This short overview is an amendment to the article Drinking Vessels of Viking Norway. It contains specimens of a specific type of lathed wooden cups, plates, bowls and buckets that has the brim reinforced with metal clasps. From the distribution, it is clear such a tableware was quite popular in Early Medieval Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. They can be also compared with multipieced buckets and horns that are frequently covered in copper-alloy metals or silver. Metal edge clamps were popular in the older period as well (see for example Fingerlin 1964: 29; Koch 1977: 155; Koch 1990: 226; Koch 2001: 181; Paulsen 1992: 96-129; Pescheck 1996: Taf. 26.20, 57.8-9, 30.9-10, 62.12); Sippel 1989: 203).
Reconstructions of Early Medieval bucket and horn covered in metal.
Roland Williamson, Ivan Minakov.
Catalogue
In the catalogue, I will describe the known pieces from 9th – 11th century Europe. If there are some that are missing, let me know.
Haralds saga Sigurðarsonar 24
Let’s open the article with a literary mention that comes from Saga of Haraldr Sigurðarson. The saga mentions a noble gift – a bowl made of maple, with gilded silver rim and gilded silvered handle, full of silver coins:
“At the feast, king Haraldr gave Steigar-Þóri a maple bowl; it had a rim of silver and a silver handle, both gilded, and it was filled with burned silver pennies.” (Haraldr konungr gaf Steigarþóri at veizlunni mösurbolla; hann var gyrðr með silfri, ok silfrhadda yfir, ok gylt hvártveggja, ok fullr upp af skírum silfrpenningum).
Belarus
Grave 29, Navry, Belarus
A rectangular metal edge fitting of a wooden vessel was found in the grave in Navry cemetery, Belarus (Plavinski 2017: 55-6, Fig. 44.1). Under the fitting, the crack of the vessel and wire stitching is visible. The metal is not specified. Dating: 11th century.
Czech republic
Grave 309/49, Staré Město u Uherského Hradiště, Czech republic
Possible fragments of a lathed vessel were found in the grave 309/49 in Staré Město (Hrubý 1955: 460, Tab. 68). The vessel was decorated with found clamps and two crosses, all of them made of gilded copper alloy. Dating: Great Moravian horizon, 9th century. Copper alloy clamps from the grave no. 332, Rajhradice, Czech Republic (Staňa 2006: 72, Ob. 260) are probably of the same period, but the inner material is leather and it is therefore hard to speak about a vessel.
Graves 291/51 and 26, Staré Město u Uherského Hradiště, Czech republic
Two bottles from Staré Město – one found in the grave 291/51 (Staré Město – Na valách), second in the grave 26 (Špitálky) – were probably partially lathed (Dostál 1966: 86, Tab. XLIII.6-7; Hrubý 1955: 161, Obr. 25). The first mentioned bottle was ca. 20 cm high, 16 cm wide and was decorated with iron bands, a circular fitting between them and a mouth. The second piece was ornated with a copper alloy plate, held by an iron fitting. Dating: Great Moravian horizon, 9th century.
Grave 24/57, Staré Město u Uherského Hradiště, Czech republic
The grave contains a fragment of a lathed cup with a small copper alloy hinge that holds a lid at place (Hochmanová-Vávrová 1962: 248, Tab. XI.10).
Grave 24/57, Staré Město u Uherského Hradiště. Hochmanová-Vávrová 1962: Tab. XI.10.
Graves 707/56 and 743/57, Dolní Věstonice, Czech Republic
Two U-shaped clamps from possible vessels are known from Dolní Věstonice (Ungerman 2007: 172). The clamp from the grave 707/56 was made of copper alloy and is around 1 cm wide. There are still wooden traces inside. The other one is made of iron and is no longer preserved. A similar find – 3 clamps with traces of wood – is known also from a grave from Mikulčice-Panské, where the fittings created a circle. This find is unpublished.
