Tuesday 2 April 2024

'Extraordinary' Viking combs reveal Ipswich's medieval importance

Most of the combs were made from red deer antler, although some were made from bone

An unearthed collection of Viking combs is "extraordinary and unique in the UK", according to archaeologists.

The antler and bone finds were discovered in Ipswich, Suffolk, during 40 excavations over the course of 20 years.

Authors Ian Riddler and Nicola Trzaska-Nartowski said they included "an extraordinary sequence of Viking combs unmatched elsewhere in the country".

They indicate the presence of Vikings in Ipswich in the late 9th Century.

Riddler and Trzaska-Nartowski are among the authors of a recently published analysis of 1,341 finds and 2,400 fragments of waste unearthed during digs between 1974 and 1994.

"It was always our intention that the book had a European outlook and placed Ipswich in the centre of a developing early medieval world for one particular craft," they said in a statement about the analysis.

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