One of the most famous finds from the earliest historical period of the city of Ribe (southern Jutland, Denmark) is the fragment of a human skull, with a drilled hole, that has a relatively long runic inscription incised on one surface. Scholars have discussed the reading, interpretation and dating of the runes ever since the piece was excavated in 1973. In the present article, the find circumstances and other archaeological background information is presented; they permit the time of loss or deposition of the runic object to be narrowed down with great probability to the years A.D. 725–50.