Board-game piece from period of first Viking raid found on Lindisfarne

Small glass 'crown' thought to be rare archaeological link to first Norse raiders

It is not large - the shape and size of a chocolate sweet - and might easily have been discarded as a pebble by a less careful hand.

But a tiny piece of worked glass unearthed during an excavation on Lindisfarne has been revealed to be a rare archaeological treasure linking the Northumbrian island with the Vikings, from the very beginning of one of the most turbulent periods in English history.