C ULTURE AND G ENDER IN THE D ANELAW : S CANDINAVIAN AND A NGLO -S CANDINAVIAN B ROOCHES Jane F. Kershaw Introduction I n recent years metal detecting has yielded a substantial corpus of Scandinavian and Anglo-Scandinavian metalwork from the area of northern and eastern England once known as the Danelaw (Figure 1). Particularly prominent are brooches belonging to female dress in ninth- and tenth-century Scandinavian forms and styles. These objects add an entirely new dimension to the rather limited existing archaeological evidence for Scandinavian activity in the British Isles. As highly visible, typologically distinct dress accessories worn by women in everyday dress, they have much to reveal about the construction and expression of Scandinavian colonial identities during the Settlement Period (AD 870–950). Scandinavian metalwork, once a footnote in historical and archaeological studies of the Vikings in England, now forms a crucial part of the archaeological record of the Danelaw. In large part this is due to the efforts of museum curators and finds recorders, whose successful liaison with metal detectorists has ensured that new discoveries of metalwork are recorded and made available for research. By engaging with detected material, recent studies have transformed our understanding of the Jane F. Kershaw (jane.kershaw@arch.ox.ac.uk) is Randall MacIver Student in Archaeology at Queen’s College, Oxford. Abstract: Recent metal-detecting in areas of northern and eastern England has brought to light hundreds of Viking-Age brooches decorated in Scandinavian styles. While some objects are likely to be products of Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian interaction, others are diagnostically Scandinavian and may have been imported from the Scandinavian homelands. The following considers the distribution of these items within England, together with their chronology and status. It suggests that such pieces were worn to express Scandinavian cultural affiliation within the Danelaw. Given the status of these brooches as female dress accessories, it proposes that women in particular had a key role in promoting a Scandinavian colonial identity. In this context, this paper contributes to increasing scholarly interest in the value of material form, decoration, and consumption for negotiating identity in the Danelaw. Keywords: material culture, metalwork, style, identity, gender, Danelaw Viking and Medieval Scandinavia 5 (2009) 295–325. 10.1484/J.VMS.1.100682 296 Jane F. Kershaw Figure 1. The Danelaw. (Map: Jane Kershaw) character and distribution of Scandinavian metalwork (Richardson 1993; Margeson 1982; Margeson 1996; Margeson 1997; Leahy and Paterson 2001; Paterson 2002). Building on past scholarship, this paper presents up-to-date evidence for Scandinavian and Anglo-Scandinavian female dress items, namely brooches and pendants, found on English soil. It argues that these artefacts indicate the presence in the Danelaw of substantial numbers of women dressed in an overtly Scandinavian manner. This paper is divided into two sections. It begins with a discussion of the quantity and character of Scandinavian and Anglo-Scandinavian brooches found in England and suggests that brooches which formed an integral part of contemporary female dress in Scandinavia were present in the Danelaw in higher numbers than previous scholarship has suggested. It then considers the geographical distribution of these artefacts, their date range, and quality of workmanship. These themes are then used to explore the significance of Scandinavian metalwork in ninth- and tenth-century England, especially in regard to its use in the construction of gendered and cultural identities. The second part of this paper provides more detail CULTURE AND GENDER IN THE DANELAW 297 on the main brooch types and their morphological and stylistic attributes. It draws attention to the wide repertoire of Scandinavian brooch forms and motifs found in England and suggests that Scandinavian material from the Danelaw is particularly closely correlated with jewellery from southern Scandinavia. Data and Classification The research summarized in this paper is based on the author’s documentation and study of 485 female dress items decorated in the Scandinavian Viking-Age styles of Borre and Jelling. This total, which includes oval, equal-armed, trefoil, disc, and lozenge-shaped brooches, and pendants, represents an approximately twenty-fold increase in the number of items known twenty-five years ago from excavation and antiquarian sources (see, for instance, Roesdahl 1981). It reflects the vast increase in the number of finds recovered in recent years through metal detecting and recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), county Historic Environment Records (HERs), and regional museums. Detector finds account for close to 90 per cent of all recorded Scandinavian brooches from England (431 items), with modern excavations and antiquarian sources contributing relatively few artefacts by comparison, around 4 per cent and 5 per cent respectively. The origin of a few remaining items is unknown or unrecorded. There are, of course, a number of biases involved in the survival, recovery, and recording of metal-detector finds. Most metal-detector items are taken from the ploughsoil and are therefore unstratified, with the result that dating artefacts on anything other than stylistic grounds is problematic. Artefact distribution patterns may simply reflect concentrations of detecting activity, rather than genuine patterns of circulation. These and other issues surrounding the interpretation of detector material have been discussed at length elsewhere (Dobinson and Denison 1995). However, it is important to note that metal detecting also benefits the archaeological record, ensuring the survival of artefacts which, in heavily cultivated areas, would otherwise be destroyed by modern agricultural processes (Leahy 2003, 138). In the context of this research, metal detecting has led to the discovery of artefact types not previously known from England, including lozenge and convex disc brooches, in addition to ‘new’ Scandinavian objects, without known parallels. The female dress items discussed in this paper can be broadly classified into two groups, distinguished by distinct morphological and stylistic characteristics. The first encompasses brooches which we can refer to as ‘Scandinavian’. These items are indistinguishable from objects found in Scandinavia; they carry pure Scandinavian 298 Jane F. Kershaw ornament and bear the hallmarks of Scandinavian manufacture. Scandinavian brooches may have been produced in the Danelaw by craftsmen working in a Scandinavian tradition or imported, either via trade or migration, from the Scandinavian homelands. A second group of artefacts, described here as ‘AngloScandinavian’, combines cultural forms and styles. Typically, these hybrid artefacts are ornamented with modified versions of Scandinavian motifs and have native, Anglo-Saxon brooch or fitting forms, indicating their manufacture within an insular setting. Owing either to inadequate recording or excessive wear, a few remaining objects cannot be assigned to either group. Distinguishing Scandinavian from Anglo-Scandinavian brooches is important since the interplay between the two groups has much to reveal about Scandinavian cultural influence in the Danelaw. Part 1: Approaches and Interpretations Scandinavian Metalwork: Character and Use Previous studies of Scandinavian metalwork in England, working from a necessarily restricted dataset, have tended to downplay the impact of Scandinavian brooch styles on the material culture of the Danelaw. Instead, they have proposed that Anglo-Scandinavian brooches, with a mixture of cultural forms and styles, far outweighed items which could be considered diagnostically Scandinavian (Hadley 2006, 122–23; Thomas 2000, 252). The fresh perspective provided by this, more comprehensive, survey of material reveals instead that a significant quantity of brooches with diagnostically Scandinavian forms and motifs circulated in eastern and northern England. Around half of the 485 brooches studied by the author preserve distinctly Scandinavian shapes and artistic styles. Such brooches include oval brooches, worn exclusively with a Scandinaviantype apron dress, large trefoil and equal-armed brooches, and pendants, an accessory type not part of contemporary Anglo-Saxon female costume (Paterson 2002). More common, comprising over 150 items, are smaller brooches, also distinctly Scandinavian in terms of object form and ornamental detail: convex disc, lozenge, and trefoil brooches, worn alone or in combination with larger brooches to close a linen shift or secure a lightweight outer garment. Like their Scandinavian counterparts, brooches recovered from the Danelaw are ornamented with motifs drawn from pre-Christian, Scandinavian artistic traditions: from the Borre style, ring chain and knot motifs, together with cat-like animals with symmetrical, gripping bodies, and from the Jelling repertoire, profiled beasts with open jaws, ear lappets, and sinuous, interlacing double-contoured bodies (Wilson 1995, 89–90, 115–16). 