Grave ŽAP-41/2011, Žalov, Czech republic
The grave of an infant contained a bowl that was around 20 cm in diameter and was made of maple (Tomková et al. 2020: 132-3, Obr. 68-9). The edge of the bowl was decorated with at least 6 embossed fittings, probably made of tinned coper alloy. Another vessel is known from the grave 132, Kanín, Czech republic. The grave of an adult woman contained an 18 cm wide vessel that was decorated with copper-alloy fittings (Mařík 2009: 89, 131, Tab. 41.2-6). It is not possible to say whether it was lathed. The part of the vessel was a lid that fell apart. Dating points to 9th-10th century.
Grave 32, Tiszakürt ‒ Sziki-Kisföldek, Hungary
In 2019, Zágorhidi Czigány et al. published a brilliant article that shows a cracked bowl repaired with clasps and wire. The bowl was found in the grave 32 in Tiszakürt ‒ Sziki-Kisföldek, which is dated to 10th century. The another close analogy of wire stitching comes from tomb no. 20 in Dargavs, North Ossetia–Alania, Russia.


Zágorhidi Czigány et al. 2019: 1. kép.
Latvia
Grave 30, Priekules Ģūģeru, Latvia
In 1988, a spectacular grave 30 was found in Latvian Priekules Ģūģeru. The grave, dated to 1st half of 11th century, contained a full warrior gear, textiles, trading equipment, jewellery and a cup (Apala – Zariņa 1991). The wooden cup has diameter of 100-120 mm and is 38 mm high. It is decorated with copper alloy plate that is 15 mm high (Apala – Zariņa 1991: 18, 5. att). The plate is continuous and goes all around the edge. The lower edge is toothed. The bowl seems to be repaired by wires.
Norway
The complete cup from Oseberg mound. Source: Grieg 1928: Fig. 130, UNIMUS C55000:97.
Poland
Grave 60/00, Kałdus 4, Poland
Highly decorated metal elements of a plate were found in the male grave 60/00 from Kałdus 4, Poland (Chudziak 2010: 456-7, Tab. 14). The plate was made of maple wood. There were four tongue-shaped fittings bent around the edge plus a circular mount on the bottom. All the fitting were made of gilded copper alloy and decorated with zoomorfic ornaments. Dating: 11th century.
Grave 60/00, Kałdus 4, Poland. Chudziak 2010: Tab. 14.
Russia
C-306, Gnezdovo, Russia
Chamber grave 1, Pskov, Russia
Inside the chamber grave 2 in Pskov, a long silver clamp was found. It is interpreted as a fitting coming from a vessel (Yakovleva 2015: 70, Cat. no. 25). The clamp is decorated with punched decoration and contains wood inside.
Northwestward of the coffin of the girl in Pskov chamber grave 7, there were objects interpreted as fragments of a wooden bowl (Ershova 2015: 322, Рис. 17, Каталог 6). The diameter of the bowl is described to be 9 cm. There are no preserved wood in the burial. The metal elements consist of 5 gilded silver sub-triangular clasps, fragments of silver narrow strip clasps, a square silver-plated fitting (size 22 × 22 mm) with a round hole in the center (8 mm in diameter) and an irregular semicircular plate with raised sides along the edge, decorated with floral ornaments in niello, probably a handle cover.
Graves 100, 118, 285, 457, Timerevo, Russia
Fechner and Nedoshivina (1987: 74) inform that bronze mounts from vessels were found in four graves of Timerevo – 100, 118, 285, 457. Unfortunately, I was not able to find further details on these finds.
The grave 459 in Timerevo contained fragments of a wooden vessel that was decorated with simple metal clasps along the brim (Fechner – Nedoshivina 1987: 74-5, Рис. 6.2-6). At the bottom of the vessel, there was a circular fitting, fastened with 7 rivets. The circular fitting was inscribed. The closest analogy of the vessel is Bj 11A in Birka.
