Description

Summary: 1 shale belt ring with 3 intercommunicating holes, decorated with transverse dots, found with an internment under a large Sarsen stone, from Winterbourne Monkton, Wiltshire, excavated by Eyles, 1856.

Research results

A Bronze age shale pulley or belt ring, found with an internment underneath a large Saren stone by the antiquarian Eyles in 1856. Similar belt rings are commonly found with Beaker period graves and spread from the continent, elaborate shale examples such as this appear to be an indigenous development of the wessex region and were prized possesions. Unlike other examples, which are often very heavily worn and repaired, the decoration and perforations on this example are still relatively crisp, although they do show signs of use wear, suggesting it had seen less use than some of the other rings from around wessex. This ring is made of Whitby jet from Yorkshire.

This object was examined as part of the research published in Ritual in Early Bronze Age Grave Goods; a six-year research project carried out by Professor John Hunter and Dr Anne Woodward and funded by the Leverhulme Trust. Aided by a large number of other specialists the pair undertood an exhuastive study examining over 1000 objects held in 13 museums across the country in order to provide an extensive overview of burial practices in the period and identify regional practices.