Pin and brooch pin (fragment)

This silver ring-headed pin and fragment of a brooch pin were found at Skaill at Sandwick in Orkney. They are part of the largest Viking Age silver hoard found in Scotland, buried between 950 and 970.

The ring-headed pin has been bent (which led to its original identification as a fish hook). The pin-head is a rectangle with faceted sides, a shape common in Viking Age finds from Dublin. It has lightly incised decoration.

The brooch pin fragment would have been used with a large penannular brooch. A number of complete and fragmentary brooches of this type were found in the hoard. It has been decorated with a triangular stamp containing a pellet.

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