Small Finds, Big Questions: Two Decades of Research on Combs in Viking-Age Scotland

• Main Author: Ashby, Steven P.
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Edinburgh University Press 2023
• Subjects: Combs; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474485821.003.0024

This chapter updates the reader on the two decades of research into Viking-Age combs that have taken place since the publication of Vikings in Scotland . As well as the publication of several new excavation assemblages, particularly from the Northern Isles, progress has also been made in the study of existing collections. New, biomolecular approaches, such as aDNA and zooarchaeology by Mass spectrometry (ZooMS) can distinguish diverse animal tissues, such as reindeer vs red deer antler from specific combs and excavation assemblages. This has led to a greater understanding of the chronology and character of early Viking-Age Scotland, maritime activity, and the dynamics of the diaspora and trade in the North Sea, Irish Sea and North Atlantic.