Spearhead

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This iron spearhead was found in a man's grave at Kiloran Bay on Colonsay in the Inner Hebrides. He was buried in a boat between 875 and 925 with a range of Scandinavian weapons, tools and a pin, together with his horse.

The spearhead is fragmentary and very corroded. X-ray analysis has shown that it was fixed to its shaft with bronze pegs, and that the socket was ornamented with groups of engraved lines. The spearhead is unusually long.

Spears found in Viking graves range from plain examples to objects with more ornate sockets, as in this example. As is the case with axes and arrowheads, it is often difficult to determine whether they were intended as weapons.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-000-099-683-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: Kiloran Bay Viking Burial (multimedia essay)
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.IL 760
• Date: 9th century
  Between 875 and 925
  
• Material: Iron
  
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• Where: Scotland, Argyll, Colonsay, Kiloran Bay
  
• Event:
• Description: Iron socketed spearhead in 11 main pieces, from a Viking grave found at Kiloran Bay, Colonsay, Argyll, 9th century
  
• References:
  • Graham-Campbell, James and Batey, Colleen E. Vikings in Scotland. An Archaeological Survey. Edinburgh: University Press, 1998, pp 118-22. 
  • Grieg, Sigurd. Viking Antiquities in Scotland (=Viking Antiquities in Great Britain and Ireland, Part II, ed. by Haakon Shetelig). Oslo: H. Aschehoug & Co., 1940, pp 48-61, esp. p 50. 
  • Ritchie, Anna. Viking Scotland London: B.T. Batsford Ltd/Historic Scotland, 1993, pp 79-84.
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