Keys

Burial from Veien - cremation grave from the Roman Iron Age
c.0-400CE

Keys like these may not resemble modern-day keys, but they serve the same purpose. In the Iron Age, keys were primarily used to secure chests and smaller boxes. The keys found here at Veien are called “hook-keys”, with one featuring an arched hook, and the other a sharp angled hook. Both keys have long straight rod handles, with one of them having a loop at the top, possibly for fastening to a belt. 

Locks and keys provide evidence of safeguarding valuables and private property, which included exotic items and materials of high value in a time when banking systems had not yet been developed. It is plausible to assume that the individual buried in this grave may have possessed such valuables. 

There is a tendency to connect the discovery of keys to female graves, but this is not always the case. It is likely that both men and women buried with keys were individuals of wealth. For women, wearing keys could have been one of the few indicators of access to wealth. Even in the Iron Age, iron was itself a valuable resource. Carrying keys of iron would signify a great deal of wealth and social standing.