brooch

Description

Summary: 1 pair of cast saucer brooches of leaded bronze, mercury gilded, with 4 parallel, stylized animal designs, from Grave 21, from the pagan Saxon cemetery called 'Black Patch' at Blacknall Field, Pewsey, Wiltshire, excavated by Ken Annable and the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, 1969-1976.

Research results

A pair of cast saucer brooches of leaded copper alloy, with a mercury gilded surface, from Grave 21, from the 'Black Patch' cemetery at Blacknall Field, Pewsey, Wiltshire, excavated by Ken Annable and the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, 1969-1976. These brooches, alongside a square-headed brooch, were buried with a woman aged around 40+ and are decorated in Salin's style I, a decorative scheme which originally developed in southern Scandinavia. Both brooches are divided inot four panels each containing a style I animal.

This object was examined by Leah Moradi of the University of Exeter as part of her study investigating shamanistic and totemic practices and beliefs in fifth to seventh century Wessex and East Anglia through depictions of humans and animals on contemporary grave goods. Her study found that anthropo- and zoomorphic decoration was most often found with mature women between the ages of around 25 and 40, suggesting that some members of this group may have held a special status. She also notes that anthropomorphic depictions and the use of gold or gilding was more common in the wessex region, whilst depictions of certain animals, especially horses and birds, were far rarer; this may imply regional variation in belief structures, or the traditions of display through which they were presented.


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Copyright: Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society