This roughly 2 by 5 inch piece of silver contains a great deal of information about Norse life. Found near Ektorp, Sweden and dating to around 950 CE, in addition to silver the brooch fragment also contains gold and is inlaid with niello. Its size alone indicates that it must have been quite valuable, especially considering that it was one of three similar pieces affixed to a large open ring brooch.¹ Its characteristic decoration, possibly in the Borre style,² indicates that it was indeed made in Scandinavia, not purchased or stolen from elsewhere (although the raw silver used to make it certainly would have been). Additionally, the fact that it is only a fragment suggests that, at some point, the raw materials of the brooch were more valuable than the brooch itself (as a piece of jewelry). It likely was broken up so that the silver could be used for trade or remade into other objects.³

Comment on this page