NHER 5668 (Monument record) - Viking burial

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Summary

In 1867 workmen digging gravel found a skeleton buried with two brooches and a sword. The brooches and sword are both Scandinavian in style and the inhumation is a very important example of a Viking burial. The brooches are of 'tortoise type' and are made of gilt copper alloy with twisted threads of silver.

Protected Status/Designation

None recorded

Location

Map sheet	TL88NW
Civil Parish	LYNFORD, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK

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Full Description

1867. Casual Observation.
'During the course of the year 1867 some men employed in raising gravel at Santon, found a skeleton laid at full length about two feet below the surface. The spot where the burial had taken place is on the slope of the hill to the north of the church, and at no great distance from the River Ouse' (S4). With the skeleton were found an iron Scandinavian sword and two characteristic Scandinavian 'tortoise' brooches (S4).
For details of the sword, now in the British Museum see 1887 published article (S7).
The finds have also been summarized in the Victoria County History (S7).
The discovery was subsequently mentioned in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London on several occasions (S8-S11) and has been mentioned in numerous summaries of Anglo -Saxon and Viking antiquities.
E. Rose (NAU), 17 May 1990. Amended M. Dennis (NLA), 23 May 2006. Amended H. Hamilton (HES), 22 April 2024.

Associated Sources (17)

--- SNF80873 Illustration: [unknown]. [unknown]. Drawing of a Late Saxon brooch. Card. 2:1.
--- SNF8804 Secondary File: Secondary File.
<S1> SNF87262 Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Late Saxon. Lynford [2].
<S10> SNF100501 Article in Serial: [anonymous]. 1914. [proceedings of meeting held Thursday, 25th June, 1914]. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Second Series Vol XXVI pp 230-248. p 242.
<S11> SNF100502 Article in Serial: [anonymous]. 1916. [proceedings of meeting held Thursday, 25th May 1916]. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Second Series Vol XXVIII pp 226-233. p 230.
<S12> SNF100504 Publication: Smith, R. 1923. British Museum Guide to Anglo-Saxon Antiquities. p 94.
<S13> SNF6083 Publication: Fox, C. 1923. The Archaeology of the Cambridge Region: a topographical study of the Bronze, Early Iron, Roman, and Anglo-Saxon Ages, with an introductory note on the Neolithic Age. p 299.
<S14> SNF1699 Monograph: Wheeler, R. E. M. 1927. London and the Vikings. pp 33, 35.
<S15> SNF87547 Publication: Shetelig, H. 1940. Viking Antiquities in Great Britain. IV. pp 12-13.
<S2> SNF57204 Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TL 88 NW 6 [2].
<S3> SNF57722 Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
<S4> SNF99529 Article in Serial: Greenwell, W. 1870. Scandinavian Brooches found at Santon, in Norfolk. Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and Natural History. Vol IV Pt 4 pp 208-217.
<S5> SNF950 Article in Serial: Greenwell, W. 1870. On the Opening of Grime's Graves in Norfolk. Journal of the Ethnological Society of London. Vol II No 4 pp 419-439. p 438.
<S6> SNF100505 Article in Serial: [anonymous]. 1887. On an iron sword of Scandinavian type found in London, now in the British Museum; and a bronze stirrup of the same period found near Romsey, in Hampshire, in the possession of Philip B. Davis Cook, Esq. Archaeologia. Vol L pp 530-533. p 531.
<S7> SNF1141 Monograph: 1901. The Victoria History of Norfolk. The Victoria History of the Counties of England. Vol 1. pp 347-350.
<S8> SNF100499 Article in Serial: [anonymous]. 1907. [proceedings of meeting held Thursday, 8th February, 1906]. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Second Series Vol XXI pp 72-84. p 75.
<S9> SNF100500 Article in Serial: [anonymous]. 1909. [proceedings of meeting held Thursday, 28th November, 1907]. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Second Series Vol XXII pp 1-32. p 8.

Site and Feature Types and Periods (2)

Object Types (2)

BROOCH (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)
SWORD (Late Saxon - 851 AD to 1065 AD)

Related NHER Records (0)

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Record last edited

Apr 22 2024 5:04PM