The catacomb no. 5 in Dargavs cemetedy revealed a wooden vessel with a decorated edge and handle (Uspenskij – Albegova 2021: 112, 247, Рис. 110.6). The material of the metal is not known to the author. The dating points to mid 10th – 11th century.
The catacomb no. 5 in Dargavs cemetedy revealed a wooden vessel with a decorated edge and circular fitting at the bottom of the bowl (Uspenskij – Albegova 2021: 238, Рис. 100.6). The material of the metal is not known to the author. The dating points to mid 8th – 9th century.
Sweden
Bj 11A, Birka, Sweden


The drawing does not reflect the presence of a short handle.
Fragments of a vessel from Bj 987, Birka. Arbman 1940: Taf. 216.6.
The grave (SHM 28043) contained a part of a wooden vessel made of birch (Thunmark-Nylén 1998: Taf. 276.4; Trotzig 1991: 242-5, Pl. 23 d:6). The bowl is estimated to be around 14-15 cm in diameter and it was equipped with a silver double-sided mount held by 5 silver rivets. Size of the silver mount: 3×3,4 cm.
Ukraine
During the excavation at 2 Velyka Zhytomyrska in Kyiv, the historical center of the city, heart-shaped silver mounts from a vessel were found (Borovskij et al. 1989). The find was excavated by Ya. E. Borovsky in 1988 and can be dated to 10th century.
I hope you liked reading this article. If you have any question or remark, please contact me or leave a comment below. If you want to learn more and support my work, please, fund my project on Patreon or Paypal.
Bibliography
Saga of Haraldr Sigurðarson (Haralds saga Sigurðarsonar) = Haralds saga Sigurðarsonar. Edited by N. Linder an H. A. Haggson. In: Heimskringla Snorra Sturlusonar III, Uppsala 1872. Online.
Apala, Z. – Zariņa, A. (1991). Dižciltīga latgaļa apbedījums Ģūģeru kapulaukā. In: Latvijas Vēstures Institūta Žurnāls, Nr. 1, 11-29.
Arbman, Holger (1940–1943). Birka I. Die Gräber. Text (1943), Tafeln (1940), Stockholm.
Avdusin, D. A. – Puškina, T. A. (1988). Three Chamber Graves at Gniozdovo. (Tre kammergraver fra Gniozdovo). In: Fornvännen 83, Stockholm, 20-33.
Bakka, Egil (1984). Der Holzeimer aus Bj 507. In: Arwidsson, Greta (Ed.). Birka II:1. Systematische Analysen der Gräberfunde, Stockholm, 232–235.
Dostál, Bořivoj (1966). Slovanská pohřebiště ze střední doby hradištní na Moravě, Praha.
Ershova 2015 = Ершова, Т. Е. (2015). Камерное погребение 7 // Древнерусский некрополь Пскова X – начала XI в.: В 2 т. Т. 2. Камерные погребения древнего Пскова X в. (по материалам археологических раскопок 2003 – 2009 гг. у Старовознесенского монастыря), СПб., стр. 309–346.
Fechner – Nedoshivina 1987 = Фехнер, М.В. – Недошивина, Н. Г. (1987) Этнокультурная характеристика Тимеревского могильника по материалам погребального инвентаря // СА 1987, 2, 70-89.
Fingerlin, Gerhard (1964). Grab einer adeligen Frau aus Güttingen (Ldkrs. Konstanz), Freiburg.
Hrubý, Vilém (1955). Staré Město. Velkomoravské pohřebiště „Na Valách“. Monumenta Archaeologica III, Praha.
Hochmanová-Vávrová, Věra (1962). Velkomoravské pohřebiště ve Starém Městě „Na valách“. Výzkum v letech 1957–1959. In: ČMMZ, vědy společenské XLVII, 201–270.
Grieg, Sigurd (1928). Osebergfunnet II : Kongsgaarden, Oslo.
