Copy of a copy

3D ModelNoAI

This is an “animal-head post”. It is the size and shape of a forearm if you were to put your hand to the side and make a mouth with your fingers. That is if you have very big arms covered in intricate swirling designs.

It’s difficult to show just how detailed this is without seeing it in reality. This is a 3D scan of a hand-carved wooden “security” copy of an original excavated from the Oseberg ship burial in 1904.

Long before 3D scanning hand-carved replicas was one way the museum could share these artefacts. This was slow, but preserved both the original, and the skills of carving.

(Museum number: C60853/K2) Object type: animal head post Chronology: Viking Age/Copy 20th century Material: Wood Location: Oseberg, Tønsberg, Vestfold, Norway Technology: Hand-carving by J Eriksen, Structured light scan by A Sztal & B Aarseth, colour A. Pantos

Uploaded as part of the Heritage Accessible Project