Bracelets

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These silver bracelets were found in two Viking Age silver hoards containing coins and bracelets. The top two were found near Port Glasgow in Renfrewshire. The bottom four are part of a hoard found at Tarbat at Portmahomack in Ross-shire.

The bracelet on the top left was made from three rods twisted together with three pairs of twisted wires, ending in barrel-shaped terminals. The other bracelets are called 'ring-money', a distinctive type common in Scottish Viking Age hoards.

In the Viking world, silver and gold were weighed on balances. Neck rings and bracelets of silver almost always occur in Viking hoards, not graves, suggesting that their economic potential was as important as their ornamental use.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-190-001-264-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.IL 272
• Date: Port Glasgow hoard: deposited in the 10th or 11th century; Tarbat hoard: deposited around 990 to 1000
  
• Material: Silver
  Armlet, penannular
  
• Dimensions:
• What: Armlet, penannular
  
• Subject:
• Who:
• Where: Scotland, Ross and Cromarty, Tarbat
  
• Event:
• Description: Silver penannular armlet from Tarbat
  
• References:
  • Graham-Campbell, James. The Viking-age gold and silver of Scotland (AD 850-1100). Edinburgh: National Museums of Scotland, 1995, pp 57-9, 95, 143-4. 
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