Pin

This bronze pin was found with a buckle at Ardskinish on Colonsay in the Inner Hebrides. They may be from a settlement find or perhaps the remains of a Viking grave. The pin dates from around 875 to 925.

The plain ringed pin has a movable 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 head is decorated with two vertical lines near the edges.

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.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-100-036-348-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.FC 190
• Date: Between 875 and 925
  
• Material: Bronze; with ring head
  
• Dimensions:
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• Where: Scotland, Argyll, Colonsay, Ardskinish
  
• Event:
• Description: Bronze pin with ring head, from Ardskinish, Colonsay, Argyll
  
• References:
  • Graham-Campbell, James and Batey, Colleen E. Vikings in Scotland. An Archaeological Survey. Edinburgh: University Press, 1998, p 91. 
  • Grieg, Sigurd. Viking Antiquities in Scotland (=Viking Antiquities in Great Britain and Ireland, Part II, ed. by Haakon Shetelig). Oslo: H. Aschehoug & Co., 1940, p 61. 
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