#weightsystems — Public Fediverse posts

New in IA71: Inset Lead Weights: Trade and Identity in 9th- and 10th-century #Viking armies in Britain & Ireland

https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.71.14

Viking armies introduced a bullion economy to 9th-century Britain and Ireland in which transactions were facilitated through the use of balances and weights. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of one type of those weights, made of lead and inset with reused material (an innovation of the 860s & 870s). It examines the range of insets and the messages they conveyed, arguing that they were deliberately selected and processed as a means of cultural communication: to express authority, to reflect the experiences and travels of those armies, and to imbue trading with messages of protection and group identity. It addresses the date range of the weights, whether they reflect specific weight standards, the processes for manufacturing them, and their post-depositional histories. The paper is based on a new catalogue of over 390 such weights, including many from private collections, never previously published, now available as an illustrated searchable online catalogue via ADS. This comprises a critical underexplored dataset for the Viking impact on Britain and Ireland, which can be tightly dated to the late 9th century, presenting new insights into the earliest years of migration and settlement.

#weightsystems #coins #decorated #metalwork #trade #identity #VikingGreatArmy #Britain #Ireland #Scandinavia #archaeology