Anglo-Saxon iron and copper alloy knife with inlaid decoration from feature 500, SXS 1974-80, Sussex Street, Winchester.

Anglo-Saxon iron and copper alloy knife with inlaid decoration from feature 500, SXS 1974-80, Sussex Street, Winchester.

Inlaid iron knife

Late Saxon, about AD 875-1075

Found during excavations by Winchester Museums Service Archaeology Section at Sussex Street, Winchester in 1979

In late Saxon and medieval times people carried knives for use as all-purpose tools, in the same way that penknives are carried today. The iron blade of this one has been been beautifully inlaid with twisted wires of copper and brass to form herringbone and running S-shaped patterns. The standard of craftsmanship marks the object out as highly prestigious. It is perhaps unlikely that it was deliberately thrown away in a pit; rather, it might have been inadvertently lost.

Photo by John Crook.

Anglo-Saxon iron and copper alloy knife with inlaid decoration from feature 500, SXS 1974-80, Sussex Street, Winchester.