The Skerne Sword
Looking Closer
The pommel and guard are decorated with inlaid silver and copper wires in geometric designs. Beneath is a very fine gauze-like silver-wire mesh which under a microscope looks almost like textile weaving. Decorative inlays of copper and silver wires have been recorded on other swords from the Viking period but the fine state of preservation of the two metals on the Skerne Sword makes the decoration particularly striking.
X-rays have shown that the sword blade was pattern-welded in a clear herringbone pattern along its whole length. Only the tip and the cutting edges are plain. The hilt (or grip) has largely decayed over the centuries but enough traces remained for scientists to identity it as horn.
The Scabbard
An exceptional feature of the weapon was that it was found still encased in its wooden scabbard. Without the waterlogged conditions of the site this would have long since decayed. The scabbard was made from willow or poplar and lined with sheepskin.
The Excavation
The excavation revealed a structure made of oak piles sunk into the river bed. It may have been part of a jetty on the waterfront of the River Hull or alternatively a wooden bridge carrying the road from Skerne to a settlement at Brigham. The oak piles had slowed the current of the river allowing silt to build up quickly around them. In this silt the excavators found four knives, a drill bit, an adze and wood chippings. Perhaps these were dropped by workmen repairing the bridge?
Accident or Ceremony
It seems unlikely that such a prestigious (and expensive) weapon could have been dropped by accident. This has led to the theory that it was deliberately thrown into the river as a religious offering. Other finds from the silt, such as a spearhead and the remains of complete animal skeletons (including horse, cow, sheep and dog) might also suggest that the site had a ritual significance.
The Skerne Sword is not the only Viking Age sword to have been deposited in this way. A mid-10th century sword, with very similar decoration, was found in the River Frome at Wareham in Dorset and is now in the Dorchester Museum. In addition, there are two swords in the British Museum, one from the River Lea at Edmonton and the other from the River Witham in Lincolnshire. Although the custom of throwing or placing offerings in water in more commonly recorded in the Iron Age, it seems that there may have been something of a revival during the Viking Period.
