Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;EWC3, post: 3239631, member: 93416&quot;]Great thread. I hope it is OK if I half-close a gap in the pics by posting a weight here - inscribed with Viking Runes.</p><p><br /></p><p>My own interest in this item came about due to its weight- it is enormous for a Viking cubo-octahedral - at about 292g. Also very odd because it has at some time been cut down and then very precisely recalibrated with tiny lead plugs.</p><p><br /></p><p>Actually, being a bit dumb about such things, I never noticed the possibility that there was an inscription. It was Lee Toone (Hookmore) who first spotted it - to his credit.</p><p><br /></p><p>I took it to Stockholm primarily to get a 3-D computer model made – so that the original weight of the item could be estimated. The result was c. 320 grams – suggesting that it was originally maybe a Byzantine period weight to Roman standards - before it was cut down. So far I have failed to find a tradition of Cubo-Octahedrals to Roman-Byzantine standards – so would be very grateful if anyone has thoughts on that.</p><p><br /></p><p>Anyhow, when I got it to Stockholm the researcher there immediately spotted the inscription - in Viking runes – as indeed did his supervising professor. The reading of the inscription is rather disappointing – the Viking equivalent of A, B, C…….. My best guess is that the weight was altered by a skilled craftsman in Viking times – but the guy was barely literate. He put the few characters he knew on it - merely to impress clients who were even less literate than he was. I should add that the people in Stockholm were very kind and helpful.</p><p><br /></p><p>The reason I took it to Stockholm was because two “experts” in the UK both dismissed it as “not Viking” without even looking at it. One of them coupled the comment with an extraordinary display of conceit. Its the growing trend of such ill-founded elitist attitudes within British professional archaeology which lies behind some of my other comments on this excellent group.</p><p><br /></p><p>Turning to the weight itself. 292 g is an excellent approximation of both 100 kayel dirhems, or 200 sterling pennies (they are very probably the same thing – the “esterling” penny being best explained as a half dirhem in origin). Is this a coincidence? Impossible to say for certain – but its an odd one if so…..</p><p><br /></p><p>Rob T</p><p><br /></p><p>PS - just uploaded and the pic has not been inserted - just attached.&nbsp; If this is how it looks to others - perhaps some kind soul will figure out what is going on and let me know off list?&nbsp; Thanks</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]847753[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in