Amulettringar snarare än ämnesjärn : metallografisk analys tyder på ojämn materialkvalitet hos vendeltida järnringar från Åselby i Stora Tuna, Dalarna

29 iron rings with diameters between 9 and 15 cm were excavated in 1989 at a Vendel Period settlement site with a longhouse, located at Åselby in Dalecarlia, Sweden. Most of the rings had between one and three smaller rings attached. Rings of this type and size are fairly common at Scandinavian Vendel and Viking Period sites – settlements, cemeteries and cult precincts – but their function remains debated. The rings from Åselby have been interpreted as iron/steel bars, to be used or traded as raw material for e.g. weapons production. Previous metallurgical analysis of one Åselby ring showed it to consist of somewhat uneven but still decentquality carbon steel. General conclusions should however not be drawn from a single observation. Here, we have sampled six Åselby rings for metallographic examination of the cross-sections. The material quality and carbon content of the sampled rings were found to be very uneven, and relatively large inclusions of unworked slag were common. We conclude that the rings were not bars of raw material. Instead, they may have been amulet rings, intended for ritual use. If so, our results suggest that the material properties of amulet rings may have been less important during rituals – it may have sufficed that the rings had the right shape