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Original Articles

Late Saxon Balances and Weights from England

Pages 67-95 | Published online: 18 May 2016

NOTES

  • B. Kisch, ‘Scales and weights. A historical outline’, Yale Studies in the History of Science and Medicine, 1 (1965), 27ff.
  • E.g. W. H. Manning, Catalogue of the Romano-British Iron Tools, Fittings and Weapons in the British Museum (London, 1985), 106–07; London Museum Catalogue No, 7, Medieval Catalogue (London, 1940), 171–72.
  • O. Kyhlberg, ‘Vågar och viktlod. Diskussion kring frågor om precision och noggrannhet’, Fornvännen, 70 (1975), 159–61; Gert Hatz, Handel und Verkehr zwischen dem Deutschen Reich und Schweden in der späten Wikingerzeit. Die deutschen Münzen des 10, und 11 Jahrhunderts in Schweden (Lund, 1974), 109 with references.
  • T. Wright and R. P. Wülcker, Old English Vocabularies (London, 1884), 148.
  • W. H. Stevenson (ed.), Asser's Life of King Alfred (Oxford, 1904), ch. 104; S. Keynes and M. Lapidge (eds.), Alfred the Great. Asser's Life of King Alfred and other Contemporary Sources (Harmondsworth, 1983), 108.
  • F. Liebermann (ed.), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen (Halle, 1903–16), 453–54; P. V. Addyman, ‘Archaeology and Anglo-Saxon society’, in G.d. G. Sieveking, I. H. Longworth and K. E. Wilson (eds.), Problems in Economic and Social Archaeology (London, 1976), 319.
  • Pers. comm. R. Carr.
  • The Ipswich finds are unpublished. I am very grateful to John Newman for drawing my attention to the large number of finds, providing sketches and descriptions, and for permission to discuss these objects prior to their publication.
  • S. Margeson and V. Williams, ‘The artefacts’, in B. Ayres (ed.), Excavations within the North-East Bailey of Norwich Castle, 1979 (East Anglian Archaeology Report, 28) (Norfolk, 1985), 31, nos. 19 and 20.
  • A. Rogerson, ‘Excavations on Fuller's Hill, Great Yarmouth’, in P. Wade-Martins (ed.), Norfolk (East Anglian Archaeology Report, 2) (Norfolk, 1976), 161, 163, no.3.
  • A. R. Goodall, ‘Non-ferrous metal objects’, in A. Rogerson and C. Dallas (eds.), Excavations in Thetford 1948–59 and 1973–1980 (East Anglian Archaeology Report, 22) (Norfolk, 1984), 69, nos. 56, 57, 59, and 60.
  • Three balances are illustrated in R. Hall, The Viking Dig (London, 1984), 109; however, the upper two (YAT 1978.7.3716; 1975.6.82) are in post-Conquest contexts and are excluded from the discussion here. The lower balance (YAT 1980.7.7576) is also published in E, Roesdahl et al., The Vikings in England (London, 1981), 127; the pointer, however, is a separate piece and may not be originally part of this balance. A well-preserved non-folding balance found in 10th-century contexts (YAT 1980.7.9512) ts unpublished, as are the two arm fragments (YAT 1980.7.7848; 1979.7.4034). I would like to thank Dominic Tweddle for permission to mention these unpublished pieces in advance of their publication.
  • Balance pans were found with balance 1980.7.9512, and as a single find in a 10th-century context (1980.7.8569; Roesdahl et al., op.cit. in note 12). See also note 88.
  • A. Goodall, ‘The copper alloy aod gold’, in P. Armstrong et al. (eds.), Excavations in Lurk Lane, Beverley 1979–1982 (Sheffield Excavation Reports, 1) (Beverley, 1991), 151 no, 618.
  • J. C. Atkinson, ‘[On discoveries recently made in the parish church of Kildale]’, Proc. Soc. Antiq. London, 4. 2nd series (1867–1870), 53.
  • F. Elgee, Early Man in North-east Yorkshire (Gloucester, 1930), 220.
  • But see C. D. Morris, ‘Viking and native in northern England. A case-study’, in H. Bekker Nielsen, P. Foote, and O. Olsen (eds.), Proceedings of the Eighth Viking Congress (Odense, 1981), 234, who questions the evidence of whether the burial and church are contemporary and associated.
  • E. Jondell, ‘Vikingatidcns balansvågar i Norge’, C 1-uppsats i arkeologi diss., Institute of North-European Archaeology, Uppsala University (Uppsala, 1974).
  • I would like to thank Jenny Mann for sending full details concerning balance and weights finds in advance of publication.
  • Stirrup and beam fragments from the Chalk Lane site (pers. comm. Alison Goodall). The St Peter's Street excavations produced remains of three unstratified balances; see G. E. Oakley and L. E. Webster, ‘The copper alloy objects’, in J. H. Williams (ed.), St Peter's Street Northampton. Excavations 1973–1976 (Northampton, 1979), 258.
