Nottinghamshire Unearthed

A new exhibition of PAS finds from Nottinghamshire has just gone on display at the University of Nottingham Museum. The exhibition showcases a range of objects from across the county and demonstrates the public’s contribution to our understanding of Nottinghamshire’s past. The objects include Treasure items that have been acquired by local museums, as well as ancient coins, jewellery, weapons and tools that have been borrowed from finders.

Anglo-Saxon Sword mount in the shape of a boar's head (DENO-92C3BB).
Anglo-Saxon Sword mount in the shape of a boar’s head (DENO-92C3BB). Copyright: Bassetlaw Museum. Licence: CC BY.

Among the fascinating and exquisite objects on display is an Anglo-Saxon sword mount in the shape boar’s head (DENO-92C3BB), which is made from gold and garnets. There is also a recent metal detecting find of a hoard of ecclesiastical objects (DENO-2FE6CD), which includes fragments from an enamelled Limoges cross.

Enamelled mount from a Limoges cross dating to the 13th century (DENO-2FE6CD).
Enamelled mount from a Limoges cross dating to the 13th century (DENO-2FE6CD). Copyright: Derby Museums Trust. Licence: CC BY

The University of Nottingham Museum is an important partner for the PAS in the region. The Finds Liaison Officer holds a finds surgery at the Museum on the third Tuesday of each month. The FLO is also supported by a team of university students who meet twice a month at the Museum to record artefacts onto the PAS database. Many of the objects on display have been recorded by these volunteers.

Student volunteers at the University of Nottingham recording PAS finds.
Student volunteers at the University of Nottingham recording PAS finds.

The exhibition will be on display until 27th January 2019, at the University of Nottingham Museum, Nottingham Lakeside Arts, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD. Open Tuesday – Saturday 11 am – 5 pm and Sunday 12 noon – 4 pm. Closed on Mondays. 

Minerva Wax Spatulae

Iron spatulae with a bronze handle in the shape of a bust of Minerva – recognisable by her crested helmet – are found in small numbers across Roman Britain; so far 39 have been recorded on the PAS database.

These objects were used for smoothing out the waxed surface of a writing tablet and are therefore associated with the spread of literacy in the provinces. In my PhD research, I am looking at the transition between Late Iron Age and Roman Britain, which includes evidence for literacy such as wax spatulae, along with seal boxes and signet rings. Dating of these artefacts ranges from the late 2nd into the 3rd century AD.

Lincolnshire (6), Wiltshire (5), and Hampshire (5) have the highest concentrations of Minerva wax spatulae on the PAS database. Mapping these finds shows a broad swathe across the southern counties from Suffolk to Somerset, with hotspots in the Wessex area and outliers moving north through Lincolnshire into Yorkshire.

Spatulae are generally found at or near to urban centres, reinforcing the view that the need for written documentation and literacy was higher in the small towns and civitas capitals than the rural countryside.

There are two examples on the PAS database from Nottinghamshire: DENO-E3C427, from Cotham, near Newark, is a fairly standard example.

A copper alloy wax spatula handle in the shape of Minerva from Cotham (DENO-E3C427).
Minerva wax spatula handle from Cotham (DENO-E3C427). Copyright: Derby Museums Trust. License: CC BY

DENO-65109E from Cotgrave, just outside Nottingham, is rather more stylised and departs from the standard theme.

Wax spatula handle in the shape of Minerva or Mars from Cotgrave (DENO-65109E).
Wax spatula handle from Cotgrave (DENO-65109E). Copyright: Derby Museums Trust. License: CC BY.

This handle was initially recorded as either Mars or Minerva, but as goddess of wisdom and learning, Minerva is the more likely candidate. This example is unusual in lacking the cuirassed (armoured) bust. It is possible that a British workshop existed which produced slightly more stylised local versions of these artefacts, which are found in Gallo-Belgica and the Rhineland as well as Roman Britain (Feugere 1995).

Representations  of Minerva are often found at Romano-British temples and shrines, in her capacity as a goddess of healing, and on many intaglio rings which were used, in conjunction with bronze seal boxes, for sealing important documents and possibly vows to the gods. Nina Crummy (2002) also observes that once detached from the spatula blade, the handle would function as a votive offering or amulet bearing the goddess’s likeness.

