[Stuart Thompson]

I once made a necklace on behalf of a friend for a film (BBC) that he was in, was then asked by a couple of reenactors to make some and once again i've been asked to make a copy. These are bear claws, two max with about 3 glass beads. I traded some for my new tunic and trousers.

However, is there any proof that vikings wore these? The first I made on a fluke, as he didnt like what the props department had given him it was too 'feminine for the character' so I made a new one and they seem to have caught on rather quickly around these parts.

Having noticed a group in Ireland where most of the men and even women sport at least one got me thinking on the evidence. I can't find anything anywhere and now i'm curios dammit!

Thanks! hope you've all had good weekends.

[Bjorn Hagstrom]

I came across this in a seach:

http://catview.historiska.se/catview/media/lowres/239817

Bear claw with bronze fitting, found on Gotland migration period, so a little earlier than what most people would considered "Viking age".

There are a few finds of bear claws in the Swedish Historical Museum database, all seem to be listed as "Roman Iron Age" or "Vendel period" None except the above listed find have any holes drilled, some are burnt so more likley some sort of cult use.

[Stuart Thompson]

Excellent, thank you

You won't believe how many bears i'd be getting through! haha. Reckon this is my last batch, if you want anymore i'll include them wanting to get some big ones this time.

[Artis Aboltins]

In eastern Baltic they seem to be more often during late Iron age, (9-13 centuries AD). In most cases those claws are found as part of necklaces or as amulet added to some other decoration, I can not really recall instances of them appearing as stand-alone claw with hole drilled through it for hanging, if you are interesed, I can look up additional information once I return from Sweden in about a week.