Viking Plaque in Paragon of Design's Pieces

We took this picture in the Orkney museum in Kirkwall, Scotland. It was an interesting find in the small and cramped museum which we nearly overlooked! One of our favourite things about this find was the sheer unlikelihood of discovering such a great artifact in this remote area, generally pieces like this are spirited away to larger museums, it really added to the sense of adventure we experienced while in Orkney. We have seen these plaques all over museums in Norway and Denmark, but this was the best preserved one we have encountered even though it was 1,100 years old. Below the item the description said "This very fine plaque is made of whalebone. It had been propped up at the foot of the grave. Plaques like these were probably used for linen smoothing." (Scar, Sanday Excavted 1991.)
The images are of stylized dragons and the plaque was excavated with assorted treasure, a boat and the remains of 3 people. For further information about the plaque check out the this link Scar Boat Burial.