Rights Holder: The Portable Antiquities Scheme
CC License:
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Unique ID: LANCUM-6D4CF5
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation
A complete lead alloy weight or spindle whorl of probable medieval date 1100 to 1500 AD. The object is broadly circular in plan and cylindrical and undecorated although this may have eroded away. There is a circular aperture through the centre of the object which may suggest this is a spindle whorl rather than a weight. These types of objects are hard to date as their appearance remained unchanged for many hundreds of years. However it is likely that this spindle whorl is of medieval date (AD 1200-1500). Helen Geake writes: "Dating of lead whorls is difficult. The drop spindle with which they were used continued in use until the end of the medieval period in London and Winchester (Egan 1998, "The Medieval Household: Daily Living c1150 - c1450"; and Biddle, 1990, "Object and Economy in Medieval Winchester"), and for perhaps a century longer in Norfolk (Margeson, 1993, "Norwich Households: Medieval and Post Medieval finds from Norwich Survey Excavations 1971 - 78"). The excavated assemblage from Winchester contains one lead whorl from a mid to late 10th century context." Undecorated spindle whorls can therefore date from the Roman, Early Medieval or Medieval periods. It has been pointed out that the weight of a spindle whorl is suggestive of the thickness of yarn produced, with lighter spindle whorls (3 - 5 grams) being used for spinning cotton and the heavier ones (30 - 35 grams) for spinning wool (Margeson 1993, 184). This one was probably for spinning wool. The length is 30mm and the weight 35.98g.
The diameter is 34mm and the weight 36.53g.
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Period from: POST MEDIEVAL
Period to: POST MEDIEVAL
Quantity: 1
Weight: 36.53 g
Diameter: 34 mm
Date(s) of discovery: Thursday 3rd September 2015 - Thursday 3rd September 2015
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4 Figure: SD4108
Four figure Latitude: 53.56527886
Four figure longitude: -2.89228306
1:25K map: SD4108
1:10K map: SD40NW
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
No references cited so far.