References:

Crummy, N. 2002. Wax spatula handle from Yorkshire. Roman Finds Group Newsletter. Lucerna 23: 6-8.

Feugere, M. 1995. Les spatules à cire à manche figuré, 321-38 in W. Czysz et al (eds) Provinzialromische Forschungen: Festscrift fur Gunter Ulbert zum 65 Geburtstag. Munich: Marie Leidorf.

Meet the Volunteers: Sian

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Tell us about yourself:

I am moving into the second year of a PhD at the University of Nottingham, split evenly between History and Archaeology, researching Northumbrian communities and culture between AD 600 and 950.

 

What does your role involve?

I examine, identify and record objects recovered from Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

 

What area of history/archaeology are you most interested in?

My interests lie primarily in the formation of societies and cultures in the early medieval period.  Honestly, though, I enjoy learning about how peoples and cultures interacted with others both within and outside of their immediate networks in any period or location.

 

Why did you start volunteering for the PAS?

When I saw that PAS was looking for volunteers based at the University of Nottingham, I was quite eager to join in.  I have been using the PAS database both previously in my MA and currently for my PhD.  Moreover, this opportunity to work closely and handle these materials was too perfect to overlook.  On a broad scale, though, being able to take part in the PAS is a fantastic chance for me to help make certain that the smaller extant materials from the past are available for researchers and the public.  It is important for us all to recognize our past, both the more utilitarian items such as strap ends and buckles as well as the more immediately exciting jeweled helms, resplendent brooches and golden torcs.  These humbler items open a window into the daily life and objects that is just as illuminating as the more famous hoards.

 

What do you enjoy most about volunteering for the PAS?

Touching items that individuals used and handled daily is incredibly exciting for me.  The PAS training sessions are also very useful and enjoyable.  I had no idea when I started that PAS would offer so much opportunities for volunteers to build their skills and knowledge base.  Alongside these things, working closely with the Nottingham volunteer team is very nice.  There is a kinship in sorting through dreadfully worn Roman coins that cannot be matched.

 

What is your favourite find from Nottinghamshire that has been recorded on the PAS database and why?

Though it may look fairly mundane, I think this coin (LIN-C4AED5) is a fantastic artifact recovered in Nottingham.  It is a Roman coin of Licinius I, minted in the early fourth century.  Where it really becomes interesting is that in the later sixth to early seventh century, the coin was reused by Anglo-Saxons, probably as a focal point of a necklace which would have comprised beads on either side, making what I can only imagine would be an eye-catching sight when lit by candlelight and the hearth fire in communal settings.  It brings up intriguing issues of how Roman culture was used in later periods to promote identity and social position.

A nummus of Licinius I probably pierced and reused in the Anglo-Saxon period
A nummus of Licinius I probably pierced and reused in the Anglo-Saxon period (LIN-C4AED5).  Copyright: PAS.  License: CC BY-SA.

50 Finds From Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire

Alastair Willis’ new book ’50 Finds from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire: Objects from the Portable Antiquities Scheme’ has just been published. The book demonstrates the region’s importance within the country and its links with the outside world. It includes some of the most spectacular finds from the two counties, including the famous Newark Torc and the Ashbourne Hoard, but also some less well-known objects that are just as important for our understanding of the past. Many of these objects are on display in local and national museums. The book is available in local museum shops, from Amberley Publishing or from Alastair at PAS events.

book cover

The counties of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire are an area of transition between the north-west and the south-east, highland and lowland, pasture and arable, rural and urban. These geographical divides shaped ancient tribal boundaries and continued to act as a border after the Roman conquest of southern Britain. The Trent and its tributaries were important trade routes linking the area with other parts of Britain and the wider world. Many settlements, including the important towns of Nottingham, Newark and Derby, sprang up on their banks during the Roman and medieval periods. Consequently, the finds from the area are diverse and reflect influences from different parts of the country and beyond.

The objects in this book were found by members of the public and have been recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme. They provide us with an insight into the lives of our ancestors, the people who lived and worked in these two counties, the people who did not make it into the history books. The objects span a period of at least 180,000 years and represent the whole spectrum of society, from the hand axe of a hunter-gatherer to the neck torc of an Iron Age chieftain to a token halfpenny of a seventeenth-century coal miner.