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Details
LOT 1364
Viking Age and Later Iron Axehead Group
10TH-18TH CENTURY A.D.
5 3/4 - 11 1/8 in. (9.5 kg total, 14.5-28.5 cm).
Mainly comprising socketted axeheads and adzes, together with other items; including at least one stamped with maker's marks. [10, No Reserve]
Provenance
Acquired 1990s-early 2000s.
East Anglian private collection.
Literature
Cf. Roesdahl, E., Wilson, D.M., From Viking to Crusader: The Scandinavians and Europe 800 to 1200 (22nd Council of Europe Exhibition), Copenhagen, 1992, p.321, fig.359(4), for a similar Viking axe/tool.
Footnotes
An axe similar to those of our group was found in the fortified camp of Péran, in Brittany, among the objects that emerged from a conflagration due to the attack of Alain Barbetorte's Bretons on a Viking camp, in 936 A.D. These axes were certainly work tools, although in case of necessity they could also serve as improvised weapons.
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