Viking Ear Spoon, Birka, Silver

Viking Ear spoon after a find from Birka. One side is decorated with a depiction of a woman, probably a valkyrie, the other shows the fenrir wolf likely. 

SKU
650002
Lieferzeit
1-2 weeks
€65.00
All prices include VAT, plus shipping costs

Viking Ear Spoon, Birka

The original ring, which was damaged and replaced by a simple ring, was reconstructed in our piece and restored to its original condition. The motif shows a female figure on one side, probably a Valkyrie. The other side is decorated with the figure of an animal. It is possible that this is Fenrir (also Fenriswolf), the mythological figure of the monster that will finally devour Odin during the world fire Ragnarök.

The ear spoon has a size of about 7.7 cm and is fully functional. The depressions are backed with dark patina in several work steps to show off the decorative motif. Handmade in solid 925 silver. It comes with a leather strap and a certificate in a jewellery case.

 


The original - pendant of a Viking ear spoon

The Swedish island of Birka on the island of Björkö in Lake Mälaren, which was originally connected to the sea, was one of the most important trading centres in the Baltic region between the 8th and 10th centuries. During the Viking Age, there was an extensive turnover of goods here. Birka connected Scandinavia economically with the settlement areas in Russlad all the way to Kostantinople and Arabia.
Almost all of the settlement itself has been lost to cultivation until modern times, but some 2,300 burial mounds have survived the ages. Many have been excavated and looted since the 17th century. It is only since the 19th century that one can speak of scientific research, even if at that time it was still primarily a treasure hunt for valuable burial objects and findings were only documented in passing. Today, many of the finds lie in magazines and have still not been fully evaluated.
The settlement area itself consists mainly of "black earth", which was only partially investigated in the 1990s using modern methods. While there is only a small regional museum on Birka itself, the outstanding finds are presented at Historiska Musset in Stockholm.
One of the most beautiful finds is the small ear spoon, which comes from burial field 2 / district 2A / grave no. 507 and is made of gilded silver. It is the only ear spoon among the finds from Birka that was made of precious metal. All of these finds come from women's burials. On the original, the eyelet for suspension is damaged and was replaced by a hole and a wire eyelet.
The oil spoons are always associated with other small implements such as needles, tweezers, scissors or knives and are usually found in the graves at chest or waist level of the buried. They were possibly attached to the bowl fibulae with a band. On the basis of the fibulae, they can be dated to the JBS (Younger Birka Stage), i.e. the advanced 9th to 10th century.
Comparable finds to the ear spoons from Birka can be found in numerous treasure and grave finds from the Viking Age, for example on Gotland or in Norway. The first pieces of these personal objects date back to Mesopotamia from the 3rd millennium BC. Until modern times, similar ear spoons were in use in Scandinavia, together with toothpicks, as hygiene implements, so their use has also been clarified beyond doubt. 

Literature:

H. Arbmann, Birka I - Die Gräber, Stockholm 1940
G. Arwidsson, Brika II:2 - Systematische Analysen der Gräberfunde, Stockholm 1984

More Information
Delivery time 1-2 weeks
weight 0.020000
size 77 mm
Era Vikings
Material Silver 925
Kind of replica Medicine and hygiene
scope of delivery Delivery in a jewellery case with certificate
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