from Kiloran Bay, Colonsay, Inner Hebrides

Weight

This lead weight with a gilt 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 mount on this weight was cut from a piece of metalwork made in Anglo-Saxon England. The ornament has an animal head. The weight is the second lightest in the set, and weighs 25.8 grams.

Viking weights come in a number of forms. Many are plain lead discs or squares, though in some cases, as here, elaborate mounts were added. In Scandinavia, a common form was an iron sphere coated with brass, shaved flat at opposite ends.

Record details

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Online ID:	000-000-099-704-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 781
Date:	9th century Between 875 and 925
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Where:	Scotland, Argyll, Colonsay, Kiloran Bay
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Description:	Lead circular weight with Celtic style decorative plate on upper surface found at a Viking grave 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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