NOTES ON AN EXCAVATION, ETC. 
75 
upon, Eric Bloodyaxe, driven from his rule in Norway was, about 
940 a.d., set by Athelstan to govern Northumbria, and, presumably 
upon the principle of setting a thief to catch a thief, was expected 
to defend the land against Danes and Vikings.* Upon the death of 
Athelstan Eric seems to have been replaced by Olaf Guthferthson, 
and was finally killed in battle at Stainmoor, in an attempt to 
regain York, about 950. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle relates that 
in 948 the Danish garrison of York overtook the rear of King 
Edred’s army at Chesterford and cut it to pieces. 
The chape (plate ii.) is inches in total length, and is 
ornamented with pierced interlacements of a typical zoomorphic 
character which terminate on each side as a conventionalized 
animal head, which fixed the metal upon the material of the 
sheath. The mouth is two centimetres in width. 
Another object which merits a detailed description is the iron 
axe head, weighing 2 lbs. 6 oz. (plate iii.) It has a broadened 
crescentic edge, a shape which is characteristic of the axes of the 
period. It is extraordinarily well preserved, a fact largely due to 
the nature of the earth in which it had lain, which had imparted 
to the surface a peculiar colour at first thought to be due to a 
coating of silver. This was proved by chemical analysis not to be 
the case. 
The iron horse’s bit (plate iii.) has suffered much from oxidation, 
but still shews signs of linear ornamentation. 
The wooden box (plates ii. and iii.) was considerably damaged 
during excavation. This is especially unfortunate as it appears 
to be quite unlike anything which has been previously described. 
The material of the box is oak. This has been overlaid with strips 
of bone fixed by small iron rivets, and ornamented with the shallow 
incised circles which are so characteristic of the early Scandinavian 
art. Some of the bone strips are perforated by a series of three 
oval holes one centimetre in length, surrounded by eight smaller 
circular perforations, the whole being circumscribed by an oval 
ornamentation of three concentric lines. Backing these perfora¬ 
tions, between the bone and the underlying wood, is a thin sheet of 
metal coated with some enamel or other vitreous material, which 
has evidently been meant to shew through the perforations, and 
even now in places still retains some of its original lustre. The 
longest strip of bone which has been recovered is iof inches in 
length. 
* Hodgkin's “ Political History of England,” p. 341. 
