07-015610.11141/ia.56.10Evidence of Viking trade and 'Danelaw' connections? Inset lead weights from Norway and the western Viking WorldAina Margrethe Heen-Pettersen0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3008-7018Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyThis article presents and discusses the use and itineraries of inset lead weights from Norway and the wider Viking world. The weights, which are mostly inset with decorated metalwork, coins and glass are likely to be of 'Insular-Viking' manufacture, which developed in the late 9th and/or early 10th century. While the Norwegian corpus has generally received attention for its 'Irish' style of metalwork and therefore Irish affiliation, this article demonstrates how some of the material may rather have travelled to Norway via England. Here, they were extensively used in Viking milieus and the Irish-style insets were probably carried eastwards from Ireland by some of the historically attested groups who joined the Viking armies in England. The alternative route suggested for the weights which ended up in Norway has several implications, especially for providing potential evidence for integrated contact between the Danelaw area and Norway. The article also investigates fragmented mounts, a material phenomenon found in Viking and Norse contexts on both sides of the North Sea. While these mounts are often regarded as one group, the article identifies different practices in the fragmentation of this material, based on morphological details. It is suggested that 're-fashioned' pieces, i.e. those carefully cut into pieces and reworked into dress ornaments can be separated from 'hack-bronze' – those that appear to have been fragmented in the same manner as hack silver and other metals intended for reuse as scrap or as bullion.https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue56/10/index.htmlarchaeologyvikingviking agedanelawnorwayinset lead weightsinsular metalwork |
| spellingShingle | Aina Margrethe Heen-Pettersen Evidence of Viking trade and 'Danelaw' connections? Inset lead weights from Norway and the western Viking World Internet Archaeology archaeology viking viking age danelaw norway inset lead weights insular metalwork |
| title | Evidence of Viking trade and 'Danelaw' connections? Inset lead weights from Norway and the western Viking World |
| title_full | Evidence of Viking trade and 'Danelaw' connections? Inset lead weights from Norway and the western Viking World |
| title_fullStr | Evidence of Viking trade and 'Danelaw' connections? Inset lead weights from Norway and the western Viking World |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evidence of Viking trade and 'Danelaw' connections? Inset lead weights from Norway and the western Viking World |
| title_short | Evidence of Viking trade and 'Danelaw' connections? Inset lead weights from Norway and the western Viking World |
| title_sort | evidence of viking trade and danelaw connections inset lead weights from norway and the western viking world |
| topic | archaeology viking viking age danelaw norway inset lead weights insular metalwork |
| url | https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue56/10/index.html |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ainamargretheheenpettersen evidenceofvikingtradeanddanelawconnectionsinsetleadweightsfromnorwayandthewesternvikingworld |