Culture and Gender in the Danelaw: Scandinavian and Anglo-Scandinavian Brooches, 850-1050
Jane Kershaw, 2012. https://doi.org/10.5284/1012709. How to cite using this DOI
Data copyright © Dr Jane Kershaw unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
Primary contact
Dr
Jane
Kershaw
British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow; Junior Research Fellow, Balliol College
University of Oxford
Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 1140
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1012709
- How to cite using this DOI
Overview
This is a substantial body of data comprising just over 500 brooches and pendants worn by women in the ninth and tenth centuries. It is hugely significant as a new body of evidence for the Scandinavian settlements in England. Many objects have been recorded in ways that can be difficult to access, such as county HERs or image archives. One of the aims of the project is, therefore, to bring these finds fully into the public domain and to contribute object images rarely seen before.
The database records seven main brooch and pendant groups (e.g. trefoil brooches; oval brooches), as well as over 40 sub-groups, and is structured according to artefact type. The main source of the artefacts is metal-detecting, although excavated and antiquarian finds are also represented. The database records the artefact type, its material and pin-fittings, findspot, source, current location and state of preservation; it also gives the author's judgement of whether the item has a Scandinavian or Anglo-Scandinavian cultural background and includes object images where available. Detailed object descriptions, parallels and distribution maps are provided in the book that accompanies the database. The hope is that the database will provide a valuable research tool for both scholars interested in the Viking settlements and museum and finds professionals who deal with such material first hand.
This research forms the basis of the book Viking Identities: Scandinavian Jewellery in England.
Coverage
England: nation-wide. County names follow post-1974 administrative counties but the qualifiers North, South, East and West appear in parentheses. Date covered: c870 - c1050.
Project Dates
1/9/2006 - 1/4/2010
