ca. 900–1100 AD. Viking Age. Three bronze semicircular bracelets; the decoration of the two bracelets in the foreground is divided into rectangular sections with the same geometric, wave, and linear incised motifs (possibly a cross too); the bracelet in the background has simpler, linear horizontal decoration. In Viking society, arm rings and bracelets were not merely decorative but served also to mark bonds of loyalty between a lord and his followers in a culture where honour was a matter of life and death. Such items were also given to young men to mark their coming of age and bracelets of precious metals were also used as currency in a time before the widespread availability of coinage.Provenance: Property of a London gallery, previously in old British collection formed in the 1980s.Size: L:Set of 3; 40mm / W:60mm ; 60.9g