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This bronze ringed pin was found, along with some human bones, and a number of other grave goods, eroding from the sand dunes at Reay in Caithness in 1912. It is from a pagan Scandinavian burial dating to between 900 and 1000.

The pin has a movable round ring at one end to which some thread would have been attached. The other end of the thread would have been looped over the tip of the pin to stop it from slipping out of the garment. The tip is broken.

Ringed pins are a type of dress pin, often with decoration on the heads. They are an Irish type of pin which was adopted by Vikings, especially those living in western Europe. Examples occur in bronze and silver.

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• Online ID: 000-100-043-820-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.IL 336
• Date: Between 900 and 1000
  
• Material: Bronze; moveable annular head; slightly imperfect
  
• Dimensions: 4.50" L
  
• What:
• Subject:
• Who:
• Where: Scotland, Caithness, Reay
  
• Event:
• Description: Bronze pin, slightly imperfect at point, with moveable annular head, from Reay, Caithness
  
• References:
  • Graham-Campbell, James and Batey, Colleen E. Vikings in Scotland. An Archaeological Survey. Edinburgh: University Press, 1998, pp 125-6. 
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