from Kiloran Bay, Colonsay, Inner Hebrides

Weight

This lead weight with a gilt bronze mount 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 gilt bronze mount was reused from a piece of 8th century metalwork probably made in Ireland. The weight is the third heaviest in the set, weighing 65.7 grams.

Lead weights with mounts made from reused metalwork are not common in Scotland, but they have been found in the 9th century Talnotrie, Kirkcudbrightshire hoard, settlements on Bute and Strathclyde, and at the trading centre of Whithorn.

Record details

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Online ID:	000-000-099-701-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 777
Date:	9th century Between 875 and 925
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Where:	Scotland, Argyll, Colonsay, Kiloran Bay
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Description:	Lead weight decorated on the upper surface by an ornamental bronze plate in the Celtic style, 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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