Pin, buckle and strap end

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This pin and matching belt buckle and tag, all of bronze, were found in a woman's grave at Cnip at Valtos at Uig, on Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. She was buried between 875 and 925 with a range of personal ornaments.

The pin is a type known as a ringed pin. The head is a polyhedral (a solid rectangle with shaved corners), decorated with a cross design. The belt buckle and tag were fixed to a leather belt with large boss-capped rivets (one missing on the buckle).

Although most of the objects buried with the Cnip woman were of Scandinavian character, many probably brought from there, she had also obtained some quality objects made in Irish Sea workshops, such as this pin and belt fittings.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-100-082-978-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.IL 854.2
• Date: 900 - 1000
  900 - 1000
  900 - 1000
  900 - 1000
  Between 875 and 925
  
• Material: Bronze
  Bronze, slightly articulating; of rhomboidal cross-section
  Bronze; organic remains, probably leather; decorated with studs on both faces; fine incised double contours along plates
  Bronze; organic remains, probably leather; decorated with studs on the outer face; fine incised double contours along plates
  Buckle
  Pin
  Strap end
  Tack / strap end
  
• Dimensions: 117 mm L x 16 mm W x 12 mm Th
  93 mm L x 14 mm W x 12 mm Th
  Shank 121.5 mm L x 4 mm D; ring 20 mm D
  
• What: Buckle
  Pin
  Strap end
  Tack / strap end
  
• Subject:
• Who: Mr and Mrs Maclean (Collector)
  Mr and Mrs Maclean (Collector)
  Mr and Mrs Maclean (Collector)
  Mr and Mrs Maclean (Collector)
  
• Where: Scotland, Ross and Cromarty, Lewis, Uig, Valtos (Kneep Head)
  Scotland, Ross and Cromarty, Lewis, Uig, Valtos (Kneep Head)
  Scotland, Ross and Cromarty, Lewis, Uig, Valtos (Kneep Head)
  Scotland, Ross and Cromarty, Lewis, Uig, Valtos (Kneep Head)
  
• Event:
• Description: Oval ringed pin of bronze, slightly articulating, from a Viking grave group from Kneep Head, Valtos, Uig, Isle of Lewis, 900- 1000
  Bronze buckle with organic remains, probably leather, decorated with studs on the outer face, from a Viking grave group from Kneep Head, Valtos, Uig, Isle of Lewis, 900- 1000
  Strap-end with organic remains, probably leather, decorated with studs on both faces, from a Viking grave group from Kneep Head, Valtos, Uig, Isle of Lewis, 900- 1000
  Small bronze tack found in the closed terminal of a strap-end, from a Viking grave group from Kneep Head, Valtos, Uig, Isle of Lewis, 900- 1000
  
• References:
  • Welander, R.D.E., Batey C. and Cowie, T.G. 1987 
  • Welander, R.D.E., Batey C. and Cowie, T.G. 1987 
  • Welander, R.D.E., Batey C. and Cowie, T.G. 1987 
  • Welander, R.D.E., Batey C. and Cowie, T.G. 1987 
  • Welander, R.D.E, Batey, Colleen and Cowie, T.G. A Viking burial from Kneep, Uig, Isle of Lewis. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 117 (1987), 149-174.
• Translations:
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