The Åker Assemblage — Fit for a King? A New Account and Discussion of a Collection of Treasure of the Norwegian Merovingian Period

IN THE SECOND HALF of the 19th and the early decades of the 20th centuries, an assemblage of stray finds dating to c ad 600 was collected at Åker in south-eastern Norway. The items included a cloisonné-decorated sword-belt buckle of exceptional quality, a pommel from a ring-sword, and various mounts and fittings from a shield, sword belts and hangers. In the early 1990s several metal-detected finds were made at the site, and it was clear that many of those had originally belonged to the same context as the earlier finds. This article presents and discusses the Åker assemblage on the basis of what has been added to the evidence, and of new knowledge about the site of Åker produced by archaeological excavation. The objective is to gain a better understanding of what the assemblage really represents.