  • Pers. comm. Duncan Brown.
  • Pers. comm. Julie Lovett.
  • M. Biddle, Object and Economy in Medieval Winchester (Winchester Studies, vol. 7, pt. 2) (Oxford, 1990), vol. 11, 922, 924, no. 3208.
  • Pers. comm. John Allan, Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter. This unusual balance, an isolated find from No. 198 High Street, Exeter, dated to the 10th or 11th century, is unpublished.
  • Joodell, op. cit. in note 18; J. Petersen, British Antiquities of the Viking Period Found in Norway (= H. Shetelig (ed.), Viking Antiquities in Great Britain and Ireland, vol. v) (Olso, 1940), 155–66
  • E. Sperber, ‘How accurate was Viking Age weighing in Sweden?’ Fornvännen, 83 (1988), 157; Hatz, op. cit. in note 3, 110ff.
  • H. Jankuhn, Die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu (1937–1939) (Berlin, 1943), 187; H. Steuer,‘Geswichtsgeldwirtschaften im frühgeschiehtlichen Europa—Feinwaagen und Gewichte als Quellen zur Währungsgeschichte’ in K. Düwel et al, (eds.), Untersuchungen zu Handel und Verkehr der vor- und frühgeschichtlichen Zeit in Mittel- und Nordeuropa. Teil IV. Der Handel der Karolinger- und Wikingerzeit, (=Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Güttingen. Philologisch-Historische Klasse, Dritte Folge, Nr. 156., 405–527) (Göttingen, 1987) 473.
  • P. Norland, Trelleborg (Copenhagen, 1948), 143–44 (Trelleborg); V. Boye, ‘To fund av Smedevæktöi fra den sidste hedenske Tid i Danmark’, Annaler for Nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie (1858), 191–200 (Thiele); E. Roesdahl, ‘Otte vikingetidsgrave i Sdr. Onsild’, Aarbøger for Nordisk Oldkyndighed og Histoire (1976), 33 (Sdr. Onsild); J. Brøndsted, ‘Danish inhumation graves of the Viking period’. Acta Archaeologia, 7 (1936), 172–73, 178, 187 (N. Langelse, Kaagaarden, Kallehave); and D. Meier and J. Reichstein, ‘Eine Wikingerzeitliche Siedlung westlich von Kosel, Kreis Rendsburg-Eckenforde (LA 117)’, Offa 41 (1984), 139–40 (Kosel, Schleswig-Holstein).
  • Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, 524–25; W. La Baume and J. Wilczek, ‘Die frühmittelalterlichen Silberwaagen aus Ostpreußen’, Alt-Preußen, 5 (1940); Bernt von zur Mühlen, ‘Die Kultur der Wikinger in Ostpreussen’, Bonner Hefte Zur Vorgeschichte 9 (1975), Fundliste 27; A. Hollnagel, ‘Frühmittelalterliche Bronzeklappwaagen und Gewichte aus Mecklenburg’, Ausgrabungen und Funde, 12 (1967), 227–34.
  • A. Stalsberg, ‘Woman as actors in North European Viking Age trade’, in R. Samson (ed.), Social Approaches to Viking Studies (Glasgow, 1991), 78.
  • Kiloran Bay, Colonsay grave find: S. Grieg, Viking Antiquities in Scotland (=H. Shetelig (ed.), Viking Antiquities in Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 11) (Oslo, 1940), 55; Gigha grave find: T. Bryce, ‘Note on a balance and weights of the Viking period found in the island of Gigha’, Proc. Soc. Antiquaries Scotland, 47 (1912–12), 436–43; Grieg, op. cit., 29–30; and a lost grave find from Ensay in the Western Isles: Grieg, op. cit., 79.
  • J. A. Graham-Campbell, ‘The Viking-Age silver and gold hoards of Scandinavian character from Scotland’, Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scotland, 10, (1975–76), 117–18; Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, 444, fn. 144 argues this balance is in the earlier Roman tradition.
  • F. G. Skinner and R. L. S. Bruce-Mitford, ‘A Celtic balance-beam of the Christian period’, Antiq. J., 20 (1940), 80–102; L. R. Laing and J. Laing, ‘The early Christian period settlement at Ronaldsway, Isle of Man, a reappraisal’, Proc. Isle of Man Nat. Hist. Antiq. Soc., 9 (1984–87), 406.
  • J. Bøe, Norse Antiquities in Ireland (= H. Shetelig (ed.), Viking Antiquities in Great Britain and Ireland, vol 111) (Oslo, 1940), 50, 51. The balances have not been published in detail, however, and certain features reported here are the result of a recent examination.
