Brooches

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These two brass oval brooches were found in a stone cist at the top of a mound at Langhills at Westerseat near Wick in Caithness. They are a type worn by Scandinavian women between 900 and 1000, and may be from a poorly recorded grave.

This picture shows the sides of the brooches. It clearly shows the way the outermost, openwork shell with its protruding knobs sat on the inner shell. This inner shell was divided into panels around the outside and decorated with interlace patterns.

Oval brooches are a very distinctive form of Viking ornament. Few are found after 1000, in part due to changing dress fashions and in part due to conversion to Christianity, which resulted in no grave goods buried with the body.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-000-099-763-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 218
• Date: 10th century
  Between 900 and 1000
  
• Material: Oval; bowl-shaped
  Oval; bowl-shaped
  Brooch
  Brooch
  
• Dimensions:
• What: Brooch
  Brooch
  
• Subject:
• Who:
• Where: Scotland, Caithness, Wick, Langhills
  Scotland, Caithness, Wick, Langhills
  
• Event:
• Description: Oval tortoise brooch with faint textile remains around pin fastener, from Langhills, 10th century
  Oval tortoise brooch from Langhills
  
• References:
  • Graham-Campbell, James and Batey, Colleen E. Vikings in Scotland. An Archaeological Survey. Edinburgh: University Press, 1998, p 68. 
  • 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 24-5. 
• Translations:
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