299 CULTURE AND GENDER IN THE DANELAW The Scandinavian brooch types represented in England extend to cover a multitude of variants and sub-types (Table 1). They are remarkably varied, reflecting the full artistic and morphological range of Viking-Age brooches from Scandinavia. For instance, Borre-style convex disc brooches occur in England in three of the four forms represented at Birka ( Jansson 1984). Moreover, they include two additional variants not recorded at the Scandinavian site, discussed in further detail below. Danelaw brooches ornamented in the Scandinavian Terslev style, a volute pattern related to the Borre style, reveal a similarly wide compositional range. In addition to the established Terslev motifs, Scandinavian brooches from England carry new compositions generated by the amalgamation of two or more existing Terslev styles, and, in doing so, add to the current register of Scandinavian Terslev designs. Table 1. Scandinavian brooch types represented in England. Scandinavian Brooches from England Oval Brooches Equal-armed Brooches Convex Disc Brooches Borre style Terslev style Jelling style Trefoil Brooches Lozenge Brooches Variants represented References Types Berdal; P 37; P 51 Types III A; III F; IV C Petersen 1928 Aagård 1984 Types IIA, IIC, IID Types Grundtyp 1, 2, 3, 4; LVB; Dreipass Type I A1. Motifs Fiskeby; Tuna Jansson 1984 Kleingärtner 2007 Jansson 1984; Callmer 1989 Maixner 2005 Types P 2.4; P 4.2; P 7.12; P 5.1; G 1.3; E 1.3; E 1.2; E 2.1; F 3.1; Z 1.5; Z 2.3; Z 2.4 Types with beaded and ridged arms Richardson 1993 The presence in the Danelaw of a wide range of Scandinavian brooch types, encompassing almost the full repertoire of brooch styles in contemporary use in Scandinavia, is highly significant. It is commensurate with items having been introduced to England on the clothing of female settlers from Scandinavia, rather than items having arrived as trade goods for the mass market. It also runs counter to suggestions that brooches with diagnostically Scandinavian forms were discarded by Scandinavian settlers in favour of brooch types which could be assimilated into native costume (Thomas 2000, 252). Indeed, distinctly Scandinavian brooch types, with diagnostic trefoil, lozenge, and convex disc forms, were reproduced within the Danelaw. This is evidenced by a significant number of brooches which retain their trefoil, lozenge, and convex disc shapes as well as their Scandinavian decorative content, but which reveal insular influence in their pin fittings. Examples include a series of ten lozenge brooches and a selection of Borre-style convex disc and geometric trefoil brooches, discussed in more detail below. 300 Jane F. Kershaw The manufacture within the Danelaw of Anglo-Scandinavian brooches closely modelled on Scandinavian prototypes provides evidence for a vibrant local market in Scandinavian-type dress accessories. Such a demand for Scandinavian-type brooches is notable, since the diversity and distinctiveness of Scandinavian brooch shapes was not replicated in indigenous, Anglo-Saxon fashion. The use of brooches in Anglo-Saxon female dress was considerably more conservative, focusing on the use of just one brooch type: flat disc brooches. The impact of Scandinavian brooch forms and shapes on fashions and personal appearance in the Danelaw is likely to have been especially profound since other aspects of Anglo-Saxon and Danish dress were less varied. They comprised such similar components as under-tunics, dresses, and outer garments or shawls, evidence for the use of the Scandinavian strap-dress in Denmark being limited (Owen-Crocker 2004, 148–51, 156–59, 212–26; Hedeager Krag 1994). With their distinct forms and new art styles, Scandinavian brooches were therefore well placed to articulate social differences and mark out a distinct Scandinavian cultural affiliation. The Scandinavian brooches recovered on English soil did not simply look Scandinavian; there is evidence to suggest that they were worn in a distinctly Scandinavian manner. This is true not only of oval brooches, which, due to their form and recessed pin, could only be worn with a Scandinavian-type strap-dress, but also of trefoil and small lozenge and disc types. In addition to having a pin-lug and catchplate, these brooches possess an extra, third loop, a feature which is common to Viking-Age brooches from Scandinavia. The function of the third loop on Scandinavian brooches is the subject of debate ( Jansson 1984, 58; Hårdh 1984, 88; Richardson 1993, 20), but there is clear evidence from Scandinavia, including from graves at Birka, that it was often used for the suspension of metal or textile chains, to which pendants, beads, or non-decorative items including toilet implements would have been attached (Eilbracht 1999, 96–97; Hägg 1974, 40–42, figs 32–33; Hägg 1986, 58–59). In the Viking period, brooches with suspended chains with attached tools in the style of chatelaine brooches represent a uniquely Scandinavian and Baltic fashion. They were not part of contemporary Anglo-Saxon female dress, as evidenced by the fact that native late Anglo-Saxon brooches lack suspension loops or equivalent features. The presence of third loops on Scandinavian brooches from England therefore suggests that, if worn as intended, these brooches would have formed just one part of a much more elaborate costume set, one which was incongruent with native women’s dress. The preservation of metal chain bits in the third loops of some Scandinavian brooches from England (for instance, Kirk 1927), together with the presence in the Danelaw of object types traditionally worn suspended CULTURE AND GENDER IN THE DANELAW 301 from brooch chains in Scandinavia, including eastern Scandinavian combs (PAS ‘Find-ID’ NARCB3E1B5), lends support to suggestions that the Scandinavian fashion for chatelaine brooches continued in use in areas of England. However, it is notable that third loops do not appear on Anglo-Scandinavian brooches, even on those objects whose form and decorative content otherwise accurately mirrors Scandinavian styles. Just one Anglo-Scandinavian brooch carries a third loop, a debased Jelling-style disc brooch from Gooderstone, Norfolk (PAS ‘Find-ID’ SF7482). On this item, however, the loop is unfinished and is positioned horizontally, rather than vertically in the Scandinavian manner, suggesting the craftsman was unfamiliar with its traditional form and arrangement. This would appear to indicate a different context of use for Anglo-Scandinavian brooches compared with their Scandinavian counterparts. Such items were worn singularly, in a manner in keeping with indigenous fashions, rather than as part of a more extensive accessory ensemble involving suspended chains, as was traditional in Scandinavia. This modification to the way in which Scandinavian-type brooches were worn in the Danelaw suggests some level of accommodation on behalf of brooch wearers with existing, local fashions. Other evidence for such accommodation, which may be interpreted as a sign of cultural interaction, is provided by brooches of AngloSaxon form with ornamental schemes adapted from Scandinavian brooches. The chief representative of brooches of this description is a flat insular-type disc brooch with an interlace design derived from the Scandinavian Borre style (see Figure 12 below) (Paterson 2002, 274–75). This brooch series, named here the East Anglian Series after its predominantly East Anglian distribution, was mass produced in the Danelaw: over 230 examples are known to the author. Although clearly inspired by Scandinavian prototypes — the motif appears on a small number of brooches of Scandinavian form from Denmark and Sweden — the Danelaw items represent a new and independent brooch series, with a form familiar to female Anglo-Saxon dress. The Borre-derived interlace motif, with arms in the shape of a cross, appears to have captured the imagination of the inhabitants of eastern England. Its prolific output and clear combination of Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian cultural influences arguably indicates that it functioned not just as a dress accessory, but as a type of symbolic badge, expressive of the emerging Anglo-Scandinavian culture of the Danelaw. The East Anglian disc brooch series represents a process in which motifs of Scandinavian origin were applied to brooches of Anglo-Saxon manufacture. Notably, the reverse process is not well attested among Danelaw finds. Just one item, a mould for a trefoil brooch from Blake Street, York, is suggestive of a practice in which indigenous Anglo-Saxon motifs, in this case drawn from the 302 Jane F. Kershaw Winchester style, were applied to brooches of Scandinavian form (Kershaw 2008, 263, fig. 12). Similarly, there is no evidence for the co-occurrence on individual brooches of Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon art styles, despite the existence of vibrant, indigenous artistic traditions in the area of Scandinavian settlement in the late ninth and tenth centuries (Kershaw 2008; Thomas 2006, 157). This stands in contrast to the frequent mingling of later Viking-Age Scandinavian and AngloSaxon art styles on ornamental metalwork as well as in other media (Kershaw 2008, 265). These patterns suggest limits to the extent of cultural assimilation in the Danelaw, or, more precisely, to the role of ornamental metalwork in negotiating such processes. Artefact Distribution The find locations of brooches and pendants in early Viking art styles, with a few exceptions, confirm the