Rights Holder: Somerset County Council
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Unique ID: DOR-17B0DA
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Published
Items from an Iron Age crouched inhumation:
A copper alloy vessel with handle, a pottery vessel, two copper alloy brooches and an iron implement
Grave assemblage:
1] A copper alloy vessel with ornate handle. In excavation the vessel was observed to comprise two layers of horizontally ridged copper alloy sheet. Adjacent to it was the probably handle in two pieces. The handle consists of a rectangular copper alloy bar, which constricts into right-angled ends which then expand into right-angled, squared escutcheons. The handle is decorated with longitudinal grooves on the main body and curvilinear pattern with dot infill on the escutcheons. Each escutcheon has a large copper alloy rivet for attachment to the vessel. The vessel was wrapped in order to safely lift it from site and has not yet been investigated further.
The vessel is most likely an Iron Age tankard. Iron Age tankards are generally squat, single-handled vessels with straight or concave sides. They are typically constructed from wooden staves bound by copper-alloy hoops or sheathing (Horn 2015, 1), often these copper alloy fittings have their own horizontal bands of decoration, as in this case. The handle of this example fits with Type V (sheet metal) tankard handles (Horn 2015). These generally date from around AD 70-140, but are often stylistically considered an Iron Age category of object. Horn includes 17 examples of this type in his corpus, widely distributed across Britain, and primarily deposited within hoards and in Roman military or settlement contexts. The decoration, as in this case, usually consists of punched or incised geometric patterns (Horn 2015, 12-13).
Several additional items were recovered in the course of an excavation of the associated human remains by Bournemouth University:
2] Two copper alloy brooches:
A] A large T-shape brooch with a hinged pin (Brooch 2 in figure). It has large cylindrical wings housing the copper alloy axis bar for the hinged pin mechanism. The bow has a rectangular cross section and tapers slightly to a rounded foot. At the rear of the foot is a large, hooked catchplate for the pin. The pin is circular in cross section and tapers to a point. The wings are heavily decorated with pairs of vertical ridges flanking raised wavy line decoration. The bow is decorated in the same style with two pairs of longitudinal ridges flanking raised wavy line decoration, one on either side of a wider, central longitudinal ridge.
This appears to be a south-western type of hinged-pin Colchester derivative brooch (Mackreth 2011, pp. 92-4, plates 60-61). These are widely found across the south-west, and date to the first or second centuries AD.Dimensions: 58.7 mm x 39.4 mm x 27.5 mm
Weight: 36.87 g
B] A long strip bow brooch (Brooch 1 in figure). At the head are folded tabs forming the wings, with a notch between them. One wing is broken (but the fragment is present) and the axis bar is missing. There is some iron corrosion, probably from the missing axis bar. The bow is flat and sharply tapering. The front is decorated with a raised longitudinal central ridge and flanking grooves. At the back of the pointed foot is a small, hooked catchplate. The pin is detached. It has an expanded pierced head. The shaft of the pin is circular in cross section and tapers to a broken point.
This brooch is of Mackreth's (2011) 'Durotrigan' strip-bow brooch type (see pp.146-151, plates 99-102). These finds are centred in south western Britain, and predominantly date to the mid-first century AD.
Dimensions: 58.7 mm x 19.9 mm x 12.2 mm
Weight: 4.36 g
3] Iron implement. An iron bladed implement with a curved back and straight blade. It has a tapering projection at the attachment end before constricting into the short tang for the handle. There is copper alloy banding around the narrowed projection in front of the tang.Similar finds have been recovered from first century AD cremation burials at King Harry Lane, St Albans, Hertfordshire (e.g. BM 1976,0501.1073, 1976,0501.178), and from the mid-first century AD hoard at Hod Hill, Dorset (BM 1892,0901.1215-21).
Dimensions not recorded.
4] Pottery vessel. A rounded bowl with the rim missing. Late Iron Age black burnished ware fabric
Date: Late Iron Age to early Roman (first century AD)
Discussion:
The group includes more than two items of base metal that are of prehistoric date and therefore should be considered Treasure under the terms of the Treasure Act 1996. The non-metallic items were found in association with the others and therefore should also be considered Treasure under the terms of the Treasure Act 1996.
Author: Ciorstaidh Hayward Trevarthen (Finds Liaison Officer-Dorset)
Date: August 2016
Acquired by the Dorset Museum
References:
Horn, J. 2015. Tankards of the British Iron Age. In Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 81, pp.1-31
Mackreth, D. 2011. Brooches in Late Iron Age and Roman Britain. Oxbow: Oxford.
Notes:
Excavated and removed by Bournemouth University Department of Archaeology
Class: Grave goods
Current location of find: Dorset County Museum
Subsequent action after recording: Acquired by museum after being declared Treasure
Treasure case tracking number: 2015T951
Broad period: IRON AGE
Period from: IRON AGE
Period to: IRON AGE
Date from: Circa 50 BC
Date to: Circa AD 50
Quantity: 5
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Treasure case number: 2015T951
Grid reference source: From a paper map
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 10 metre square.
No references cited so far.