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WHEEL
Unique ID: NLM-8C93F5
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation 
Copper alloy wheel. Cast round section ring with the stubs of six lentoid section spokes of width c.3.5mm and thickness c.2.5mm projecting from an internal mould line. The mass of the object suggests it to be solid. The wheel is associated with the cult of Taranis as an attribute of a god of thunder or the sky. An earlier association with the solar disc is also suspected, dating back to the Bronze Age, and finds echoes in Classical mythology. This example is larger than others viewed by this reporter, and had more spokes than the smaller versions. A fine finish to this simple object is also a characteristic of the earliest horse trappings found in Britain. However, if the inference of lost spokes is correct, these absent parts would probably have been either individually too light or collectively too clustered to admit a function as a strap fitting from a suite of horse gear. Suggested date: Iron Age, 800 BC - AD 42.
Diameter: 47.8mm, Thickness: 6.2mm, Weight: 42.92gms
Class: Votive
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: IRON AGE
Period from: IRON AGE
Period to: IRON AGE
Date from: Circa 800 BC
Date to: Circa AD 42
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Thickness: 6.2 mm
Weight: 42.92 g
Diameter: 47.8 mm
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Thursday 6th April 2017
Personal details
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Other reference numbers
Other reference: NLM35847
Materials and construction
Spatial metadata
Region: East Midlands (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Lincolnshire (County)
District: West Lindsey (District)
To be known as: near Gainsborough
Spatial coordinates
Grid reference source: GPS (from the finder)
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
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Timeline of associated dates
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