Danelaw as a cultural boundary marking the extent of Scandinavian metalwork (see Figures 5 and 8 below). Anglo-Scandinavian brooches, with a mixture of Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon forms and styles, reveal a similarly restricted distribution in the area of Scandinavian settlement (see Figure 13 below). The northern and easterly scatter of artefacts in the ninth- and tenthcentury Scandinavian styles is at variance with the more widespread and southern distribution patterns of metalwork in the later Scandinavian styles of Ringerike and Urnes (Williams 1997, fig. 10; Owen 2001, fig. 11.2). Metal items in these later styles enjoyed widespread popularity in England from the late tenth and early eleventh century, possibly having been popularized under the influence of the Scandinavian court of Cnut and his dynasty in London. Within the Danelaw, female dress items are heavily concentrated in the eastern county of Norfolk, with a significant number of finds also from Lincolnshire. Such concentration is notable, since East Anglia is not a traditional focus for studies of Scandinavian settlement, even being excluded from some historical definitions of the Danelaw (for a discussion, see Abrams 2001). There are no finds north of the River Tees and relatively few in Cambridgeshire and central-midland counties such as Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, and Northamptonshire. To a degree, the concentration of metalwork in Norfolk and Lincolnshire can be seen as a reflection of both high levels of metal-detecting activity and each county’s long history of successful liaison between museums and metal-detectorists, which has resulted in a wealth of material from all periods being made publically available. Nonetheless, objects recorded nationally by the PAS show a similar concentration and must, to some extent, illustrate genuine patterns of artefact use and circulation. CULTURE AND GENDER IN THE DANELAW 303 There is no doubt that Scandinavian metalwork is found in highest numbers in rural areas with historically attested Scandinavian settlement. In most instances, the distribution of metalwork corresponds with high incidences of Scandinavian place-names. One very notable exception is the low numbers of surviving Scandinavian place-names from Norfolk with the exception of Flegg, an area which has produced both Scandinavian and Anglo-Scandinavian artefacts (Abrams 2005). Very few items of Scandinavian metalwork are recorded in and around the Five Boroughs — Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, Stamford, and Lincoln — where there is a similar paucity of Scandinavian place-names (Cameron 1975, map 2). This pattern is not simply a reflection of low levels of metal detecting in modern urban areas. Modern excavations at Lincoln, Norwich, Thetford, and York have revealed only a handful of Scandinavian items: a composite Jelling-style disc brooch from St Mark’s Station, Lincoln, and a silver Borre-style trefoil brooch from Thetford provide two, rare examples (Lincolnshire HER 70176-MLI70176; Norfolk HER 34380). The same sites have, however, produced multiple AngloSaxon and Anglo-Scandinavian brooches (Roesdahl 1981, cat. nos YD 12, 13, 38, 40, YMW 14; Ayers 1994, 39–40, fig. 14; Dallas 1993, fig. 116.22; Youngs 2004). In terms of metalwork, Scandinavian cultural influence does not appear to have been strongly felt in the towns of the Danelaw (pace Loveluck 2007, 158), perhaps reflecting what Gabor Thomas (2000, 240) has described as ‘heightened levels of cultural integration and assimilation existent in Viking trading communities’. Chronology and Period of Use Scandinavian and Anglo-Scandinavian brooches recovered on English soil have proved difficult to date independently. Just seven brooches recorded by the author derive from datable archaeological contexts, and evidence of contaminated deposits renders some of these dates unreliable (for example, Wallis 2004, 38, 67). For most Scandinavian brooches, dating is carried out on stylistic grounds, via comparisons with similar artefacts from datable contexts in Scandinavia. In this context, the appearance on brooches from the Danelaw of the Jelling style, which partly postdated the Borre style in Scandinavia, is significant. It indicates that the local population kept abreast of changing Scandinavian fashions during the tenth century and welcomed new artistic impulses, providing evidence for continued cultural contact between the Danelaw and Scandinavia. On stylistic grounds, most Scandinavian brooches from England can be assigned a broad date range stretching from the late ninth to the mid- to late tenth 304 Jane F. Kershaw century. This period corresponds with the floruit of the Borre and Jelling styles in Scandinavia, as attested by the appearance of the styles in coin-dated hoards, as well as by dendrochronological dates obtained from sites with diagnostic material, including the relevant burial mounds at Gokstad (dated to AD 900–05), Borre (AD 900), and Jelling (AD 958–59), and the ‘fortresses’ of Fyrkat (AD 980) and Trelleborg (AD 981) (Capelle 1968, 48–49, 83; Wilson 1995, 120; Roesdahl 1994). The dating of Anglo-Scandinavian artefacts without exact parallels in Scandinavia presents additional challenges. As culturally hybrid brooches reflecting a mixture of Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian forms and styles, it may be supposed that they postdate the original, Scandinavian brooches on which they were partially modelled. A lead-alloy disc brooch with a debased Jelling style design was recovered from a tenth-century context at 16–22 Coppergate, York. It displays casting bubbles, suggesting that it was produced nearby and discarded as a reject at this date (Mainman and Rogers 2000, 2571–72, 10604). Two East Anglian Series disc brooches, from Castle Bailey, Norwich, and Flaxengate, Lincoln, were excavated from eleventh-century contexts (Richardson 1993, 55; Ayers 1985, 29, fig. 24.1). This interlace motif is dated by its appearance on brooches from Birka, Sweden, and Syvsig, Denmark, to the first half of the tenth century, suggesting the possibility that it circulated in the Danelaw for an extended period of time (Evison 1957, 221; Rieck 1982, 8). Other brooches may have experienced similarly ‘long lives’, beyond their period of popularity in Scandinavia. Scandinavian and Anglo-Scandinavian brooches are often extremely worn. A substantial number show signs of repair or reuse as pendants or mounts, perhaps indicating their continued use over several generations. Although outside the area of study, an interesting example is provided by a composite Borre/Jelling-style double-plated disc brooch recovered from the High Street excavations, Dublin, and dated stylistically to the early to mid-tenth century (Graham-Campbell 1980, cat. no. 200). This piece was secondarily fitted with a pin over twice its length and was recovered from a context dated to the mid- to late eleventh century (originally published as tenth century) (Graham-Campbell 1994). That this dress item appears to have retained its appeal over several generations is notable. Examples of the brooch type from England, none of which are independently dated, also exhibit signs of reuse. In three instances, the outer, openwork brooch plate was fitted with pin attachment lugs, enabling it to function as a brooch, perhaps after the lower plate was discarded or lost (see, for instance, Figure 11). Scandinavian styles in ornamental metalwork were, it seems, current in the Danelaw beyond the era of Scandinavian political dominance and into the period of West Saxon rule. How can this be explained? Given the restricted distribution CULTURE AND GENDER IN THE DANELAW 305 of Scandinavian artefacts within the region of Scandinavian settlement, one explanation may be that these items were used to express or reinforce Scandinavian cultural affiliation. The continued popularity of Scandinavian designs may reflect the desire of the Danelaw inhabitants, whether of Scandinavian lineage or indigenous, Anglo-Saxon background, to cultivate and promote Scandinavian identities and associations, perhaps for reasons of political or social advantage. In this context, and given the extended popularity of Scandinavian art styles beyond the period of Scandinavian colonial rule, we may need to revise our understanding of the distribution of power and authority in late tenth- and early eleventh-century England. Object Quality and Social Status The suggestion that Scandinavian cultural association was actively cultivated by women in the Danelaw seems at odds with recent assessments of the quality of Scandinavian metalwork recovered from England. A number of studies have drawn attention to the base-metal (copper and lead-alloy) composition of Danelaw artefacts, citing their cheap material and low-quality workmanship as evidence of the low social status of their wearers (Richardson 1993, 37; Leahy and Paterson 2001, 189, 198; Margeson 1996, 48; Margeson 1997, 6–7). The worn appearance of many items, suggestive of long periods of use, has added to this view, as has their predominantly rural distribution (Margeson 1996, 55). Certainly, most artefact types belong to highly standardized, mass-produced brooch or pendant series and would have been worn as part of everyday dress. Indeed, metal detection biases the recovery