Lead weight. Cast cylindrical weight with a finely incised design on one flat face. The weight has been carefully moulded, lacking the shrinkage lines which can betray the use of an open mould. The design comprises the outline of a plain cross whose centre is marked by a drilled pit. A hand-drawn centre line passes down each arm of the cross, and there is a suspicion of chevron ornament springing from that line. A pointed rhomboid defined by two incised lines is nested in each angle of the cross. A single shallow pit is placed within each rhomboid, and also within the fields remaining outside the rhomboid shapes; in at least two cases, a dot appears to either side. A plain cross is also scratched on the other side, though without further elaboration. Patinated. The mass is very close to that of four units of 4.43gms, which have been considered as sub-units of a system for measuring the weight of silver bullion under the Norse rule of the ‘kingdom’ of York and Dublin. The cross would suggest this object should postdate the Conversion of Viking rulers to Christianity. Suggested date: Early Medieval, 875-950. The decorative scheme added to a weight which is closely compliant with one of the systems of mensuration ascribed to Viking activity make this a ‘find of note’. A range of evidence, both archaeological, from excavation and field finds, and a place name derived from Swein’s Howe, may commend this object as a find of regional importance.
Diameter: 16.5mm, Thickness: 7.0mm, Weight: 17.63gms
Lead weight. Cast cylindrical weight with a finely incised design on one flat face. The weight has been carefully moulded, lacking the shrinkage lines which can betray the use of an open mould. The design comprises the outline of a plain cross whose centre is marked by a drilled pit. A hand-drawn centre line passes down each arm of the cross, and there is a suspicion of chevron ornament springing from that line. A pointed rhomboid defined by two incised lines is nested in each angle of the cross. A single shallow pit is placed within each rhomboid, and also within the fields remaining outside the rhomboid shapes; in at least two cases, a dot appears to either side. A plain cross is also scratched on the other side, though without further elaboration. Patinated. The mass is very close to that of four units of 4.43gms, which have been considered as sub-units of a system for measuring the weight of silver bullion under the Norse rule of the ‘kingdom’ of York and Dublin. The cross would suggest this object should postdate the Conversion of Viking rulers to Christianity. Suggested date: Early Medieval, 875-950. The decorative scheme added to a weight which is closely compliant with one of the systems of mensuration ascribed to Viking activity make this a ‘find of note’. A range of evidence, both archaeological, from excavation and field finds, and a place name derived from Swein’s Howe, may commend this object as a find of regional importance.
Diameter: 16.5mm, Thickness: 7.0mm, Weight: 17.63gms
The subject of Viking Age metrology is discussed for Flixborough, North Lincolnshire by Wastling 2009 (Wastling, L.M., 'Lead and lead alloy mensuration weights', in Evans, D.H. and Loveluck, C., Life and Economy at Early Flixborough c.AD600-1000, Excavations at Flixborough volume 2, Oxbow, Oxford and Oakville, pages 422-424). Wastling draws on Wallace 1987 for weights from Dublin using a module of 4.43gms (Wallace, P.F. 'The Economy and Commerce of Viking Age Dublin', in K. Duwel et al, Untersuchengen zu Handel und Verkher der vor- und fruhgeschichtlichen Zeit in Mittel- und Nordeuropoa, Teil IV. Der Handel der Karolingerund Wikingerzeit, Gottingen), and on Kruse (1988, 1992) for weights of a more general Scandinavian currency using a module of 4.07gms (Kruse, S. 1988, 'Ingots and Weights in Viking Age Silver Hoards', World Archaeology 20, 265-381; Kruse, S. 1992, 'Late Saxon Balances and Weights from England', Medieval Archaeology 36, 67-95). Kruse bases calculations on Nielsen 1983, on Hedeby, to arrive at the figure of 4.07gms (Nielsen, H-O, 1983, 'Rontgenologische und metrische Untersuchungen an zwei Kugel-Gewichtssatzen aus Haithabu', Berichte uber die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu 18, 109-120, Neumunster). These details were requested by Helen Geake, though this reporter regrets his lack of facility with the imposition of appropriate accents for the Continental sources cited by Wastling. These appear in their proper form in the bibliography of the Flixborough volume.
A RDF representation of NLM-1E65F2
2021-12-09T11:19:59+00:00
2021-12-09T14:07:46+00:00
NLM-1E65F2
NLM-1E65F2
GB
en-GB
The Trustees of the British Museum
The Trustees of the British Museum
1
http://purl.org/NET/Claros/vocab#Thumbnail
Attribute as courtesy of the British Museum
A thumbnail image of NLM-1E65F2
Lead
Primary material of object
Complete
16.5
Diameter
7.
Thickness
17.63
Weight
By Attribution 3.0
The period from for the object
Attribute as courtesy of the British Museum
A full resolution image of NLM-1E65F2
0875
0950
Method of manufacture
Ascribed culture
The surface treatment of the object