Sickle blade (piece)

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This piece of an iron sickle blade was found in a Viking grave mound at Kildonan on Eigg in the Inner Hebrides. The man was buried between 900 and 950 with weapons, tools and ornaments from Scandinavia and the British Isles.

If complete, the object would have had a long slightly curving blade, with a tang bending back around 45 degrees for the handle. Here, only a piece near the end of the sickle survives, and the tip is missing.

Some objects in Viking burials are specific to men's or women's graves. Others, like sickles, are found in both. Sickles were used to harvest corn and plant fibres, but smaller examples are also known, perhaps for cutting plants for daily cooking.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-000-099-722-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: Kiloran Bay Viking Burial (multimedia essay)
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.IL 169
• Date: Between 900 and 950
  
• Material: Iron
  Sickle / portion
  
• Dimensions:
• What: Sickle / portion
  
• Subject:
• Who:
• Where: Scotland, Inverness-shire, Eigg
  
• Event:
• Description: Portion of an iron sickle, from Eigg
  
• References:
  • Graham-Campbell, James and Batey, Colleen E. Vikings in Scotland. An Archaeological Survey. Edinburgh: University Press, 1998, p 84. 
  • 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 68. 
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