of items which, as stray finds, are likely to have been casually lost or mislaid. The extent to which dress artefacts in copper and lead-alloys can be considered low status in the late Anglo-Saxon and Viking period is questionable. This period was marked by a decline in the use of precious-metal dress accessories and a corresponding increase in the manufacture of base-metal items facilitated by the serial production of some metalwork within towns (Thomas 2000, 239–40). However, as David Hinton (1975, 178–80; 1978, 141–43) has suggested, the decline in the quality and elaboration of dress fittings may reflect changing social attitudes among the elite towards the display of wealth through personal adornment, rather than a decline in resources. Furthermore, although base metals occupied the lower end of the market for ornamental dress items, the absence of metalwork from Viking-Age graves in some regions of Scandinavia suggests that not everyone had access to metal dress fittings (for instance, Svanberg 2003, 23). Several base-metal 306 Jane F. Kershaw Danelaw brooches are gilded or coated in a white metal, a treatment we would not expect on the lowest quality brooches. The material presented later in this paper also indicates that ‘high-status’ Scandinavian objects nearing the top end of the market were worn in the eastern and northern counties. A lead patrix from York (Roesdahl 1981, cat. no. YMW13) and a copper-alloy die from Swinhope in Lincolnshire (Kershaw, forthcoming) would have been used in the serial production of exclusive silver filigree pendants of the Hiddensee-Rügen type. This style is closely associated with the Danish king Harald Bluetooth and his court, appearing on gold and silver objects manufactured and found at high-status sites, including so-called central places, in areas once controlled by the Jelling dynasty ( Jansson 1991, 279; Duzcko 1995; Svanberg 1998, 118). No finished pendants of the Hiddensee type have been found in England, but the York patrix and Swinhope die provide clear evidence for the manufacture there of highly sophisticated, elite Scandinavian jewellery. From the Danelaw there are some very fine, artistically and technically accomplished brooches in precious metals. A gilded, cast-silver trefoil brooch with Borre ornament was found during excavations near Thetford (Norfolk HER 34380). Silver-gilt brooches and pendants carrying complex Terslev or Terslev-derived motifs are known from Whitton in Lincolnshire (see Figure 2 below) (Youngs 2000), Saffron Walden in Essex (Evison 1969, pl. LXXI), and Manchester (Graham-Campbell 1983, fig. 6). Through the use of chip-carved bands or pellets these items imitate the filigree and granulation work applied to the highest quality Scandinavian items (Eilbracht 1999). Similar imitation work is carried on a number of humbler, copper and lead-alloy brooches, including on an AngloScandinavian lead brooch from Torksey, Lincolnshire, with pellets in its central field (PAS ‘Find-ID’ NLM-72D1C7). Brooches and Gender The presence in the Danelaw of large numbers of women’s brooches decorated in early Viking-Age art styles is notable given that Scandinavian-type dress items worn or used by men are uncommon (Leahy and Paterson 2001, 197). A copper-alloy belt slide with Borre ring-chain ornament from Wharram Percy provides a rare English example of a specifically Scandinavian male dress item (Stamper and Croft 2000, pl. 11). A small number of buckles decorated with Borre and Jelling motifs are recorded, for instance, from Sculthorpe, Norfolk (Margeson 1997, fig. 25), South Ferriby, North Lincolnshire, and Caistor, Lincolnshire, the latter finding CULTURE AND GENDER IN THE DANELAW 307 a close parallel in a buckle from grave 1076 at Birka (Richardson 1993, 13, 47–48; Arbman 1940, taf. 87:1). Gabor Thomas (2000, 244–46) has identified several Scandinavian strap-ends with Borre-style ring-chain ornament, in addition to a larger number of Anglo-Scandinavian products, with different combinations of Borre and Borre-derived ring-knot and zoomorphic features. However, these items are few in number compared with the quantity of recorded female dress items and may, like buckles, have been worn by women as well as men. In contrast, metalwork in the late Viking-Age art styles of Ringerike and Urnes appears to be more ‘masculine’ in character. As recent reviews have highlighted, these eleventh-century styles, in distinctly Anglicized versions, commonly adorn pieces of equestrian equipment. Examples include bridle and stirrup-strap mounts, over five hundred examples of which have now been recorded (Williams 1997; Owen 2001, 209). Conversely, female brooches in later Viking-Age art styles are correspondingly rare. To date, metal detecting has recovered just two Scandinavian Urnes-style brooches known to the author, from Walcott, Lincolnshire, and Shotley, Suffolk (PAS ‘Find-ID’ NLM7007; Suffolk HER SLY 056-MSF1388). These findings suggest that, over time, the relationship between Scandinavian ornament and female dress was replaced by the association of Scandinavian styles with items normally used by men. This may be explained by a number of factors. Viking-Age male dress utilized fewer metal items than female costume, and those items which it did employ, such as ringed pins and penannular brooches, offered fewer opportunities for ornamental styles. Male dress was also less varied than contemporary female costume, and more conservative with respect to evolving fashions. Furthermore, changes in female fashion in Scandinavia during the later tenth century saw a sharp decline in the use of oval and other mass-produced brooches, though, by the eleventh century, copper-alloy accessories had been reinstated, as evidenced by the vast numbers of openwork Urnes-style brooches now known from Scandinavia (Fuglesang 1991, 85; Bertelsen 1994; Lønborg 1994). Nonetheless it is valid to suggest that in the Settlement Period female dress items, more than male, were selected for the display of Scandinavian forms and motifs. More specifically with regard to the trefoil brooch, it is possible to identify a process by which a traditionally ‘male’ item, the Carolingian trefoil mount, was adopted and modified by women to be worn as a brooch, first in Scandinavia and then in the Danelaw. Perhaps the transferral of an originally Frankish object to Scandinavia and the Scandinavian colonies was intended to convey overtones of Carolingian military strength and associated authority, expressed through the medium of female costume. A similar process has been noted by Tania Dickinson (1991, 1993) for the transferral of five-spiral designs on late Roman chip-carved cingulum, 308 Jane F. Kershaw military belt equipment worn by men, to saucer brooches worn by women in the early Anglo-Saxon period. Both the early Anglo-Saxon and Viking periods saw substantial migrations and no doubt flexible political and social allegiances. Allusions to a past and powerful authority through dress may have helped identify and legitimize the presence of a new people with otherwise rather tenuous claims to the land. While we must recognize that dress is just one of the ways in which cultural identity may be articulated, female dress in this period appears to play a role in harnessing historical, ideological, perhaps even political, associations in order to confer authority in times of social or political change. In this light, we may speculate that women, whether ethnically Scandinavian or not, had a special status in reconfiguring and communicating Scandinavian identity in the British Isles, perhaps also carried out via other social strategies, such as exogamous marriage. The evidence of Scandinavian and Anglo-Scandinavian brooches suggests that women and their dress codes may have represented historical and cultural links with the Scandinavian homelands. As such, their dress reflected a contemporary role for women as bearers of family tradition and continuity within a new colonial society. Part 2: Brooch Types and Characteristics This section discusses in more detail the Scandinavian and Anglo-Scandinavian brooches recorded from England, and provides the base for the arguments made in the preceding section. The collection of Scandinavian material includes a number of particularly unusual finds, which are worth highlighting. One such object is a unique oval-shaped brooch from Great Dunham in Norfolk (PAS ‘Find-ID’ NMS-F26AB7). This item is not technically a Viking-Age piece, since its form and decoration date it to the eighth century, well before the Scandinavian settlement of England (Rogerson and Ashley 2008, 428–29). Its moulded, crouched beast decoration and prominent median band nonetheless relate it to the Berdal brooch group, the precursors to the oval brooch. Also without parallel is a Scandinavian silver-gilt disc brooch from Whitton in Lincolnshire (Figure 2) (North Lincolnshire Museum 2003.086). This brooch, a British Museum Treasure, bears deeply cast ornament based on a variation of a Terslev-style composition (Youngs 2000). Two Scandinavian lozenge-shaped brooches with schematic Borre-style animalhead terminals, from Queenhithe, London, and Hasketon, Suffolk, represent hitherto unrecorded variants of a Scandinavian brooch type (Museum of London BUF90, 1500; Martin and others 1994, fig. 48D). A trefoil brooch from Bures Hamlet, Essex, with decoration comprising prominent Borre-style gripping feet, CULTURE AND GENDER IN THE DANELAW 309 belongs to a trefoil series with just five other representatives, all from eastern Sweden (Figure 3) (PAS ‘Find-ID’ SF-EB5262; Maixner 2005, karte 22, Type F 3.1). Notable AngloScandinavian brooches include a Figure 2. Gilt silver convex disc brooch with disc brooch from Hemingstone, Terslev-style ornament, Whitton, Lincolnshire. Suffolk (PAS ‘Find-ID’ SFCopyright North Lincolnshire Museum. 