Chudziak, Wojciech (red.) (2010). Wczesnośredniowieczne cmentarzysko szkieletowe w Kałdusie (stanowisko 4), MSL 5, Toruń.
Kočkurkina – Summanen 2021 = Кочкуркина, С. И. – Сумманен, И. М. (2021). Средневековые древности. Каталог археологических коллекций ИЯЛИ КарНЦ РАН, Петрозаводск.
Koch, Ursula (1977). Das Reihengräberfeld bei Schretzheim, Teil I-II, Berlin.
Koch, Ursula (1990). Das fränkische Gräberfeld von Klepsau im Hohenlohekreis, Stuttgart.
Koch, Ursula (2001). Das alamannisch-fränkische Gräberfeld bei Pleidelsheim, Stuttgart.
Lindeberg, Inga (1984). Holzschalen, Holzdosen und Beschläge zu derartigen Holzobjekten. In: Arwidsson, Greta (Ed.). Birka II:1. Systematische Analysen der Gräberfunde, Stockholm, 242–244.
Paulsen, Peter (1992). Die Holzfunde aus dem Gräberfeld bei Oberflacht und ihre kulturhistorische Bedeutung, Stuttgart.
Pescheck, Christian (1996). Das fränkische Reihengräberfeld von Kleinlangheim, Lkr. Kitzingen/Nordbayern, Mainz.
Plavinski 2017 = Плавінскі, Мікалай (2017). Курганны могільнік Пагошча ў кантэксце сінхронных старажытнасцяў Браслаўскага Паазер’я, Мінск.
Mařík, Jan (2009). Libická sídelní aglomerace a její zázemí v raném středověku, Praha.
Ravdina 1988 = Равдина, Т. В. (1988). Погребения X-XI вв. с монетами на территории Древней Руси. Каталог, Москва.
Sippel, Klaus (1989). Die frühmittelalterlichen Grabfunde in Nordhessen, Wiesbaden.
Spitsyn 1905 = Спицын, А. А. (1905). Гнездовские курганы из раскопок С.И. Сергеева // ИАК 15, 6-74.
Staňa, Čeněk (2006). Velkomoravská pohřebiště v Rajhradě a Rajhradicích, Brno.
Thunmark-Nylén, Lena (1998). Die Wikingerzeit Gotlands II : Typentafeln, Stockholm.
Tomková, Kateřina et al. (2020). Levý Hradec v zrcadle archeologických výzkumů. Pohřebiště, díl II, Praha.
Trotzig, Gustaf (1991). Craftsmanship and function : A study of metal vessels found in Viking Age tombs on the island of Gotland, Sweden.
Yakovleva 2015 = Яковлева, Е. А. Камерное погребение 1 // Древнерусский некрополь Пскова X – начала XI в.: В 2 т. Т. 2. Камерные погребения древнего Пскова X в. (по материалам археологических раскопок 2003 – 2009 гг. у Старовознесенского монастыря), СПб., 2015, стр. 28–83.
Ungerman, Šimon (2007). Raně středověké pohřebiště v Dolních Věstonicích – Na Pískách, Brno : Masarykova univerzita.
Uspenskij – Albegova 2021 = Успенский, П. С. – Албегова (Царикаева), З. Х. (2021). Древности Центрального Кавказа VII-XIII вв. (по материалам Даргавского могильника), Москва.
Zágorhidi Czigány, Bertalan ‒ Kenéz, Árpád ‒ Türk, Attila (2019). Tiszakürt‒Sziki-Kisföldek 32. objektum honfoglalás kori sír. Adatok a 10. századi hurkos végű bronzdrótok érékeléséhez, valamint a lovaglóostorok és fémszerelékes faedények elkülönítéséhez a korszak hagyatékában. In: „Hadak útján” A népvándorláskor fiatal kutatóinak XXIX. konferenciája – 29th Conference of Young Scholars on the Migration Period, Budapest, 59-67.