VIKING IRON PADLOCK, C.850-1050 AD

Iron, skillfully made of multiple pieces with copper brazed joints. Just over 2 1/2” (2.59”) width with a triangular body housing the mechanism. Brazed reinforcing plates front and back. The face has a shaped key hole and central pin for additional security. The shank is intact but frozen. See The Mastermyr Find, which illustrates the contents of a Viking tool chest recovered in Gotland Sweden. Plate 19 illustrates several very similar padlocks.

A lock of this size could secure a door hasp and it is precisely suitable for securing chains and shackles for slave traders. Vikings were very active slavers, raiding coastal Mediterranean towns and selling the captives in North Africa. As well, is it said that every Viking homestead would have had an outbuilding for one or more slaves. Complete and professionally conserved. Rare.