Casting Cultural Identity in Early Viking-Age Northumbria

Abstract

Abstract This paper discusses several categories of dress accessory which we suggest are linked to the arrival of the so-called Viking Great Army in Northumbria in the late ninth century. In particular, we argue that double-sided strap-ends and buckles arrived from Dublin as sword-belt fittings, alongside five-lobed hollow and cast sword pommels, and that this was closely followed by the introduction of new strap-end and pin types. Unlike the preceding Anglo-Saxon chip-carved strap-ends which were frequently fashioned by hand, the new Viking forms were cast, and the Northumbrian focus of their distribution reflects their production at Aldwark and York. This evidence reflects important changes in metalwork production as a result of the arrival of the Great Army, leading to long-lasting impact.