Strap end and buckle

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This bronze strap end and buckle 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 buckle and strap end are linked by a small bronze ring. Like the other harness equipment found in the burial, the strap end and buckle are decorated with incised ornament. Originally the rivets, which attached buckle and strap end to leather, were covered by domes.

The Kiloran Bay man was buried with objects obtained from both Scandinavia and the British Isles. The ornate harness equipment was probably made in a workshop situated around the Irish Sea.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-000-099-804-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: Kiloran Bay Viking Burial (multimedia essay)
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• Ref: National Museums Scotland  
• Date: Between 875 and 925
  
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• 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.
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