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
1media/KENT8BC9DB.jpg2017-05-21T19:11:22-07:00Medieval Key5Object Pageplain2017-09-20T19:09:53-07:00Thekey seen here is dated to the 11th-12th Century AD from the area around Kent, England and was discovered in 2016. The key is fairly simple in design made from a copper-alloy, with a large loop-shaped bow at one end, probably made for a chest or some other type of container. Though this key does not signify any great display of key-making, the style is the same as that which was used by Danish Vikings and Carolingian Franks suggesting that the key is possibly made by a craftsman who originated from one of those areas or that the style had become popular and was easy to fashion.[1]
Keys within Viking culture functioned as much more than just as simple locking mechanism, as they were often worn by women to indicate social position. Keys were worn by women, who managed the households, as it signified that they were in charge of the family’s wealth and showed social status within the community. This concept developed further as key were eventually worn as jewelry to indicate high social standing.[2]
Keys such as this are seen throughout the Viking world from places as far as main land Scandinavia to Greenland, where several Norse keys have been found at Viking settlements.[3] This shows that most of the known world around the time of the 9th Century had access to locks and keys, indicating that this technology was commonplace. It also shows that since the design differs very little from the 9th century to the 11th century that little advancement was made in this field during that time or that there was very little variance between the quality of locks. Another possiblitiy is that the common and simplest type continued in use, even if there were some advancements that would have been out of the reach of most people.
Surviving keys tell much about life within the Norse and Anglo Saxon worlds as they represent so much, both technologically and societally. The widespread use of keys shows that they were available to people from many different classes as well as in different locations, this suggest locksmithing was probably a very fruitfully skill at that time. Yet they also tell us about the social dynamics within communities as they would often be worn as symbols of status as well as jewelry to showcase wealth, especially by prominent women. The reason for why they were worn as objects of social status is because they having a key showed that a person had control over the families chest which was the physical embodiment of the families wealth.