Durness
Findspot (19th Century), Horse Trapping (Bronze)
Site Name Durness
Classification Findspot (19th Century), Horse Trapping (Bronze)
Canmore ID 4950
Site Number NC46NW 3
NGR NC 40 67
NGR Description NC c. 40 67
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/4950
- Council Highland
- Parish Durness
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Sutherland
- Former County Sutherland
NC46NW 3 c. 40 67.
In Dunrobin Castle Museum is a 'Bronze swivel, about 2,000 years old, from Durness' (NC 40 67).
Visited by OS (J L D) 1 July 1960.
A sketch of the swivel is given in a letter from J M Joass, Golspie, to Dr J Anderson, National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS), which suggests that it had been found shortly before. He says in a second letter that the keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, after seeing a sketch of it, calls it Late Celtic and believes that it might be from horse gear or a dog collar, although too heavy for the jesses of a falcon. Joass adds that its Celtic character suggests a local origin although Durness was a Viking station.
Information contained in letters from J M Joass, 10 December 1894 and 20 February 1895.
A bronze swivel, total length 1.8ins, consisting of two cast hemispheres connected by a ball and socket joint, each having a similar loop, 1.85ins across, swelling into animal heads where they are attached to the hemispheres. Surface much worn (Accession No: 109).
Information from TS catalogue of Dunrobin Museum (A S Henshall to OS).