  • An unpublished number were recovered in the recent excavations in Dublin, ranging from late Saxon to medieval in date; see P. F. Wallace, ‘The economy and commerce of Viking Age Dublin’, in K. Düwel et al. (eds.), Untersuchungen zu Handel und Verkehr der vor- und frühgeschichtlichen Zeit in Mittel- und Nordeuropa. Teil IV. Der Handel der Karolinger- und Wikingerzeit, (= Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Gottingen. Philologisch-Historische Klasse, Dritte Folge, Nr. 156., 200–45) (Göttingen, 1987), 214. Full publication of these balances should provide an invaluable series of dated examples. Earlier published finds include a balance from near Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin (Bøe, op. cit. in note 34, 69), a folding balance of Steuer type 3 from Strokestown Crannog, Roscommon (R476; Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, 525, no. 56), and a bowl, possibly a scale pan, from Ballyholme, Co, Down (Bøe, op. cit. in note 34, 73, 75). Skinner and Bruce-Mitford, op.cit, in note 33, 98 also record a find from Looghtamend, Co. Antrim. A balance pan (unpublished) was also found in recent dredging of the River Blackwater. Co. Armagh, probably associated with several weights and hacksilver (pers. comm. Cormac Bourke).
  • Petersen, op. cit. in note 25, 10–11; Jondell, op.cit, in note 18, 33; but see also T.J. Arne, ‘Ein persisches Gewichtssystem in Schweden’, Orientalisches Archiv, 2 (1911–12), 122; H. Steuer, ‘Feinwaagen und Gewichte als Quellen zur Handelsgeschichte des Ostsecraumcs’, in H. Jankuhn et al. (eds.), Handelsplätze des frühen und hohen Mittelalters, (=Archäologische und naturwissenschaftliche Untersuchungen an ländlichen und frühstädtischen Siedlungen im deutschen Küstengebiet vom Jahrhundert v. Chr. bis zum 11. Jahrkundert n. Chr.), vol. 2 (Weinheim, 1984), 279: and Wallace, op. cit. in note 35, 214–15.
  • Boye, op. cit. in note 28; E. Wamers, Insularer Metallschmuck in wikingerzeitlichen Gräbern Nordeuropas (= Offa Bücher, 56) (Neumünster, 1985), 112–13, nos. 17, 28, 29, 32, 43, 52, 53, 59.
  • B. Kisch, ‘Weights and scales in medieval Scandinavia’, J. Hist. Medicine and Allied Sciences, 14 (1959), 160–68; Kisch, op. cit. in note 1.
  • See, however, Steuer, op.cit. in note 27, 423ff. for a general survey of the Roman types, and H. Steuer, ‘Zusammenklappbare Waagen des hohen Mittelalters’. Archäologisches Korrcspondenzblatt, 7 (1977), 295–300 for a discussion of a common medieval balance type of the 12th and 13th centuries.
  • J. Werner, ‘Waage und Geld in der Merowingerzeit’, Sitzungsberichte der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Philosophisch-historische Klasse, 1 (1954); Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, 433ff.; C. Scull, ‘Scales and weights in early Anglo-Saxon England’, Archaeol. J., 147 (1990), 183–215.
  • Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, 459 ff. Some indication of the dating and beam lengths of the other types can be gleaned from Abb. 9, p.487; Abb, 14, p. 497.
  • For this reason, two balances sometimes published as late Saxon have been excluded. A folding balance from North Elmham is unstratified (P. Wade-Martins, ‘Excavations at North Elmham, 1964, an interim report’, Norfolk Archaeology, 35 (1970), 66, Fig. 19D) while the folding balance from Goltho, Lincolnshire is from a 13th-century context (G. Beresford, The Medieval Clay-land Village, Excavations at Goltho and Barton Blount (Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph Series, 6) (London, 1975), 94–95, no, 37; dating discussed 20, 26).
  • Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, 423–24. See, e.g., London Museum Catalogue no. 3, London in Roman Times (London, 1930), 85 for a Roman balance from London with attached steelyard weight. Contexts for folding balances dating to the Roman period are often not secure (see e.g. Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, 462, fn. 202), and further work on this material is needed. An example published by Kisch (op. cit. in note 38, 165, Fig. 1; op, cit. in note 1, 37, Fig. 9) as Roman, has been more plausibly dated by Steuer (op. cit. in note 39, 299, no. 14) as medieval in date. Examples of published folding Roman balances from England include Ilchester (P. Leach, Ilchester vol. I. Excavations 1974–5 (Western Archaeological Trust Excavation Monograph, 3) (Bristol, 1982), 252, no. 98) and Chester (F. H. Williams, ‘Deva, on some traces of a building discovered west of the Forum, Chester, 1894’, J. Brit. Archaeol. Assoc., new ser. 1 (1895), 79–80).
  • Steuer, op. cit. note 27, 423 ff., 431, 443 ff., with references; Werner, op. cit. in note 40; Scull, op.cit. in note 40, with references.
  • E.g. using date from Jondell, op. cit. in note 18; Sperber, op. cit, in note 26,
  • Wallace, op. cit. in note 35.
  • Goodall, op. cit. in note 11, 69, 74, no. 57, in a 10th-century context; Elgee, op.cit. in note 16. Another unstratified arm and beam from a different site in Thetford is so similar to the fragmentary arm, that it too must be seen as dating to this period (Goodall, op. cit. in note 11, 69, 74, no. 56).
  • Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, 462–63, 466.
  • Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, 462, 526.
  • Steuer, op.cit. in note 27, 459, fn, 192.
  • Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, ibid., 444, fn. 144.
  • Wallace, op. cit. in note 35.
  • E.g. Pompeii (F. G. Skinner, Weights and Measures, their Ancient Origins and their Development in Great Britain up to A.D. 1855 (London, 1967), Fig. XI); Augst (A. Mutz, Römische Waagen und Gewichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst (Augster Museumshefte, 6) (Augst, 1983), 26); Ilchester (Leach, op.cit. in note 43); London (London Museum Catalogue no. 3, London in Roman Times (London, 1930), 85).
  • E.g. Kilmainham/Islandbridge R2402; Sweden (M. Molander, ‘Redskap för handel’, in A. W. Mårtensson (ed.), Uppgrävet föflutet för PKbanken i Lund (Archaeologica Lnndensia, VII) (Lund, 1976), 189, Fig. 131; Kisch, op. cit. in note 38, Fig. 9); Norway (Petersen, op.cit. in note 25, 158); Hedeby (Jankuhn, op. cit. in note 27, 188). Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, 459, fn. 192 dates some of the simple, non-folding balances with rope mouldings to the 9th century.
  • E.g. unpublished examples from Ipswich; Salisbury (J. W. G. Musty, ‘A pipe-line near Old Sarum, prehistoric, Roman and medieval finds including two twelfth-century lime-kilns’, Wilts, Archaeol. Mag., 57 (1958–60), 189–90),
  • Rogerson, op.cit. in note 10; Goodall, op. cit. in note 14.
  • Grieg, op. cit. in note 31, 55; Bryce, op. cit. in note 31; Strömberg, Untersuchungen zur jüngeren Eisenzeit in Schonen (Bonn and Lnnd, 1961), Taf. 76, no. 5; Molander, op, cit. in note 54; Hollnagel, op.cit. in note 29, 232.
  • Roman: E, Nowotny, ‘Zur Mechanik der antiken Wage’, Jahreshefte des österreichischen Archaeologisches Institutes in Wien (Nachträge), 16 (1913), 191–92; Medieval: Goltho (Beresford, op. cit. in note 42), Lund, Sweden (Molander, op. cit. in note 54), and an unpublished example from Silver Street, Lincoln (small find 35) from a 13th-century pit which also contained late Saxon pottery.
  • E.g. Pfullingen (Werner, op. cit. in oote 40, 10).
  • E.g. Margeson and Williams, op. cit. in note 9, 31, no. 18.
  • 1979.7.4034.,
  • R1856. Published in Bøe, op. cit. in note 34, p.50, but without mention of the polyhedrals.
  • E.g. Jondell, op. cit. in note 18, nos, 18, 19, 57,
  • Steuer, op. cit. in note 39; E, Bakka, ‘Ein mittelalterliche Gewichtssatz von Åkerhaugen in Sauherad, Telemark, Ostnorwegen’, Offa, 37 (1980), 155; Hollnagel, op, cit. in note 29, 232; Jondell, op. Cit. in note 18, 33.
  • Biddle, op.cit, in note 23, vol. 11, 922, 924, no. 3211.
  • Goodall, op.cit. in note 11, 74, no. 58.
  • Oakley and Webster, op. cit. in note 20, 257–58, no. 89.
  • Kisch, op. cit. in note 1, 37, Fig. 8,
  • Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, 462.
  • School Street site 360/4801.
  • A. D. Passmore, ‘Notes on Roman finds in North Wilts’, Wilts. Archaeol. Mag., 41 (1920), 391–92.
  • Jondell, op. cit. in note 18, no. 5.
  • E.g. H. R. Jenemann, ‘Uber Ausführung und Genauigkeit von Münzwägungen in spätrömischer und neuer Zeit’, Trierer Zeitschrift, 48 (1985), 177, no. 6; balances from 10th-century graves from Denmark (Brøndsted, op.cit. in note 28, 178, Fig. 87c, 172–73; a balance from an 11th-century hoard from Sweden (Strömberg, op. cit. in note 57, Taf. 76, no. 5).
  • Margeson and Williams, op. cit. in note 9, 31, no. 20.
  • Buttermarket site, 1713/3104, 1844/3104,
  • Rogerson, op. cit. in note 10,
  • 1980.7.9512.
  • Unpublished. Pers. comm. Alison Goodall; no further details are known.
  • Buttermarket site, 452/3104.
  • E.g. Roman: Jenemann, op. cit. in note 73, 176 nos.3 and 5; early Anglo-Saxon grave finds: T. Sheppard, Saxon Relics from Barton, Lines (Hull Museum Publications, 208) (Hull, 1940), 43; the qth-century Kiloran Bay, Colonsay grave find: Grieg, op. cit. in note 31, 54; first half of the 11th century from Lund, Sweden: Molander, op.cit. in note 54; 12th-/13th-century contexts in Dublin (on display in the National Museum of Ireland); and 14th- and 15th-century contexts in Lincoln (though with a quantity of residual late Saxon material): St Mark's Station, small find no. 367.
