Strap mount

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This gilt bronze strap mount, perhaps for a belt, was found in a woman's grave at Valtos at Uig on North Uist in the Outer Hebrides. She was buried between 800 and 900 with personal ornaments of both Viking and Scottish/Irish origin.

The central part of the disc is now empty, but originally held a stone setting. Around this is a small feather pattern, in turn encircled by a panel of interlace in a chip-carved technique. The decoration suggests a Scottish or Irish manufacture.

This grave from Valtos and the nearby Crip burials illustrate the mixture of personal objects assembled by Viking settlers in Scotland. Some were brought from Scandinavia, while others, such as this one, were made in workshops around the Irish Sea.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-100-102-641-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.IL 378
• Date: 800 - 900 AD
  Between 800 and 900
  
• Material: Bronze; circular
  Disc
  
• Dimensions: 2.75" D
  
• What: Disc
  
• Subject:
• Who:
• Where: Scotland, Ross and Cromarty, Lewis, Uig, Valtos
  
• Event:
• Description: Gilt, chip-carved bronze disc, from Valtos, Uig, Lewis, 800 - 900 AD
  
• References:
  • 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 75-7. 
• Translations:
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