Symbols missing a cause: the testimony of touchstones from Viking Age Iceland
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F67985912%3A_____%2F19%3A00505518" target="_blank" >RIV/67985912:_____/19:00505518 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12520-018-0764-x" target="_blank" >https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12520-018-0764-x</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12520-018-0764-x" target="_blank" >10.1007/s12520-018-0764-x</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Symbols missing a cause: the testimony of touchstones from Viking Age Iceland
Original language description
From the Early Bronze Age, tools used to determine the nature and value of precious metal have been used as traditional symbols in burial rituals. During the Early Medieval Period, balances, weights and touchstones became widespread in the northern part of Europe, or bullion-economy zone. This paper focuses on a selection of touchstones from Viking Age Iceland, from both graves and settlements. Chemical microanalyses of streaks of metals observed on their surfaces show that not only precious metals, but also other non-ferrous metals, and in particular lead, have been tested on touchstones. The settlement finds come primarily from high-status farms which have produced evidence of working with non-ferrous metals. The disproportion between the low frequency of precious metals and the relatively high representation of touchstones in burials, including the occurrence of clearly ostentatious specimens, is apparent in Iceland. However, due to uncertainty as to the origins of the metal streaks on imported touchstones, the workshop finds are regarded as the more important source for knowledge of both metalworking and social relations in Viking Age Iceland.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
60102 - Archaeology
Result continuities
Project
<a href="/en/project/GA16-22207S" target="_blank" >GA16-22207S: Touchstones of prehistory</a><br>
Continuities
I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace
Others
Publication year
2019
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
ISSN
1866-9557
e-ISSN
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Volume of the periodical
11
Issue of the periodical within the volume
7
Country of publishing house
DE - GERMANY
Number of pages
12
Pages from-to
3423-3434
UT code for WoS article
000471598800021
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-85059518837