  • R2402.
  • O. Rygh, Norsk Oldsager (Christiania, 1885), no. 476.
  • R420; Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, 446, fn. 144.
  • Steuer, op. cit. in note 39, 295, 297, Tafel 54; Margeson and Williams, op. cit. in note 9, 31. Similar 13th-century examples are on display at the National Museum of Ireland. The Dublin finds include a number of stirrups of different types, and publication of this material should prove helpful. Kisch publishes a stirrup, with ring and dot decoration as Roman (Kisch, op. cit. in note 38, 165, Fig. 1; 1965, 37, Fig.g) but Steuer's dating to the 12th or 13th century is more convincing (Steuer, op, cit. in note 39, 299, no. 14).
  • Rogerson, op. cit. in note 10. One of the 10th-century York examples (1980.7.7576) was published with a very long pointer (Hall, op. cit. in note 12), but the pointer is separate, and it is unclear!fit originally belonged to this balance. A much corroded and fragmentary balance from Ipswich, probably dating to the late Saxon period (Buttermarket 1844/3104), also appears to have a long pointer in relation to its beam length.
  • Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, 424, 431, 446–47.
  • E.g. Steuer, op. cit. in note 39, Tafel 54.
  • York: Two pans were published in Roesdahl et al., op.cit, in note 12 (1980.7.8569; 1978.7.3378); the latter one, however, dates to the Norman period or later. A pan was also found with balance 1980.7.9512. Thetford: Goodall, op, cit. in note 11, 69, no. 60. Norwich: Margeson and Williams, op. cit. in note 9, 31, no. 19. Great Yarmouth: Rogerson, op. cit. in note 10.
  • Rogerson, op. cit. in note 10,
  • J. Graham-Campbell, Viking Artefacts, a Select Catalogue (London, 1980), no. 306,
  • Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, 416, 444; Kisch, op. cit. in note 1, 42, 71, Fig. 32.
  • Kisch, op. cit. in note 38, 162–63.
  • Steuer, op, cit. in note 27, 462.
  • Jondell, op. cit. in note 18.
  • E.g. unpublished examples from the Thames Exchange and Vintry Hall sites.
  • R.2395; R.1856.
  • Jondell, op. cit. in note 18; Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, 525–26. Steuer uses it as a diagnostic feature for identifying local variations in balances (Steuer, op. cit. in note 36, 278–79).
  • Oakley and Webster, op. cit. in note 20, 258, no. Cug2.
  • See Sperber, op. cit. in note 26, 157–66 for a discussion of the accuracy of Viking Age balances. Steuer has highlighted the accuracy of Type 3 balances, and the increasing inaccuracy of imitations and other later Viking Age types (Steuer, op. cit. in note 36, 277 ff.; op. cit. in note 27, 462ff.).
  • In published descriptions, identification of fabric as bronze, copper alloy, or brass are often encountered, though seldom based on metallurgical analysis. Unless such analysis has been undertaken to determine the metal, copper alloy will be assumed.
  • Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, 448; Scull, op. cit. in note 40.
  • Jankuhn, op. cit. in note 27, 198.
  • Goodall, op.cit. in note 11, 69, no. 61.
  • P. V. Addyman, ‘Late Saxon settlements in the St. Neots area’, Proc. Cambridge Antiq, Soc., 64 (1973), 90, 95.
  • Atkinson, op. cit. in note 15.
  • A number of more ‘classic’ lead spindle whorls were also found at Coppergate, and have been excluded from this discussion. However, further study of the spindle whorl weights and fabrics might prove very useful.
  • A. R. Goodall, ‘Objects of pewter and lead’, in J. H. Williams (ed.), Middle Saxon Paduas at Northampton (Northampton, 1985), fiche 68, ill. p.67. Other unpublished lead weights dating to this period from the Chalk Lane site at Northampton were also recovered (Alison Goodall, pers. comm.), but no further details are known.
  • I. Øye, Textile Equipment and its Working Environment, Bryggen in Bergen c. 1150–1500 (The Bryggen Papers, Main Series, vol. 2) (Oslo, 1988), 37–55, esp. 50.
  • E.g. the Gigha, Scotland grave find, although the find circumstances are not as secure as would be liked; Grieg, op. cit. in note 31, 29–30.
  • Wallace, op.cit. in note 35, 212–14.
  • E.g. Jankuhn, op. cit. in note 27, 191, 198; Maj-Britt Cederlöw, ‘Vikingatida vikter’, Trebetygsuppsats i nordisk och jämförande fornkunskap diss. (Lund, 1971), 7–9; O. Kyhlberg, Vikt och Värde (Stockholm Studies in Archaeology, 1) (Stockholm, 1980), 240–41.