8EE7E2). This item carries a modified version of a Scandinavian motif, which appears in its original form on a Scandinavian pendant from Lincolnshire (Paterson and Minter 2004). Figure 3. Borre-style trefoil brooch, Bures Hamlet, Essex. Drawn by Donna Wreathall. Copyright Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service. Before looking in more detail at particular brooch groups found in England, it is worth noting the morphological features which distinguish Scandinavian brooches from indigenous, Anglo-Saxon types. These include the shape of a brooch, as well as variations in its form and attachment mechanisms. For instance, while disc brooches are found in both costume traditions, Scandinavian disc brooches are dished whereas Anglo-Saxon forms are flat, perhaps reflecting their different functions in female dress (Richardson 1993, 20). Scandinavian brooches carry a double pin-lug set at a right angle to the brooch rim, in contrast to the single, transverse 310 Jane F. Kershaw pin-lug encountered on Anglo-Saxon products (Richardson 1993, 20). They may also possess a third loop for the suspension of a chain, beads, or pendants, a feature not found on Anglo-Saxon brooches. Often, decorative features can also be ascribed specific cultural origins, making it possible to distinguish pure Scandinavian ornament from devolved or Anglicized versions of Scandinavian motifs. Scandinavian Brooches and their Anglo-Scandinavian Variants The convex disc brooch is the most common Scandinavian artefact type found in the Danelaw. It is associated with a range of motifs, one of which comprises three inward-looking Borrestyle animal heads separated Figure 4. Borre-style convex disc brooch, Hindringham, Norfolk. (Photo: Jane Kershaw) by a double-contoured trefoil, Jan Petersen’s Type P 128 (Petersen 1928, fig. 128) (Figure 4). Once thought to have comprised an eastern Scandinavian brooch series, with a cluster of items from Birka, the type is now recorded from a range of sites in southern Scandinavia, suggesting a broader Scandinavian distribution ( Jansson 1984, 62; for instance, National Museum Copenhagen C36096, C33449). In England, the series is represented by forty-two specimens, all of which come from the territory of the Danelaw (Figure 5). Stylistically, the Danelaw brooches are indistinguishable from their Scandinavian counterparts. However, evidence suggests that many of the items were manufactured locally. Twenty-five examples employ a single transverse pin-lug typical of native Anglo-Saxon brooches yet retain their diagnostic convex shape and would appear to be local copies of Scandinavian prototypes. Variants of this motif are also represented among Danelaw finds. Eight brooches known to the author depict a variant classified by Ingmar Jansson (1984, abb. 8.2 IID) as Type IID, with three outward-facing long-necked animal heads stemming from a concentric circle. These encompass equal numbers of Scandinavian brooches and locally produced Anglo-Scandinavian products with a different pin-fitting arrangement. Another brooch, said to come from East Anglia, belongs to Jansson’s Type IIC, distinguished by four, rather than three, outward-facing CULTURE AND GENDER IN THE DANELAW 311 Figure 5. Distribution of Borre- and Terslev-ornamented disc brooches. (Map: Jane Kershaw) animal heads and a complex Borre-style ring-knot pattern ( Jansson 1984, abb. 8.2 IIC; Mills 2001, 45, V91). Two further Scandinavian brooches, from Laxfield in Suffolk and Malton, North Yorkshire, carry a variant of the classic motif, ornamented with pellets. This variant is rare even in Scandinavia. The Danelaw brooches find parallels in just two specimens, from Uppåkra, Skåne, and Gudme, Fyn (LUHM 3100–36592; Thrane 1987, fig. 44 c, 4:592). Another Scandinavian style which appears in England on convex disc brooches, as well as on flat, Anglo-Scandinavian derivatives, is known as the Terslev style. This comprises three or four symmetrically placed volutes which, when bound by a closed ring, create a ring knot related to the Borre-style (Paterson 2002, 270). During the Viking Age, the motif is a southern Scandinavian phenomenon, appearing on ornate silver and gold brooches and pendants executed in filigree and granulation (Friis Johansen 1912). In addition to appearing on jewellery of the highest calibre, the Terslev motif also adorned simpler, cast copper-alloy brooches and pendants, some of which were produced at Hedeby (Capelle 1968, taf. 10.2, 312 Jane F. Kershaw 27.8). There is a growing southern Scandinavian as well as Insular corpus of such items, most of which have been recovered as stray finds with the use of a metal detector. Thirty-three Terslev-decorated objects are now known from England, most of which come from the northern Danelaw and modern-day Lincolnshire in particular (Figure 5). They exhibit a broad repertoire of Terslev volute and knot patterns, encompassing several of the variant ornamental schemes recently classified by Sunhild Kleingärtner (2007). This corpus includes a number of brooches and pendants in precious metals, including the convex disc brooch from Whitton, Lincolnshire, mentioned above, with three symmetrically placed volutes related to the Terslev Dreipass motif (see Figure 2) (Kleingärtner 2007, 64–65). Further examples include two silver-gilt pendants from a female inhumation from Saffron Walden, Essex, the cultural origins of which have been the subject of a recent review (Paterson 2002, 271–72, fig. 5). A Scandinavian silver disc from Manchester, with four circular fields enhanced by the use of niello inlay, offers yet another example from England of a Terslev-ornamented dress item in precious metal (Graham-Campbell 1983, fig. 6). More common in England are simpler brooches in copper and lead alloys. The so-called Terslev Grundtyp 1 motif, comprising four volutes bound by a square frame, is carried on a group of five disc brooches from England, a number which almost doubles the total number of recorded Figure 6. Terslev-style disc brooch, Thurlton, Norfolk. examples from Scandinavia Drawn by Sue White. Copyright Norfolk Museums and (Figure 6) (Kleingärtner 2007, Archaeology Service. 61). The Terslev ‘Type 4’ motif, also carried on pendants of Callmer’s Type Liljenäs and identified by the presence of pellet-filled lozenges at the centre of four volutes, also circulated in England (Kleingärtner 2007, 63–64; Paterson 2002, 270; Callmer 1989, abb. 3.18). It appears on four disc brooches, one of which comes from Wereham in Norfolk (Norfolk HER 24542). Terslev designs were also enthusiastically copied in the Danelaw; around half of Danelaw Terslev brooches comprise AngloScandinavian products, distinguished by either their flat form or the use of a single, transverse pin-lug. CULTURE AND GENDER IN THE DANELAW 313 The openwork lozenge brooch, with a raised central rosette and four arms terminating in moulded Borre-style animal heads, is another ninth-century Scandinavian brooch type with a distribution in the eastern counties of England (Arwidsson Figure 7. Lozenge-shaped brooch, Rockland St Peter, 1989, 70). This brooch type is Norfolk. Copyright Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service. southern Scandinavian, with evidence for its production at the aristocratic site at Lake Tissø in Denmark ( Jørgensen 2003, fig. 15.23 4), as well as at Hedeby (Capelle 1968, taf. 10.2), where systematic metal-detector surveys since 2003 have lead to the recovery of eighteen brooches of the type as well as two models (Volker Hilberg, pers. comm.). Caroline Paterson (née Richardson 1993, 18) has identified two main variants of the brooch within Scandinavia, distinguished by cast beading or ridges along the arms. Both types are also found in the Danelaw, which currently has a register of over thirty examples (see Figure 8 below). In the Danelaw, as in Scandinavia, the variant with beaded arms appears to have been the most popular; well-preserved examples come from Wenham Parva in Suffolk and Rockland St Peter in Norfolk (Figure 7) (PAS ‘Find-ID’ SFD9EEA2; Norfolk HER 34984). Like the disc brooches, lozenge brooches were also reproduced in the Danelaw. The insular provenance of a lozenge brooch from Stoke Holy Cross, Norfolk, is revealed by its use of an Anglo-Saxon type pin-lug (Margeson 1997, fig. 21). The trefoil brooch is one of the most characteristic items of female Scandinavian dress. It was based on trefoil-shaped Carolingian military belt mounts, which were adopted by women in Scandinavia and fitted for use as brooches (Petersen 1928, 93). The brooch form was also popular in England. Seventy-eight trefoils have been recovered on English soil, most from the modern county of Norfolk (Figure 8). These items display a broad repertoire of geometric and zoomorphic motifs, reflecting an artistic diversity also characteristic of trefoil brooches from Scandinavia (Maixner 2005). Examples of large trefoils other than the Bures Hamlet brooch mentioned above include a brooch discovered over seventy-five years ago near Pickering in North Yorkshire (Kirk 1927). This piece, with en face Borre-style animal heads and spiral-shaped animal bodies, belongs to Maixner’s Type Z 1.5, a populous Scandinavian series (Maixner 2005, taf. 12). A heavily worn brooch belonging to the same series has recently been discovered from Bampton 314 Jane F. Kershaw Figure 8. Distribution of trefoil, lozenge, and Jelling-style brooches. (Map: Jane Kershaw) in Oxfordshire, introducing to the English corpus of Scandinavian brooches a rare non-Danelaw specimen (PAS ‘Find-ID’ BERK-CD5492). The tally of trefoil brooches from England includes forty-five small trefoils with geometric ornament based on an acanthus design (Figure 9). This trefoil type has a devolved appearance, but is in fact well known from southern Scandinavia. It is particularly well represented at Hedeby, where the presence of numerous moulds supports the serial production of the type (Maixner 2005, Katalog B, G 1.3). Notably, these Scandinavian examples consistently carry a design flaw, manifest in the misalignment of one trefoil lobe (Maixner 2005, 123). The same design irregularity is preserved on several geometric trefoils found in England, suggesting the likelihood that these items derived from the same or similar moulds as brooches from Scandinavia (for instance, a brooch from Middle Harling, Norfolk, Norwich Castle Museum 1989.43.10). The use of Anglo-Saxon type pin-lugs on small, geometric trefoils indicates, however, that such trefoils were produced locally, by craftsmen familiar with insular metalworking traditions. This raises the possibility CULTURE AND GENDER IN THE DANELAW 315 that Scandinavian trefoil brooches or brooch moulds were employed in AngloScandinavian context for the reproduction of this apparently popular brooch type. A clear indication of the strong Scandinavian character of the Danelaw corpus of female dress items lies in Figure 9. Geometric trefoil brooch, Long Melford, Suffolk. Copyright Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service. the recent recovery of oval brooch fragments. The oval, or tortoise, brooch is the most common Viking-Age brooch form, with over four thousand examples to date ( Jansson 1985, 12). It was worn exclusively with the traditional Scandinavian strap-dress, and is thus a secure indication of Scandinavian appearance and cultural affiliation. Although it has been suggested that oval brooches, along with other diagnostically Scandinavian brooch types, were discarded by their owners early on in the Scandinavian settlement (Thomas 2000, 252), new discoveries from Norfolk of fragments belonging to three or possibly four oval brooches suggest that this characteristically Scandinavian brooch was more prominent in the Danelaw than previous records suggest. These recent discoveries include two brooch fragments, from Mileham and Mautby in Norfolk, which cannot be assigned to a specific oval brooch group due to their small size. Enough detail survives on two fragments from the outer shell of an oval brooch from Wormegay to assign it to Petersen’s Type P 51, and possibly the variant P 51 B, the most common tenth-century oval brooch type with examples from Norway, Sweden, and the Scandinavian colonies (Figure 10) ( Jansson 1981, fig. 1; Jansson 1985, 67). These fragments are gilded, with openwork bosses, and Figure 10. Oval brooch fragment, Wormegay, bear decoration consisting of ribbing Norfolk. Copyright Norfolk Museums and and scroll, probably the feet, legs, and Archaeology Service. hip of Oseberg-style animals. 316 Jane F. Kershaw These finds complement the discovery in 2001 and 2004 of pairs of oval brooches from excavated female inhumations at Adwick-le-Street, Yorkshire (Speed and Walton Rogers 2004), and Cumwhitton in Cumbria (Pitts 2004) and bring the total number of oval brooches found in England to thirteen, including five pairs (for other oval brooches found in England, see Speed and Walton Rogers 2004, fig. 16). In addition to this evidence, there are indications that other large, ostentatious Scandinavian brooch types were more common in the Danelaw than was previously thought. Five Scandinavian equal-armed brooches have now been recovered from the eastern counties. Two of these survive only as fragments, but three better-preserved finds, including a recent discovery from Harworth Bircotes, Nottinghamshire (PAS ‘Find-ID’ SWYOR-50BAF5 and SWYOR-FAFC04), belong to established tenth-century Scandinavian types represented at Birka (Aagård 1984, abb. 11:1 IIIA; abb. 11:2 IIIF, IVC). Of course, compared with the numbers of other Scandinavian brooch types now known from England, oval and equal-armed brooches are relatively rare Danelaw finds. The fact that such brooches are not recovered in particularly high numbers is not surprising, however. Equal-armed brooches have a predominantly eastern Scandinavian distribution and, over the course of the tenth century, were increasingly replaced by trefoil and large disc brooches (Aagård 1984, 96, 106–10; Callmer 1999). During the tenth century, oval brooches were, in the main, Norwegian and Swedish brooch types; indeed, the type is more commonly found in Swedish colonies in Russia than in modern-day Denmark ( Jansson 1985, 12; Hedeager Madsen 1987; for a more recent catalogue of oval brooches from southern Scandinavia, see Hedeager Krag 1994, 65–69). We would, then, not expect them to have been worn in substantial numbers in an area of England with close cultural connections to southern Scandinavia. As large, expensive brooches fulfilling a primary function holding together the straps of a dress, oval brooches were also far more likely to have been recovered by their owners if dropped or lost than smaller, cheaper, and more easily replaced items such as disc or lozenge brooches. The objects discussed so far have been concerned with the Borre style. The Jelling style also adorns metal dress items from the Danelaw, appearing on over forty dress items (see Figure 8). In England, the style is manifest in a number of different motifs, reflecting the varied nature of Jelling ornament on objects in the Scandinavian homelands. One brooch group, comprising eight Scandinavian disc brooches, bears ornament consisting of paired, asymmetrically positioned S-shaped animals, commonly depicted in Scandinavia on pendants of Callmer’s Type Fiskeby (Callmer 1989, abb. 3:22). Another, more populous group, which includes a single pendant from Cawston in Norfolk, carries a motif of a single backward- CULTURE AND GENDER IN THE DANELAW 317 Figure 11. Upper plate of a Jelling-style disc brooch, Hindringham, Norfolk. Drawn by Jason Gibbons. Copyright Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service. looking S-shaped animal, gripping its tail between its mouth and paws (Paterson 2002, 272–73; Callmer 1989, abb. 3:6–8, 3:20–21). This motif was also taken up outside Scandinavian circles as part of the repertoire of craftsmen working in an Anglo-Saxon tradition. Devolved and somewhat blundered versions occur on two flat, pewter disc brooches from York (Roesdahl 1981, cat. nos YD12 and YD13). A further group of artefacts decorated in the Jelling style is represented by a composite brooch type with openwork zoomorphic ornament, originally discussed by Graham-Campbell (1985). These brooches belong to Jansson’s Type I A1 and depict a single, profiled Jelling animal with a double-contoured circular body, a looping tail, and an extended ear lappet ( Jansson 1984, abb. 8:2 I A1). Until recently, composite brooches of this type were known only from Sweden, leading Graham-Campbell (1985, 449) to suggest that the group was Eastern Scandinavian in origin ( Jansson 1984, 60). Recent discoveries of the type from Dähre and Hamburg in Germany and Randers, Ålborg, and Lolland in Denmark ought, however, to turn the geographical focus of the type’s distribution to southern Scandinavia ( Jens Jeppersen, pers. comm.). Eleven examples of this Scandinavian brooch type have now been recorded from England, with a distribution stretching from Lincoln in the east to Chester in the west (Figure 11) (Lincolnshire HER 70176MLI70176; Mason 2007, 116, fig. 36). In addition to brooches, the corpus of Scandinavian dress items from England encompasses a small number of pendants (for instance, PAS ‘Find-ID’ NMS2E6E42; Paterson 2002, 269). As demonstrated by Caroline Paterson (2002), these items carry designs which appear more commonly on disc brooches, prompting suggestions that motifs which occur on pendants in Scandinavia were transferred to disc brooches in the Danelaw. Since pendants were not part of the late Anglo-Saxon jewellery repertoire, Paterson (2002) suggests that this process 318 Jane F. Kershaw provides positive evidence for cultural accommodation, Scandinavian designs being adapted to suit existing dress preferences. However, pendants represent a distinctly northern and eastern Scandinavian fashion (Callmer 1989). They are rare finds in the area of Viking-Age Denmark and are therefore unlikely to have been among the Scandinavian dress items introduced to and adopted in the Danelaw. Furthermore, motifs which appear on pendants in Sweden and Norway often adorn disc brooches in Denmark, suggesting regional