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Details
LOT 1512
Viking Age Danish Iron Broad Axehead
LATE 10TH-EARLY 11TH CENTURY A.D.
5 3/8 in. (245 grams, 13.6 cm).
With rectangular spurs above and below the curved socket, medium-broad flaring triangular-section blade extending to a curved edge, hammer extension to the rear. [No Reserve]
Provenance
Private collection, York, UK, 1990s.
Property of a Sussex, UK, teacher.
This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
Literature
Cf. Williams, G., Pentz, P. & Wemhoff, M., Vikings Life and Legend, London, 2014, item 25, p.90, a similar axe from a male burial in Hellvi (Gotland, grave 222B).
Footnotes
The first specialised battle-axes which appeared in the second half of the 10th century A.D. were light, narrow, usually thinly forged but with broad-edged blades, sometimes decorated with precious metals.
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