Caistor-by-Norwich astragalus

The Caistor-by-Norwich astragalus is a roe deer astragalus (ankle bone) found in an urn at Caistor St. Edmund, Norfolk, England in 1937.^[1] The astragalus is inscribed with a 5th-century Elder Futhark inscription,^[2] reading ᚱᚨᛇᚺᚨᚾ raïhan "roe deer". The inscription is the earliest found in England, and predates the evolution of the specifically Anglo-Frisian Futhorc. As the urn was found in a cemetery that indicated some Scandinavian influence, it has been suggested that the astragalus may be an import, perhaps brought from Denmark in the earliest phase of the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain.^[3] The inscription is an important testimony for the Eihwaz rune and the treatment of Proto-Germanic *ai. The h rune has the Nordic single-bar shape ᚺ, not the Continental double-bar ᚻ which was later adopted in the Anglo-Frisian runes.

Caistor-by-Norwich astragalus
Material	Bone
Created	AD 425-475
Discovered	1937 in Caistor St. Edmund, Norfolk
Present location	Norwich Castle Museum
Registration	N59