 OK – I’m biased. I love Viking Age stuff. We don’t generally get a lot of it around here, but a few nice bits and pieces have come up recently. First, there was the lovely Late Saxon cloissonne enamelled brooch reported in 2007 (NARC-C34DE6; see blog entry below). Since then I’ve seen this beautiful late Viking Age (c.11th C) stirrup strap mount (pictured above; NARC-6C5583), and this probable ‘Norse’ bell (NARC-D9C172 ).
 
Both finds are interesting, yet poorly understood. The first belongs to a category of objects with clear Scandinavian artistic references, but yet is much more common in the south and west of England than the north and east (the latter being the area traditionally thought to be more heavily settled by Scandinavians). The second is an unusual ‘colonial’ artefact, perhaps with Hiberno-Norse (IE Irish Viking) connections; the type is unknown both in Scandinavia, and in England prior to the Viking Age.
Both finds are unusual for Northamptonshire, and continue to help archaeologists develop their understanding of the Midlands in the early medieval period.
