Some new findings of eastern belts and belt equipment from the late Viking Age and early Middle Ages in Norway

While belts and belt accessories have been a relatively minor theme for Viking Age research in Norway so far, unlike for instance in Sweden, new finds are changing the situation. This article deals with a particular type of strap accessories, namely so-called "oriental" mounts made from copper alloy, and originally produced mainly in present-day Russia and Ukraine. The author knows 26 such finds, most of them consisting of single mounts, and all of them resulting from metal-detecting. A number of finds stem from Northern Norway, where they seem, at least partially, to be another aspect of the already well-studied Eastern finds there. The majority of the new finds, however, have come to light in inland areas of eastern Norway. The latter area, in earlier times called "The Uplands" (Opplandene), seems to have had close connections both to Sweden and to areas further east in this period, as witnessed both by archaeological and written sources. It is suggested that the recent finds of "oriental" mounts represent, directly or indirectly, warriors that had spent time in the druzhinas of Ancient Rus' rulers.