Gleaming eyes and the elaboration of Anglo-Saxon sculpture

Abstract

• This paper presents the results of the analysis of an Anglo-Saxon cross-shaft fragment from Aberlady, East Lothian that confirm the long-suspected belief that the drilled eye sockets found among Northumbrian and Mercian sculpture originally contained separate eye insets. A tin lining was positively identified in one of the drilled eye sockets on the Aberlady stone, thus providing the first analysed evidence of how these insets were affixed. Eye insets are a small but significant addition to the means of embellishment of Anglo-Saxon sculpture, and their potential iconographical significance is explored