  • Steuer, op.cit. in note 27, 467.
  • Wallace, op.cit. in note 35, 212.
  • These weights are known by a variety of names in the literature, e.g. cheese-shaped weights, segmented sphere, truncated double cone, kulformiga viktlod, kugelformige Gewichte.
  • Pers. comm. Geoff Egan (Museum of London) and Norman Biggs (London School of Economics).
  • Pers. comm. Norman Biggs. Professor Biggs also informs me that another of this type, without arty context but probably from England, has been purchased by a collector.
  • Kisch, op.cit. in note 38, 161; S. Frere, Verulamium Excavations, vol. 1 (Reports of the Research Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of London, 28) (Oxford, 1972), 124, no. 88.
  • Kisch, op. cit. in note 38, 161–61.
  • H. Steuer, ‘Gekerbte Gewichte der späten Wikingerzeit’, Fornännen, 82 (1987), 66–74; Molander, op. cit. in note 54, 191.
  • Ibid., Steuer, op. cit. in note 37, 460ff.
  • Kisch, op. cit. in note 38, 165; H. Steuer, ‘Gewichte aus Haithabu’, Berichte über du Ausgrabungen in Haithabu, 6 (1973), 11.
  • Steuer, op. cit. in note 131, 13; id., op. cit. in note 36, 283.
  • A. W. Brøgger, Ertog og Øre. Den gamle norske vegt. (Videnskapsselskapets Skrifter II, Hist.-Filos. Klass 3 (Kristiania, 1921), 107.
  • Wallace, op. cit. in note 35, 212.
  • H. Arbman, Birka I. Die Gräber. Tafeln (Uppsala, 1940), Taf. 127, nos. 1, 2, 10–13 illustrates several. For discussions of this weight form see also Kisch, op. cit. in note 38, 162; Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, 468–70, 475–77, 526–27; Kyhlberg, op, cit. in note 111, 220; P. Balog, ‘Islamic bronze weights from Egypt’, J. Economic and Social History of the Orient, 13 (1970), 236–37.
  • Pers. comm. Norman Biggs.
  • This weight is now in the Yorkshire Museum. Kisch, op. cit, in note 38, Fig. 3; Arbman, op. cit. in note 125, Taf. 134, no. 2.
  • Kisch, op. cit. in note 38, 162; Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, 475–77; Balog, op. cit. in note 125, 236–37.
  • Steuer, op. cit. in note 121, 12–13.
  • Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, 526–27.
  • Ibid.
  • Kisch, op. dt. in note 38, 165; M. Stenberger, Die Schatzfunde Gotlands der Wikingerzeit, vol. 1 (Stockholm, 1958), Abb. 14, Abb. 17; Graham-Campbell, op.cit, in note 90, no. 193; Oakley and Webster, op.cit. in note 20.
  • E.g. one of the objects in the Trewiddle hoard; D. M. Wilson, Anglo-Saxon Ornamental Metalwork 700–1100 in the British Museum (London, 1964), no. 92.
  • D. Tweddle, ‘The weight of the evidence’. Interim, 9 (1983), 24–25.
  • R. A. Smith, ‘Anglo-Saxon remains’, in W. Page (ed.), The Victoria History of the County of Suffolk, vol. 1 (London, 1911), 345. This weight is now in the Streeter Collection in the Yale Medical Library.
  • This unpublished object was kindly pointed out to me by Dr Sue Margeson of Norfolk Museums Service.
  • Graham-Campbell, op. cit. in note 90, no. 307.
  • Graham-Campbell, op. cit. in note 90, no. 308. Brøgger, op. cit. in note 123, 77 discussed these weights, but stated their findspot as Ballyholme, near Bangor, Co. Down. This error was repeated by a number of later authors, including Kisch, op. cit. in note 1, 83 and Kyhlberg, op. cit. in note 111, 171.
  • Graham-Campbell, op. cit. in note 32, 115, 118.
  • D. N. Marshall, ‘Report on excavations at Little Dunagoil’, Trans. Buteshire Nat. Hist. Soc., 16 (1964), 48, 52. I am indebted to James Graham-Campbell for drawing my attention to this weight, and identifying the oval brooch fragment.
  • Pers. common. P. Hill.
  • I would like to thank Dr Patrick Wallace for permission to examine these weights before their publication.
  • J. G. Sheehan, ‘Viking Age silver arm-rings from Ireland’, M.A. diss., National University of Ireland, Galway (Galway, 1984), 59.
  • Pers. comm. Cormac Bourke.
  • M. Redknap, The Christian Celts. Treasures of Late Celtic Wales (Cardiff, 1991), 78; D. W, Dykes, Anglo-Saxon Coins in the National Museum of Wales (expanded reprint irom AMGUEDDFA, Bulletin of the National Museum of Wales, 24 (Winter, 1976) (Cardiff, n.d.), 21.
