Belt buckle (fragments)

Add to album

These pieces of a bronze belt buckle were found at Kildonan on Eigg in the Inner Hebrides in a man's grave. He was buried between 900 and 950 with some expensive textiles, a spear, an axe, and other grave goods characteristic of Viking burials.

The belt buckle was made from a bronze plate rounded at one end and straight at the other. The hoop for the strap is now separate. The plate is decorated with a symmetrical plant design. The buckle was made on the Continent.

The Viking world stretched from Newfoundland in modern Canada to the Middle East and beyond. Material reached Scotland from across this trading network. Some may not have come direct, but perhaps via places like Ireland first.

Record details

To search on related items, click any underlined text below.

• Online ID: 000-000-099-817-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 166
• Date: Between 900 and 950
  
• Material: Bronze; scrollwork pattern
  Leather
  Belt / portion
  Clasp, belt
  
• Dimensions:
• What: Belt / portion
  Clasp, belt
  
• Subject:
• Who:
• Where: Scotland, Inverness-shire, Eigg, Kildonan
  Scotland, Inverness-shire, Eigg, Kildonan
  
• Event:
• Description: Viking bronze belt clasp with scrollwork pattern, from Kildonan, Eigg
  Part of a Viking leather belt, from Kildonan, 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. 
• Translations:
• Related Records: