It's the season to be jolly...

So today we have an artefact that is a must for all those office parties....

Image taken from The British Museum

 

 

It is of course the drinking horn!  With no way of putting them down it's easy to see why their Viking owners had such a reputation for being drunkards.  This example was however, found in an Anglo-Saxon context, along with a matching horn in a princely burial.  Discovered in Taplow, Buckinghamshire, the auroch horns are larger than their Scandinavian counterparts and suggest that this worldly Prince knew how to party!  Their silver gilding suggests he had a talented metalworker and money was no object to him either, between the metalwork, carving and cost of the animal, these were expensive party pieces.  But they were nothing compared to Scandinavian equivalents...

 

 

Image Taken from World Nomads

 

The above example is far smaller, but also far more ornate.  Scandinavian examples, like this one from Denmark, are often decorated with Norse gods and religious myth, confirming their association with celebration.  Such artefacts are likely to have be utilised during feasts and festivals to ensure a steady supply of mead was available to their owner.  They are generally seen as being a male artefact, but there is nothing to truly support this notion.  Our Princely example is sixth century AD in date, however, drinking horns were not a sudden invention, they were recorded by Tacitus when he encountered Germanic Tribes.  He describes them in a similar vein to our Princely examples, they were clearly seen as hit then as Roman examples are also known.

 

 

It seems that the drinking horn is still desirable, in searching for a suitable example to share with you I came across website after website selling modern examples based on those of the past.  So maybe you can take on to the office party after-all....