  • Brøgger, op. cit. in note 123, 80–81; Wamers, op.cit. in note 37, Kat. nos. 23, 27, 29, 43, 64, 80, 102, 126, 130; Petersen, op. cit. in note 25, 163, no. 31.
  • Brøgger, op. cit. in note 123, 80, 84; Wamers, op. cit. in note 37, no. 64.
  • Graham-Campbell, op. cit. in note 90, 88–89; Wamers, op.cit. in note 37.
  • Graham-Campbell, op. cit, in note 90, 88–89.
  • Petersen, op. cit. in note 25, 7; Wamers, op. cit. in note 37.
  • Wamers, op. cit. in note 37, 61.
  • Graham-Campbell, op. cit. in note 32, 118; id., ‘The Viking-Age silver hoards of Ireland’, in B. Amqvist and D. Greene (eds.), Proceedings of the Seventh Viking Congress (Dublin, 1976), 40: Grieg, op, cit. in note 31, 59.
  • J. Booth and I. Blowers, ‘Finds of sceattas and stycas from Sancton’, Numismatic Chronicle, 143 (1983), 145.
  • K. Skaare, Coins and Coinage in Viking-Age Norway (Oslo, 1976), 44–45, 144.
  • S. Youngs (ed.), ‘The Work of Angels’. Masterpieces of Celtic Metalwork, 6th-9th Centuries A.D. (London, 1989), no. 136.
  • Youngs, op. cit. in note 155, no, 135. 157 Pers. comm. Michelle Brown.
  • A. Christophersen, Trondheim—en by i middelalderen (Trondheim, 1987), 82–83.
  • M. Henig and K. Leahy, ‘A steelyard weight from Maoton, South Humberside’, Antiq. J., 68 (1988), 321–22.
  • Waterman, op. cit. in note 123, 77, 80.
  • R. H. M. Dolley, ‘A Piedfort lead trial-piece of Edward the Confessor’, British Numismatic J., 27 (1953), 176; M. M. Archibald and C.E. Blunt, Anglo-Saxon Coins V. Athelstan to the Reform of Edgar 924-c. 973 (Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles, 34 (London, 1986), no. 1255.
  • M. Archibal, ‘Anglo-Saxon and Norman lead objects with official coin types’, in A. G. Vince (ed.), Aspects of Saxon and Norman London 2: Finds and Environmental Evidence (Loodon and Middlesex Archaeological Society Special Paper, 12) (London, 1991).
  • Dolley, op. cit. in note 161, 175–77.
  • R. J. Cramp, ‘Analysis of the finds register and location plan oi Whitby Abbey’, in D. M. Wilson (ed.), The Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England (London, 1976), 456.
  • Dolley, op.cit, in note 161.
  • E.g. S. Lyon, ‘Historical problems of Anglo-Saxon coinage—(3) denominations and weights’, British Numismatic J., 38 (1969), 219, fn. 2.
  • Archibald, op. cit. in note 162.
  • A. Vince, Saxon London, an Archaeological Investigation (London, 1990), 113.
  • Although the London weight has been compared to 120 pennies (ibid., 113–14; Archibald, op. cit. in note 162), the condition of the weight, and the difficulty in determining what weight of penny is reflected, make such attributions difficult. See also below, the discussion on metrology.
  • K. F. Morrison, ‘Numismatics and Carolingian trade; a critique of the evidence’, Speculum, 38 (1963), 423–24.
  • W. Hess, ‘A German weight bearing the name of an Emperor Otto’, Spink's Numismatic Circular, 98 (1990), 306–07.
  • Hall, op, cit, in note 12, 106,
  • J. A. Axworthy Rutter, ‘Glass, other metal, industrial and organic artefacts’, in D. J. P. Mason (ed.), Excavations at Chester 26–42 Lower Bridge Street 1974–6. The Dark Age and Saxon Periods (Grosvenor Museum Archaeological Excavation and Survey Reports, No. 3) (Chester, 1985), 62.
  • Wallace, op.cit. in note 35, 212.
  • H. Eisner, Wikinger Museum Haithabu (Schleswig, n.d.), 114,
  • P. Rahtz et al., The Saxon and Medieval Palaces at Cheddar. Excavations 1960–62 (British Archaeol. Reports. British Ser., 65) (Oxford, 1979), 287.
  • Wilson, op.cit. in note 133, 208, no, 150.
  • H. M. Roe, ‘A medieval bronze gaming piece from Laoighis’, J. Roy. Soc. Antiq. Ireland, 75 (1945), 156–59.
  • Biddle, op.cit. in note 23, 918, 921, find nos. 3188, 3192, 3194 and 3195; discussed p. 910.
  • Pers. comm. Geoff Egan, Norman Biggs.
  • Biddle, op.cit. in note 23, 923, 921, find no. 3200.
