Record

Combs and comb case from Brough of Birsay, Orkney

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Postcard of Combs and comb case from Brough of Birsay, Orkney.
000-000-136-629-C
© National Museums Scotland

Combs and comb case from Brough of Birsay, Orkney

These four antler combs, one very fragmentary, and comb case were found at the Brough of Birsay in Orkney. They show different styles of combs used by Viking settlers between 800 and 1100.

The combs were made by cutting small plates of antler into teeth, and then riveting these between two connecting plates in the middle. All the combs preserve iron rivets, except the third from the top which uses bronze. Some combs and the case are decorated with ring and dot motifs or incised lines.

Combs were widely distributed in northern Europe during the Viking period, and their places of production are not certain. Some have elaborate decoration and cases. They are found in both men's and women's graves as well as settlements.


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Online ID: 000-000-136-629-C
Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
Project: 0035: Early Scottish Shelter - Life in the Prehistoric Home (multimedia essay)
Project description | View all records in project
Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.HB 226
Date: Between 800 and 1100
Material: Horn
Single sided; Norse type; connecting plates extending to form arched back; copper rivets; graduated teeth
Single-sided
Single-sided; Norse type; straight base and curved back; ends missing; outlined by double grooved line, and with recumbent S form in centre; five iron rivets; tooth segments incomplete
Upper connecting plate with bands of cording at ends; panel with dot in circle in centre; lower connecting plate with panel of crossing incised lines; two suspension holes; three iron rivets; one connecting plate and one separator missing
Dimensions: 120 mm L
150mm L
168 mm L
44 mm L
83mm L
What: Comb
Comb
Comb
Comb
Comb case
Subject:
Who:
Where: Scotland, Orkney, Brough of Birsay
Scotland, Orkney, Brough of Birsay
Scotland, Orkney, Brough of Birsay
Scotland, Orkney, Brough of Birsay
Scotland, Orkney, Brough of Birsay
Event:
Description: Single-sided Franco-Frisian comb, from Birsay, Orkney
Comb
Incomplete comb case from Birsay, Orkney
Comb
South Baltic type Norse comb, incomplete, from Birsay, Orkney
References:
  • Curle, C.L. Pictish and Norse finds from the Brough of Birsay, 1973-74. Edinburgh: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Monograph Series 1, 1982, pp 23, 58, 75, 83-4, 109-10. 
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