10th century oak buildings, which served both as dwellings and workshops, have been preserved at Coppergate, as have a great many domestic items. There are wooden cups, spoons, plates and bowls, pottery cooking vessels and knives of every size. There is even an iron frying pan, patched in antiquity. To while away the long winter evenings sagas — tales of the adventures of gods and mortals — were told and music was played. A set of boxwood pan pipes, a tuning peg from a stringed instrument, beautifully decorated with animal heads, and a flute made from a swan’s leg bone are all rare finds. We have also found an abundance of gaming counters, bone dice, bone and stone pieces for playing the Viking game of hnefatafl and even part of a wooden gaming board.

Iron padlock keys

10th century gaming counters and dice