differences in the association between motifs and artefact types within Scandinavia. This is demonstrated by the growing number of brooches recorded from southern Scandinavia which carry the Jelling beast motif seen on Callmer’s pendant Type Tuna (1989, abb. 3.7; for instance, National Museum Copenhagen C 31438; Wikinger Museum Haithabu Hb 2006/12347; Hb 2006/ 13765). In this context, the fashion for brooches rather than pendants in England would appear to reflect the adoption of a specifically Danish fashion. An Anglo-Scandinavian Brooch Series The Anglo-Scandinavian brooches discussed thus far may be described as local, occasionally Anglicized versions of distinctly Scandinavian brooch types, produced as one-off designs or small series in the workshops of the Danelaw. An altogether separate phenomenon is represented by a group of Figure 12. Disc brooch with Borre-style interlace flat disc brooches with an interlacing design, Hilborough, Norfolk. Drawn by Jason tendril design derived from the Gibbons. Copyright Norfolk Museums and Scandinavian Borre style (Figure 12). Archaeology Service. These brooches, called here the East Anglian Series, are of Anglo-Saxon manufacture but Scandinavian artistic descent (Paterson 2002, 274–75). They are characterized by a central sunken roundel surrounded by a concave-sided lozenge, the four corners of which extend to form double-stranded, loosely knotted interlace. These brooches reveal a high degree of stylistic homogeneity and, although no moulds for the brooches survive, it seems clear that they were mass-produced to a standard design. The series is remarkably prolific, with over 230 finds to date. Notably for such an extensive series, most finds are restricted to the area of CULTURE AND GENDER IN THE DANELAW 319 Figure 13. Distribution of East Anglian Series disc brooches. (Map: Jane Kershaw) Scandinavian settlement, suggesting that the motif’s Scandinavian origins had meaning for those who wore the brooches or viewed them on others (Figure 13). Multiple examples are known from Lincoln and Norwich, where Caroline Paterson has suggested the series may have been produced (Richardson 1993, 31–32). The scale on which these brooches were produced is notable given that the same motif appears on just a handful of Scandinavian brooches from the Scandinavian homelands, from Denmark in particular (for instance, National Museum Copenhagen KN938; KN1647). The popularity of the series within the Danelaw is likely to have been facilitated by the flat, Anglo-Saxon disc-brooch form on which the motif appeared and would appear to reflect the use of the brooch series by large segments of the indigenous population. This brooch series may, then, have represented a way for Danelaw inhabitants to express their Scandinavian affiliation, while observing local fashions. As such, it provides evidence for cultural interaction and exchange in the Anglo-Scandinavian communities of eastern England. 320 Jane F. Kershaw Other Brooches with Scandinavian Designs Finally, it is worth briefly mentioning a small number of brooches which combine Scandinavian designs with Carolingian artefact forms. Several items modelled on Carolingian rectangular brooches appear in the Danelaw with Scandinavian ornament. Four rectangular lead-alloy brooches, all from the Thetford area, Norfolk, carry contorted Borre-derived animals arranged around a central lozenge (Youngs 2004, pl. V SF437). A square brooch from West Stow Heath, Suffolk, an antiquarian find, depicts a profiled animal with classic Jelling-style features, including a round eye and interlacing ear lappet, and is one of two such brooches recorded from East Anglia (Hinton 1974, no. 35; Hattatt 1987, 384, no. 1426, fig. 125). While not strictly Anglo-Scandinavian in cultural terms, these brooches are likely to have been produced within the culturally mixed environs of Anglo-Danish communities. They serve as a reminder of the range of styles available to consumers of metal dress items in the ninth- and tenth-century Danelaw. Conclusion This paper has argued that Scandinavian dress fittings decorated in Scandinavian styles were both widespread and popular in the ninth- and tenth-century Danelaw. This is not to suggest that all Danelaw dress was defined by a Scandinavian appearance. The inhabitants of the Danelaw had access to metalwork in Carolingian, Irish, Anglo-Saxon, as well as Scandinavian styles (Thomas 2000). Nonetheless, Scandinavian and Anglo-Scandinavian metalwork has now been recovered in sufficient quantities to indicate that brooches in Scandinavian styles were commonplace. Why this was the case, and what such items communicated, is open to debate. Taken together, the restricted geographic distribution of Scandinavian and Anglo-Scandinavian artefacts and their longevity may indicate that such objects were used to promote a Scandinavian identity within ethnically, socially, and culturally eclectic communities. In this sense, Scandinavian association may seem to have been beneficial: socially, politically, or economically advantageous. Women’s dress in particular was seen as an appropriate means of identifying with a Scandinavian heritage, suggesting that women, through their emblematic dress, were seen by contemporaries as the bearers of cultural identity and continuity in the Viking colonial Danelaw. CULTURE AND GENDER IN THE DANELAW 321 Bibliography Abbreviations H ER Historic Environment Records <http://www.algao.org.uk/Cttees/H ER s/ HERIntro.htm> LUHM Lunds universitets historiska musem (Historical Museum, University of Lund, Lund, Sweden) PAS Portable Antiquities Scheme <http://www.finds.org.uk/index.php> Secondary Sources Aagård, Gun-Britt. 1984. ‘Gleicharmige Spangen’, in Birka, II.1: Systematische Analysen der Gräberfunde, ed. G. Arwidsson, Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 95–110 Abrams, Lesley. 2001. ‘Edward the Elder’s Danelaw’, in Edward the Elder 899–924, ed. N. J. Higham and D. H. Hill, London: Routledge, 128–43 Abrams, Lesley. 2005. ‘Scandinavian Place-names and Settlement History: Flegg, Norfolk, and East Anglia in the Viking Age’, in Viking and Norse in the North Atlantic, ed. A. Mortensen and S. V. Arge, Annales Societatis scientiarum Færoensis 44, Tórshavn: Føroya Fróðskaparfelag, 307–23 Arbman, Holger. 1940. Birka, I: Die Gräber (Tafeln), Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell Arwidsson, Greta. 1989. ‘Spangen, Fibeln und Beschläge: Anhänger verschniedener Formen’, in Birka, II.3: Systematische Analysen der Gräberfunde, ed. G. Arwidsson, Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 67–71 Ayers, Brian. 1985. Excavations within the North-East Bailey of Norwich, Castle, 1979, Dereham: Norfolk Archaeological Unit, Norfolk Museums Service Ayers, Brian. 1994. English Heritage Book of Norwich, London: Batsford/English Heritage Bertelsen, Lise Gjedssø. 1994. ‘Urnesfibler i Danmark’, Årbøger for nordisk oldkyndighed og historie, 345–70 Callmer, Johan. 1989. ‘Gegossene Schmuckanhänger mit nordischer Ornamentik’, in Birka, II.3: Systematische Analysen der Gräberfunde, ed. G. Arwidsson, Stockholm, Almqvist & Wiksell, 19–42 Callmer, Johan. 1999. ‘Vikingatidens likarmade spännen’, in Fynden in Centrum: Keramik, glas och metall från Uppåkra, ed. B. Hårdh, Uppåkrastudier 2, Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 201–20 Cameron, Kenneth. 1975. ‘Scandinavian Settlement in the Territory of the Five Boroughs: The Place-name Evidence. Part II: Place-names in thorp’, in Place-Name Evidence for the AngloSaxon Invasions and Scandinavian Settlement: Eight Studies, ed. K. Cameron, Nottingham: English Place Name Society, 139–71 Capelle, Torsten. 1968. Der Metallschmuck von Haithabu: Studien zur wikingischen Metallkunst, Neumünster: K. Wachholtz Dallas, Carolyn. 1993. Excavations in Thetford by B. K. Davison between 1964 and 1970, Gressenhall: Norfolk Museums Service 322 Jane F. Kershaw Dickinson, Tania M. 1991. ‘Material Culture as Social Expression: The Case of Saxon Saucer Brooches with Running Spiral Decoration’, Studien zur Sachsenforschung 7, 39–70 Dickinson, Tania M. 1993. ‘Early Saxon Saucer Brooches: A Preliminary Overview’, Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History 6, 11–45 Dobinson, Colin, and Simon Denison. 1995. Metal Detecting and Archaeology in England, London: English Heritage and Council for British Archaeology Duzcko, Wladyslaw. 1995. ‘Kungar, tegnar, tegnebyar, juveler och silverskatter: Om danskt inflytande i Sverige under senvikingatiden’, Tor 27, 625–62 Eilbracht, Heidemarie. 1999. Filigran- und Granulationskunst im wikingischen Norden: Untersuchungen zum Transfer frühmittelalterlicher Gold- und Silberschmiedetechniken zwischen dem Kontinent und Nordeuropa, Zeitschrift für Archäologie des Mittelalter, Beiheft 11, Cologne: Rheinland-Verlag GMBH Evison, Vera I. 1957. ‘A Group of Late Saxon Brooches’, Antiquaries Journal 37, 220–22 Evison, Vera I. 1969. ‘A Viking Grave at Sonning, Berkshire’, Antiquaries Journal 49, 330–45 Friis Johansen, K. 1912. ‘Sølvskatten fra Terslev’, Årbøger for nordisk oldkyndighed og historie, 189–263 Fuglesang, Signe Horn. 1991. ‘The Axehead from Mammen and the Mammen Style’, in Mammen: Grav, kunst og samfund i vikingetiden, ed. M. Iversen, U. Näsman, and J. Vellev, Jysk Arkæologisk Selskabs skrifter 28, Højbjerg: Jysk Arkæologisk Selskab, 83–108 Graham-Campbell, James. 