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LOT 1422
Viking Age Iron Bearded Axehead
9TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
4 3/8 in. (252 grams, 11.2 cm).
With curved blade and chin to the lower edge, round socket with lateral triangular flanges and flattened rear-edge. [No Reserve]
ProvenancePrivate collection, 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.
Cf. Sedov, B.B., Finno-Ugri i Balti v Epokhi Srednevekovija (Ugro-Finnian and Baltics in the Middle Ages, in Russian), Moscow, 1987, pl.CXXIV, items 3-4.
FootnotesThis type of bearded axe seems to correspond to the E2 category of the Viking axe classification. Usually these bearded axeheads (skeggöks) had a longer edge, designed to split tree trunks into planks and beams. Some of the bearded axes were known as halfÞynna öx; the neck on such 'half thin axe' was thinly forged, to make it lighter. Bearded axes of this type appear also in the weaponry of people from the Baltic.
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AUCTIONS:
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From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato. -
Viking Age Iron Socketted Spearhead
10th-11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £468
Leaf-shaped blade with raised midrib extending to round-section tapering socket with fastening hole; restored and conserved. 270 grams, 31.6 cm
From the family collection of a South East London collector; formerly acquired in the late 1950s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato. -
Viking Age Iron Bearded Axehead
10th-12th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £247
With triangular-section narrow blade widening to a broad bevelled edge and square chin, flared socket. 677 grams, 19 cm
From the private collection of a London gentleman, from his grandfather's collection formed before the early 1970s. This lot is accompanied by an illustrated lot declaration signed by the Head of the Antiquities Department, Dr Raffaele D'Amato.
The more commonly used weapons of the Finno-Ugrian people were axes, commonly found in all Finnic areas, as well as spears. Iron axeheads of this typology show a sub-trapezoidal asymmetrical blade, often perforated through the centre.
