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Date: |
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Description: | Anglo-Scandinavian copper-alloy object, about 60mm long, 40mm high and 20mm wide. The object is in good condition with a brown patina. It consists of a circular-sectioned shaft which tapers to a point. About 10mm from the rear (blunt) end of the shaft is an area of decoration, 20mm wide, enclosed by raised vertical bands. Within this are two diagonal crossing bands formed of three raised lines. Where they intersect there is a circular protrusion, 3mm in diameter, which is copied in each corner. This decoration is identical on each side of the object and continues underneath. Emerging from this decoration is a crude human figure who is circular and wearing a pointed helmet. He has large outstretched arms with oversized hands; the right carries a drinking horn, and the left is empty but has a curved inner surface. In front of the figure, beneath the curved left hand, is a circular hollow; the hollow and the curved hand may have held a separate component. About 10mm in front of the figure, a stylised animal's head (horse or dog?) emerges from the shaft, and stands 15mm high with his neck straining forwards. He has small pointed ears and his face is divided into two by a raised vertical line with a small round eye on either side. About 8mm in front of the horse is a raised band, and from this point the object tapers to a point. The object has no obvious breaks or signs of fixing it to anything, and its purpose is unknown; it may possibly be a long goad from a prick spur with a horse-and-rider motif. Stylistically it belongs to the Viking Age, perhaps the 11th century.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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