1980. Viking Artefacts: A Select Catalogue, London: British Museum Publications Graham-Campbell, James. 1983. ‘An Anglo-Scandinavian Silver Ornament of Tenth-Century Date from Manchester’, in Medieval Manchester: A Regional Study, ed. M. Morris, Archaeology of Greater Manchester 1, Manchester: Greater Manchester Archaeological Unit, 7–8 Graham-Campbell, James. 1985. ‘Two Scandinavian Disc Brooches of Viking Age Date from England’, Antiquaries Journal 65, 448–49 Graham-Campbell, James. 1994. ‘Jellinge Style Disc Brooch’, in Excavations at Chester: Saxon Occupation within the Fortress: Sites Excavated 1971–1981, ed. S. W. Ward, Chester: Chester City Council, 66 Hadley, Dawn. 2006. The Vikings in England: Settlement, Society and Culture, Manchester: Manchester University Press Hattatt, Richard. 1987. Brooches of Antiquity: A Third Selection of Brooches from the Author’s Collection, Oxford: Oxbow Hedeager Krag, Anne. 1994. ‘Dragtudviklingen fra 8.–10. Årh. e. Kr. i Sydskandinavien – med udgangspunkt i skålformede spænder’, Lag 5, 7–114 Hedeager Madsen, Anne. 1987. ‘Women’s Dress in the Viking Period in Denmark, Based on the Tortoise Brooches and Textile Remains’, in Textiles in Northern Archaeology: NESAT III, ed. P. Walton and J.-P. Wild, London: Archetype, 101–06 Hinton, David. 1974. Catalogue of the Anglo-Saxon Ornamental Metalwork 700–1100 in the Department of Antiquities Ashmolean Museum, Oxford: Clarendon Press Hinton, David. 1975. ‘Late Anglo-Saxon Metal-work: An Assessment’, Anglo-Saxon England 4, 171–80 Hinton, David. 1978. ‘Late Saxon Treasure and Bullion’, in Æthelred the Unready, ed. D. Hill, British Archaeological Reports 59, Oxford: BAR, 135–58 CULTURE AND GENDER IN THE DANELAW 323 Hårdh, Birgitta. 1984. ‘Kleebattfibeln’, in Birka, II.1: Systematische Analysen der Gräberfunde, ed. G. Arwidsson, Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 85–94 Hägg, Inga. 1974. Kvinnodräkten i Birka: livplaggens rekonstruktion på grundval av det arkeologiska materialet, Uppsala: Institute of North European Archaeology, Uppsala University Hägg, Inga. 1986. ‘Die Tracht’, in Birka, II.2: Systematische Analysen der Gräberfunde, ed. G. Arwidsson, Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 51–72 Jansson, Ingmar. 1981. ‘Economic Aspects of Fine Metalworking in Viking Age Scandinavia’, in Economic Aspects of the Viking Age, ed. D. M. Wilson and M. L. Caygill, British Museum Occasional Paper 30, London: British Museum, 1–19 Jansson, Ingmar. 1984. ‘Kleine Rundspangen’, in Birka, II.1: Systematische Analysen der Gräberfunde, ed. G. Arwidsson, Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 58–74 Jansson, Ingmar. 1985. Ovala spännbucklor: En studie av vikingatida standardsmycken med utgångspunkt från Björkö-fynden, Institute of North European Archaeology, Uppsala University, Archaeological Studies 7, Uppsala: Institutionen för arkeologi, Uppsala universitet Jansson, Ingmar. 1991. ‘År 970/971 och vikingatidens kronologi’, in Mammen: Grav, kunst og samfund i vikingetiden, ed. M. Iversen, U. Näsman, and J. Vellev, Jysk Arkæologisk Selskabs skrifter 28, Højbjerg: Jysk Arkæologisk Selskab, 267–84 Jørgensen, Lars. 2003. ‘Manor and Market at Lake Tissø in the Sixth to Eleventh Centuries: The Danish “Productive” Sites’, in Markets in Early Medieval Europe: Trading and Productive Sites, 650–850, ed. T. Pestell and K. Ulmschneider, Macclesfield: Windgather, 175–207 Kershaw, Jane F. 2008. ‘The Distribution of the “Winchester” Style in Late Saxon England: Metalwork Finds from the Danelaw’, Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History 15, 254–69 Kershaw, Jane F. Forthcoming. ‘Report on a Copper-Alloy Die from Swinhope, Lincolnshire’, Medieval Archaeology Kirk, [no first name]. 1927. ‘Trefoil Brooch from Yorkshire’, Antiquaries Journal 7, 526–28 Kleingärtner, Sunhild. 2007. Der Pressmodelfund aus dem Hafen von Haithabu, Neumünster: Wachholtz Leahy, Kevin. 2003. ‘Middle Anglo-Saxon Lincolnshire: An Emerging Picture’, in Markets in Early Medieval Europe: Trading and Productive Sites, 650–850, ed. T. Pestell and K. Ulmschneider, Macclesfield: Windgather, 138–54 Leahy, Kevin, and Caroline Paterson. 2001, ‘New Light on the Viking Presence in Lincolnshire: The Artefactual Evidence’, in Vikings and the Danelaw: Selected Papers from the Proceedings of the Thirteenth Viking Congress, Nottingham and York, 21–30 August 1997, ed. J. GrahamCampbell, Oxford: Oxbow, 181–202 Loveluck, Christopher. 2007. Rural Settlement, Lifestyles and Social Change in the Later First Millennium AD : Anglo-Saxon Flixborough in its Wider Context, Excavations at Flixborough 4, Oxford: Oxbow Lønborg, Bjarne. 1994. ‘Masseproduktion af Urnesfibler’, Årbøger for nordisk oldkyndighed og historie, 371–78 Mainman, Ailsa, and Nicola Rogers. 2000. Craft, Industry and Everyday Life: Finds from AngloScandinavian York, Archaeology of York 17, York: Council for British Archaeology Maixner, Birgit. 2005. Die gegossenen kleeblattförmigen Fibeln der Wikingerzeit aus Skandinavien, Universitätsforschungen zur Prähistorischen Archäologie 116, Bonn: Habelt Margeson, Sue. 1982. ‘Viking Period Trefoil Brooches’, Norfolk Archaeology 38, 208–10 324 Jane F. Kershaw Margeson, Sue. 1996, ‘Viking Settlement in Norfolk: A Study of New Evidence’, in A Festival of Norfolk Archaeology, ed. S. Margeson, B. Ayers, and S. Heywood, Hunstanton: Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society, 47–57 Margeson, Sue. 1997. The Vikings in Norfolk, Norwich: Norfolk Museums Service Martin, Edward, Colin Pendleton, Julie Plouviez, Gabor Thomas, and Helen Geake. 1994. ‘Archaeology in Suffolk 1993’, Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History 38, 199–226 Mason, David. 2007. Chester AD 400–1066: From Roman Fortress to English Town, Stroud: Tempus Mills, Nigel. 2001. Saxon and Viking Artefacts, Witham: Greenlight Owen, Olwyn. 2001. ‘The Strange Beast that is the English Urnes Style’, in Vikings and the Danelaw: Selected Papers from the Proceedings of the Thirteenth Viking Congress, Nottingham and York, 21–30 August 1997, ed. J. Graham-Campbell, Oxford: Oxbow, 203–22 Owen-Crocker, Gale R. 2004. Dress in Anglo-Saxon England, Woodbridge: Boydell Paterson, Caroline. 2002. ‘From Pendants to Brooches: The Exchange of Borre and Jelling Style Motifs Across the North Sea’, Hikuin 29, 267–76 Paterson, Caroline, and Faye Minter. 2004. ‘Portable Antiquities Scheme Report for Suffolk, Medieval Britain and Ireland in 2003’, Medieval Archaeology 48, 244 Petersen, Jan G. T. 1928. Vikingetidens Smykker, Stavanger: Stavanger Museum Pitts, Michael. 2004. ‘Cumbrian Heritage’, British Archaeology 79, 28–31 Richardson, Caroline. 1993. ‘The Borre Style in the British Isles and Ireland: A Reassessment’, unpublished master’s thesis, University of Newcastle Rieck, Fleming R. 1982. ‘Oldtid i Lange Baner’, Skalk, no. 3, 4–8 Roesdahl, Else, ed. 1981. The Vikings in England and in their Danish Homeland, London: Penshurst Roesdahl, Else. 1994. ‘Dendrochronology and Viking Studies in Denmark, with a Note on the Beginning of the Viking Age’, in Developments around the Baltic and the North Sea in the Viking Age: The Twelfth Viking Congress, ed. B. Ambrosiani and H. Clarke, Birka Studies 3, Stockholm: Birka Project, 106–16 Rogerson, Andrew, and Steven Ashley. 2008. ‘A Selection of Finds from Norfolk Recorded between 2006 and 2008’, Norfolk Archaeology 45, 428–42 Speed, Gregory, and Penelope Walton Rogers. 2004. ‘A Burial of a Viking Woman at Adwick-leStreet, South Yorkshire’, Medieval Archaeology 48, 51–90 Stamper, Paul, and R. A. Croft. 2000. Wharram, a Study of Settlement on the Yorkshire Wolds, VIII: The South Manor Area, York: University of York Svanberg, Fredrik. 1998. ‘Exclusive Jewellery, Borgeby and Western Scania c. AD 950–1050’, Fornvännen 93, 113–23 Svanberg, Fredrik. 2003. Death Rituals in South-East Scandinavia AD 800–1000: Decolonizing the Viking Age, II, Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell Thomas, Gabor. 2000. ‘Anglo-Scandinavian Metalwork from the Danelaw: Exploring Social and Cultural Interaction’, in Cultures in Contact: Scandinavian Settlement in England in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries, ed. Dawn M. Hadley and Julian D. Richards, Studies in the Early Middle Ages 2, Turnhout: Brepols, 237–55 Thomas, Gabor. 2006. ‘Reflections on a “9th-century” Northumbrian Metalworking Tradition: A Silver Hoard from Poppleton, North Yorkshire’, Medieval Archaeology 50, 143–64 CULTURE AND GENDER IN THE DANELAW 325 Thrane, Henrik. 1987. ‘Das Gudme-Problem und die Gudme-Untersuchung: Fragen der Besiedlung der Völkerwanderungszeit und Merowingerzeit auf Fünen’, Frühmittelalterliche Studien 21, 1–48 Wallis, Heather. 2004. Excavations at Mill Lane, Thetford, 1995, East Anglian Archaeology 108, Dereham: Norfolk Archaeological Unit Williams, David. 1997. Late Saxon Stirrup-Strap Mounts: A Classification and Catalogue. A Contribution to the Study of Late Saxon Ornamental Metalwork, York: Council for British Archaeology Wilson, David M. 1995. Vikingatidens konst, Lund: Signum Youngs, Susan. 2000. ‘M&ME 353 Treasure Record’, PAS, <http://www.finds.org.uk/treasure/ record.php?recordID=40> [accessed 23 October 2009] Youngs, Susan. 2004. ‘Lead Alloy Brooches’, in Excavations at Mill Lane, Thetford, 1995, ed. H. Wallis, East Anglian Archaeology 108, Dereham: Norfolk Archaeological Unit, 38–40