Rights Holder: Norfolk County Council
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PENDANT
Unique ID: NMS-B1F206
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Published 
Description: Early Anglo-Saxon gold oval pendant with central cabochon red garnet, surrounded by an outer border of twelve radially set cloisonne cells inlaid with foil-backed garnets. Compacted soil in many of the cells precludes any more detailed observation of the setting. The back of the pendant is solid and undecorated and at the top there is a 2.6mm wide twin-grooved, slightly forward canted, suspension loop, that links from the back to the front. The entire periphery of the pendant is decorated with twin parallel and laterally aligned granular beading.
Dimensions: Length (inc loop) 17.4mm, width14.5mm, thickness (not including cabachon) 2.5mm, weight 1.4g.
Discussion: Pendants like this one typically were components of high-status necklaces in the seventh century. Perhaps the most famous surviving example is that from Desborough, Northamptonshire (Webster and Backhouse 1991, 28, fig. 13; British Museum 1876,0504.1), upon which garnet pendants alternate with gold bullae pendants and biconical wire beads, with a cross pendant as the centrepiece. Other pendants comprising a garnet cabochon surrounded by smaller cloisonne cells are known from West Shropshire (now in Ludlow Museum) and Milton Regis, Kent (Maidstone Museum), both of which are slightly more complex than te the present example.
An increasing number of small gold and garnet pendants of different shapes and sizes are being found as stray finds, reported through the Treasure Act and recorded on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database. Examples most similar in form to the present example include LIN-18EEC1 (2011T691) which is part of a necklace; SF-CD3B63; DENO-494555; LEIC-437467; SWYOR-70F9A6; and NMS-522CD9.
Date: This type of pendant has been classified as PE9-b by Hines and Bayliss (2013) and is dated to the seventh century (Hines and Bayliss 2013, 364-365; Geake 1997, 39-40).
Notes:
The age and precious metal content of this item therefore qualify it as treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Act 1996.
Subsequent actions
Current location of find: Norwich Castle Museum
Subsequent action after recording: Acquired by museum after being declared Treasure
Treasure details
Treasure case tracking number: 2017T960
Chronology
Broad period: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Subperiod from: Early
Period from: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Subperiod to: Early
Period to: EARLY MEDIEVAL
Ascribed Culture:
Anglo-Saxon style
Date from: Circa AD 600
Date to: Circa AD 700
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 17.4 mm
Width: 14.5 mm
Thickness: 2.5 mm
Weight: 1.4 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Sunday 24th September 2017 - Sunday 24th September 2017
Personal details
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Other reference numbers
SMR reference number: 29715
Other reference: IND09102017GC
Treasure case number: 2017T960
Museum accession number: 2019.136
Materials and construction
Primary material: Gold
Secondary material: Gem
Completeness: Complete
Spatial metadata
Region: Eastern (European Region)County or Unitary authority: Norfolk (County)
District: King's Lynn and West Norfolk (District)
Parish or ward: Gayton (Civil Parish)
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: TF7318
Four figure Latitude: 52.73196272
Four figure longitude: 0.56071756
1:25K map: TF7318
1:10K map: TF71NW
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 10 metre square.
References cited
No references cited so far.
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Timeline of associated dates
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