The Viking World: A History in ObjectsMain MenuGallery viewA galleryTag Cloudtag cloud pageThemesA path of thematic categoriesAuthor IndexExplore the collection by authorWorks CitedReferencesAdam Bigelow3afa9c7ecebf516bba6609664b1b12f79c54bf77Caitlin Donahue61b7e986e7c71d400e5c803912ed83c0cf65252fCaroline Harvey1783f21a5882b5b4d3d0b6c174d058052a5ff7eaEdward Hershewee701ef220480b51ca728fc9c719bc094cf813655Martin Hoffmana1fd203afd9a84ee8db567e188cf6ed1d269386eTyler Hruby23493f763b312110686cfafc62578fd0ab5f3833Brittany N. Johnsonc1c1763339f8fa953e3c907c6bb8a3bad0c28b2cCarlos Lua Pineda0a28cc23b0aa00b4f24a9e205aeb57fbdb07ff01Moira McConnell710633400590ea38533ea3412c01fc5056288180Clara McCurdy9aec76477d0b55f9c685c47330d6786ec98182e1Elise McIlhaneyef48481634ff342c8b43c9d56f678b2d3562fb69Cameron Meikle669a5682bfbfd603130a26e25628f24eb07e6295Alexander Christopher Newkirk019c2f5b38c043507251d1789e2fdf47e61c3b7fBenja Reilly816c23aa0d444213fb2d1ef33555a15617e08228Oliver Statenc625ae8c3926f5e1a4268bc91d6a6f4cdb1e7fb6Liam Sullivanaa3a1dccb90c7fe4646b61c4af594abbb0c5574aRead Wilder31bf4715220144a665996f2e6cae80a1a8611eadAliza Yazdanicd49f227d88c72331226ddf574bf56c37308cd10Austin Masonf6137011c68eb792c6e14634815583b15e707dea
Bronze Square Belt Buckle
12017-05-22T07:48:22-07:00Alexander Christopher Newkirk019c2f5b38c043507251d1789e2fdf47e61c3b7f164562Bronze belt buckle, unornamented with a square designplain2017-05-22T07:55:11-07:00Bornholm Museum. Bronze Belt Buckle. Still Image, 9–11, 2015. 1653X00035. Danish Museum Collections. https://www.kulturarv.dk/mussam/VisGenstand.action?genstandId=7334526.400-10491653X00035CC BY55.135226, 15.110709BronzeBornholm MuseumSvaneke, DenmarkYounger Iron AgeAlexander Christopher Newkirk019c2f5b38c043507251d1789e2fdf47e61c3b7f
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12017-05-24T10:09:20-07:00Austin Masonf6137011c68eb792c6e14634815583b15e707deaMap ViewAustin Mason2An interactive map of all the objects in the collectiongoogle_maps2017-05-24T11:39:30-07:00Austin Masonf6137011c68eb792c6e14634815583b15e707dea
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12017-05-22T08:51:16-07:00Bronze Square Belt Buckle9object pageplain2017-09-21T23:10:08-07:00This Rectangular Belt Buckle is a bronze belt fitting found on the island of Bornholm near Svaneke. It is a ring of black metal with a corroded bifurcating clasp, and then a large rectangular sheet perforated with holes to feed the leather belt through. This piece is dated between the 5th and 11th century. A belt buckle is significant because belts are powerful markers of Germanic peoples and because it offers us a glimpse of key everyday realities of living as a Norseman in this period. Pants were exclusively worn by Germanic peoples, Romans wore togas or skirts instead. As there was no elastic belts were the only way pants could be kept aloft.Belt buckles are commonly grave goods, and are overwhelmingly found in male graves. This suggests there was some fundamental difference in men's and women's basic attire. Thus, from the disparity in grave presence, we can infer that only men wore pants.
Belts were narrow and leather, and there were no loops so excess was fed through and knotted. While this particular artifact is unornamented, many belt buckles were lavishly decorated, as were the strap ends that adorned the belt knots.[1] This indicates that the belt was a platform for personal expression. Belts were also crucial to the items a Norse man would have on him at all times. Norse tunics and pants had no pockets, so items an individual wanted to carry with them always were affixed to the belt. Those included most vitally a small knife, as well as a small carrying pouch.[2] This helps us to paint a picture of what was most essential to the everyday life of someone living in this particular place and time. We see here an opportunity to express oneself, as well as the expected outfitting of a randomly selected individual. That women seem not to have belts suggests a hypothesis that women hung their essentials from their chatelaines; suspender like chains that kept their dresses aloft. This belt buckle offers us a view into what was the expected outfitting and expected level of self expression of Norse man of this era.