Description

Summary: 1 dark blue glass bead, from Context 1090, Blackberry Field, Potterne, a late bronze/ early iron age settlement excavated by Lawson et al 1983-85

Research results

An Iron age glass cylindrical bead excavated from the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age midden at Blackberry Field, Potterne, by Lawson et al, 1983-85. Although known in early bronze age contexts, such as the primary burial of barrow Wilsford G42, glass beads remained extremely uncommon in the Early Iron Age.

This bead was examined by Foulds (2014) as part of their PhD with the University of Durham, examining Iron Age glass beads. The author notes that although known, glass beads attracted very little attention from antiquarians, and the first major study was carried out by Margaret Guido (who later became joint president of the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society) and published in the 1970s. Foulds’ study focused on three main regions: Yorkshire, the South West of England and East Anglia. They found that glass beads were very uncommon, only present at 4.5% of the over 1,300 sides examined. They found that in the South West a variety of bead forms were present, including with a potential regional tendency towards spiral designs. They also note that beads appear to have been in use in the region throughout the Iron Age, with an example from an Early Iron Age context from the midden at East Chisenbury known, although it has since been lost.