The Celtic brooch from Westness, Orkney, and hinged-pins

Abstract

Detailed description, including X-ray fluorescence analysis, and discussion of the silver and gold brooch found in a 9th century Norse grave in 1963, now known to have been part of a cemetery. An Irish origin is likely for the brooch-pin, possibly in the second quarter of the 8th century, and comparable hinged-pins are discussed. AR

'Danes . . . in this Country': discovering the Vikings in Scotland

“…A few such pieces were known in the 19th century from the pagan Norse graves of Scotland (Anderson 1880, 87-8, fig 39), but of particular interest is the pair of shrine mounts that replaced oval brooches in a female burial at Càrn a'Bharraich, Oronsay, excavated in 1891 (Anderson 1907, 437-9, figs 1-2). The most notable such discovery to have been made during the 20th century is the well-known Westness brooch from Orkney, found in 1963 (Stevenson 1968;1989). More common, however, was the adoption of the Insular (originally Irish) fashion for the ringed pin (Fanning 1983;, although other pin-types are also known, such as the exotic silver pin found in the (1878) female grave at Ballinaby, Islay, its head consisting of a filigree bead from the Baltic region (Anderson 1880, 66-7, fig 27;1883, 26-8, fig 22;Graham-Campbell 1995, 155-6, no S6).…”