from Kiloran Bay, Colonsay, Inner Hebrides

Weight

This lead weight with an enamelled bronze cap is one of seven weights found in a man's grave at Kiloran Bay on Colonsay in the Inner Hebrides. He was buried with a range of Scandinavian weapons and tools. He was probably a trader as well as a warrior.

The enamelled bronze mount is probably cut from an object made in an Irish Sea workshop. It also bears a resemblance to Arabic script, perhaps intentionally, since Arabic weights or imitations are known in Scandinavia. The weight weighs 129.6 grams.

Lead weights with reused ornamental metalwork for mounts have been found in Scandinavia and western Europe, especially in Viking graves. The mounts on the Kiloran Bay weights are taken from objects made in Ireland, England and perhaps Scotland.

Record details

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Online ID:	000-000-099-699-C
Image Rights Holder:	National Museums Scotland
Project:	0036: Kiloran Bay Viking Burial (multimedia essay) Project description \| View all records in project
Ref:	National Museums Scotland X.IL 778
Date:	9th century Between 875 and 925
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Where:	Scotland, Argyll, Colonsay, Kiloran Bay
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Description:	Lead weight with an inlaid decorative plate on the upper surface from a Viking grave found at Kiloran Bay, Colonsay, Argyll, 9th century
References:	Graham-Campbell, J. Viking artefacts. A select catalogue. London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1980, no. 307. 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 56.
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