  • For example, a grant by Burgred, King of Mcrcia to Ealhhun, Bishop of Winchester, 857: “… he [Bishop Ealhhun] is to have therein to use freely the scale and weights and measures as is customary in the port [of London]’. P. H. Sawyer, Anglo-Saxon Charters (London, 1968), no. 208; W. de G. Birch, Cartularium Saxonicum (London, 1885–93), no 492; translation in D. Whitelock (ed. and trans.), English Historical Documents I. c. 500–1042 (London, 1979). no. 92.
  • P. H Sawyer, From Roman Britain to Norman England (London, 1978), 114 ff.
  • D. Hill, An Atlas of Anglo-Saxon England (Oxford, 1981), 126–28.
  • Sawyer, op. cit. in note 183, 201.
  • C. E. Blunt, B.H.I.H. Stewart and C. S. S. Lyon, Coinage in Tenth-Century England (Oxford, 1989), 237; C. E. Blunt, ‘The St Edmund memorial coinage’, Proc. Suffolk Instit. Archaeol., 31 (1969), 234–55; C. S. S. Lyon and B. H, I. H, Stewart, ‘The Northumbrian Viking coins in the Cuerdale hoard’, in M. Dolley (ed.), Anglo-Saxon Coins (London, 1961); P. Grierson and M. Blackburn 1986, Medieval European Coinage I. The Early Middle Ages (5th-10th Centuries) (Cambridge, 1986), 316–25.
  • Arne, op. cit. in note 36; T.J. Arne, La Suède et l'Orient (Uppsala, 1914); Brøgger, op. cit. in note 123; Steuer, op. cit. in note 121; Kyhlberg, op. cit. in note 111; Hans-Otto Nielsen, ‘Röntgenologische und metrische Untersuchungen an zwei Kugel-Gewichtssätzen aus Haithabu’, Berichte über die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu, 18 (1983), 109–20; and unpublished; and Wallace, op. cit. in note 35, 212–13.
  • Skaare, op. cit. in note 154, 144.
  • Kyhlberg, op. cit. in note 3, 158–59; op. cit. in note 111; 234–38; Nielsen, op, cit. in note 187.
  • Nielsen, op.cit. in note 187, 115–16.
  • Steuer, op. cit. in note 121; Nielsen, op. cit. in note 187, 111; Kyhlberg, op. cit. in note 111, 252–58.
  • C. Blindheim, B. Heyerdahl-Larsen and R. L. Tollnes, Kaupang-funnene (Norske Oldfunn, XI), vol. 1 (Oslo, 1981), 146; Steuer, op. cit. in note 27, 472–73; Stalsberg, op. cit. in note 30.
  • The issue of Anglo-Saxon metrological systems is extremely complicated, fraught with circular arguments, dubious assumptions, and cultural and temporal leaps. See, for example, F. Seebohm, ‘On the early currencies of the German tribes’, Vierteljahrschrift für Social- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte, 1 (1903), 171–95; H. M. Chadwick, Studies on Anglo-Saxon Institutions (Cambridge, 1905); R, A. Smith, ‘Early Anglo-Saxon weights’, Antiq. J., 3 (1923), 122–28; H. B. A. Petersson, Anglo-Saxon Currency. King Edgar's Reform to the Norman Conquest (Lund, 1969); Lyon, op. cit. in note 166; id, ‘Some problems in interpreting Anglo-Saxon coinage’, Anglo-Saxon England, 5 (1976), 173–224; P. Nightingale, ‘The ora, the mark, and the mancus, weight-standards and the coinage in eleventh-century England, part 1’, Numismatic Chron., 143 (1983), 248–57; id., ‘The ora, the mark, and the mancus, weight-standards and the coinage in eleventh-century England, part 2’, Numismatic Chron., 144 (1984), 234–48; Blunt, Stewart and Lyon, op. cit. in note 186, 235 ff., R. D. Connor, The Weights and Measures of England (London, 1987).
  • Lyon, op.cit. in note 193, 174–75.
  • See, e.g. Connor, op. cit. in note 193, 100 ff.; Biddle, op. cit. in note 23, 910–15; N. Biggs, ‘English coin-weights, up to 1588’, British Numismatic J., 60 (1990).
  • See, e.g. Biddle, op.cit. in note 23, 915 where the four postulated Anglo-Saxon weights (as well as later examples) are compared against several systems.
  • Smith, op. cit. in note 193, 122.
  • P. Grierson, ‘Weight and coinage’, Numismatic Chron., 7 (1964), iv.
  • Wallace, op. cit. in note 35, 212.
  • See S. E. Kruse, ‘Ingots and weight units in Viking Age silver hoards’, World Archaeol., 20 (1988), 285–301 with references.
  • Exact weights are not available, but Norman Biggs informs me that the weights closely reflect a unit of 0.68 grams, multiplied by the number of dots on the flat face. For the three weights for which he has information, this yields standards of c. 1.36 grams (2 dots), c. 2.04 grams (3 dots) and c. 4.08 grams (6 dots).
  • Connor, op. cit, in note 193, 120; Biddle, op. cit. in note 23, 914.
  • Kruse, op. cit. in note 200.

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