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LOT 1730
Viking Age Iron Socketted Bearded Axehead
CIRCA 10TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
7 1/4 in. (411 grams, 18.5 cm).
Finely curved, broad blade with a chin to the lower edge, a rounded socket with lateral triangular extensions; professionally cleaned, conserved, and restored. [No Reserve]
ProvenanceFrom the family collection of a South East London collector; formerly acquired in the late 1950s.
LiteratureCf. Arbman, H., Birka I: Die Gräber, Uppsala, 1940, pl.14 (3); Sedov, B.B., Finno-Ugri i Balti v Epokhi Srednevekovija, Moscow, 1987, pl.CXXIV, item 4.
FootnotesThis type of bearded axe seems to correspond to the E2 category of the Viking axe classification, but also has affinity with the Slavic axes of type Y. 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 a 'half thin axe' was thinly forged, to make it lighter.
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