Rights Holder: Isle of Wight Council
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Unique ID: IOW-125794
Object type certainty: Certain
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status: Published
A complete Early-Medieval (Anglo-Saxon) gold bracteate (c. AD 500 - c. AD 550).
The bracteate consists of a gold sheet disc with a rim of beaded wire soldered to the edge at the front and a repoussé zoomorphic decoration. A separate suspension loop is formed by a ribbed strip and is soldered to the disc. The decoration consists of an interlaced animal that is typical for type D-bracteates. Its head is underneath the loop. The design was stamped with a die and the relief was then reworked with a pointed tool both from the reverse and the obverse. The border zone is plain. The bracteate is well preserved with only slight signs of wear on the loop and edging wire.
More than 940 gold bracteates are known from the second half of the 5th and first half of the 6th centuries. Most of them have been found in Scandinavia but some 50 are from Anglo-Saxon England where the most common type are D-bracteates. The majority of the English D-bracteates have been found in wealthy female graves in eastern Kentish cemeteries (see, for example, the recent find from East Kent 2005 T352, 2005/6 Treasure Annual Report, forthcoming). A few others come from East Anglia (see Blakeney Freshes, North Norfolk 2003 T35, 2003 Treasure Annual Report). The new find from Near Shalfleet is linked stylistically to D-bracteates that have been found in Kent, East Anglia, Frisia, northern Germany and southern Scandinavia, especially Jutland, but there is no closely comparable design. With a weight of under 2 gr this pendant is lighter than the Scandinavian finds and comparable to the on average lighter Continental and English finds (Axboe 2007, p. 82ff.). The rather simple loop, the low weight and the dissolved design suggest that the bracteate was not an import but made locally.
Notes:
Gold bracteates originate in Scandinavia in the 5th and 6th centuries, where the main types of this period have been designated A - D according to their designs. Some thirty or more bracteates have also been found in England, both in Anglo-Saxon graves and as single finds (e.g. Åberg 1926, figs. 181-4). The main distribution is in the early cemeteries of eastern Kent, where all the finds are of the early to mid 6th century type D, to which the one from Shalfleet belongs. A number of them, like Shalfleet, were probably local imitations of the Scandinavian ones rather than imports, since their basic design is more devolved. This bracteate is similar to one from Denton, Kent although the zoomorphic design on the Denton example is disintegrated (Treasure Annual Report 2004, no. 112).
Metal content: The find contains a minimum of 10% gold.
This has been noted as an interesting find by the recorder.
Current location of find: Isle of Wight Heritage Service
Subsequent action after recording: Acquired by museum after being declared Treasure
Treasure case tracking number: 2008T127
Broad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Subperiod from: Early
Period from: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Subperiod to: Early
Period to: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 500
Date to: Circa AD 550
Quantity: 1
Weight: 1.88 g
Diameter: 22 mm
Date(s) of discovery: Sunday 17th February 2008
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Other reference: 2008 T127
Treasure case number: 2008T127
Grid reference source: GPS (from the finder)
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Axboe, M. | 2007 | Brakteatstudier | København | Unknown | 82ff | ||
Bland, R.F. | 2005 | Treasure Annual Report 2003 | London | Department for Culture, Media and Sport | 90 |