What is it about?
This is a summary (published c. 2018) on the key results of my research (and that of others) on bone and antler combs from Viking-Age Scotland since the last big synthesis of Viking-Age Scotland (1998). It considers work on typology, technology, and new scientific analyses of raw matreials.
Featured Image
Photo by Connor Mollison on Unsplash
Why is it important?
These objects have always had an important role in debates about the beginning of the Viking-Age in Scotland (did it have a long, slow, and maybe peaceful start, or a much more sudden and violent one?). Analysis of the combs once offered an answer to this question; our own research suggests the opposite, as well as a range of other important findings about culture-contact and trade in the region.
Perspectives
This provides a good way into this research, by providing a brief historiography of recent debates and approaches.
Dr Steven P Ashby
University of York
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: 23. Small Finds, Big Questions: Two Decades of Research on Combs in Viking-Age Scotland, December 2023, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1515/9781474485845-032.
You can read the full text:
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