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KEY (TYA 283: 19)
Type: Key, iron.
Use: Key for a lock.
Site: Raisio, Ihala, Siiri cremation cemtery.
Period: Viking Age
Dating: 800-1025 A.D.
Size: Width of shaft 4.3-10.8 mm, thickness 2-4 mm; diameter of handle 22 mm, thickness 2,6 mm.
Photographer: Arto Korhonen.
Already in the Iron Age the most important chests would be kept closed with simple locks. A key like this one opened a so called tube lock. Round-headfed keys were common in the Northern Europe during the Viking and Crusade periods (ca. 800 - 1150 AD).
Keys were made of bronze or iron. Sometimes they are found in women';s graves. Possibly a bunch of keys was a symbol of a farmer´s wife already in the Iron Age.
Archive number of item: TYA 454: 499.
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