Viking Age or Medieval Bronze Artifacts

The Viking Age or Medieval Period, 793-1400AD, Europe.

Fascinating group consists an bronze key and three beautiful, small-sized decorative artifacts which would have once adorned personal objects such as small caskets or leather items. The Viking Age was the period during the Middle Ages when Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The medieval period or Middle Ages began around 476 AD following a great loss of power throughout Europe by the Roman Emperor. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages, and the early medieval period is alternatively referred to as the Dark Ages. The Middle Ages span roughly 1,000 years, ending between 1400 and 1450, although alternative starting and end points exist. The period was one of human expansion, centralization and great political upheaval and violence, resulting in the foundation of many modern European countries.

Just like men and women today, the Vikings dressed according to sex, age and economic status. While variations did exist, throughout the Viking era and across the Viking lands, clothing styles were remarkably consistent. The men wore a trousers and tunic that was tight fitting across the chest with a broad skirt, whilst the women wore a long shift with a suspended overdress. Both men and women wore a long cloak or a jacket to provide warmth and protection in harsh weather. Ordinary Viking textiles were mainly made from locally available raw materials, in Scandinavia these were: wool, nettle, hemp and flax, woven by the women. The Vikings supplemented their attire with jewellery and furs from different animals. Men and women from all layers of society wore jewellery, in the form of necklaces, bracelets, finger and toe rings, armrings, amulets and pendants, armbands, beads, and brooches. Some of the jewellery was ornamental and it could also indicate wealth. Other items, such as brooches, often had a practical function as well, to fasten clothes. 

A collection of bronze artifacts are in moderate condition. Age-related wear, corrosion and soil. Fine encrusted green patina. Size varies from 8,0cm to 4,0cm. Sell as a set.

Provenance: Dutch private collection.

References and further reading:

Clothing in the Viking Age, Hurstwic, William R. Shor, 1999-2023 (https://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/daily_living/text/clothing.htm)

Tracing Textile Production from the Viking Age to the Middle Ages: Tools, Textiles, Texts and Contexts, Ingvild Øye, Oxbow Books, 2022. (https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2mm1xqj.)

Textiles in a Viking Age hoard: Identifying ephemeral traces of textiles in metal corrosion products, Mary Davis & Susanna Harris, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, Volume 48, 2023. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103796.)

Viking and Early Middle Ages Northern Scandinavian Textiles Proven to be made with Hemp, G. Skoglund, M. Nockert & B. Holst, Sci Rep 3, 2686 (2013). (https://doi.org/10.1038/srep02686)