Strap distributor and strap end

Add to album

This bronze strap distributor and attached strap ends are part of the harness equipment 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 three thin bronze strap ends are attached to a circular strap distributor. Each strap end was fixed to a leather strap by two rivets which had domed caps over them, some now missing. The strap ends and distributor have incised decoration.

Harness and other horse equipment are often found in Viking graves from Scandinavia and western Europe, but the leather rarely survives. In some cases, as here, a horse was also buried with the deceased, perhaps to provide transport in the afterlife.

Record details

To search on related items, click any underlined text below.

• Online ID: 000-000-099-801-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  
• Date: Between 875 and 925
  
• Material:
• Dimensions:
• What:
• Subject:
• Who:
• Where:
• Event:
• Description:
• 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. pp 53, 57-8. 
  • Ritchie, Anna. Viking Scotland London: B.T. Batsford Ltd/Historic Scotland, 1993, pp 79-84.
• Translations:
• Related Records: