File:Early-Medieval (Anglo-Saxon) Belt Mount. Treasure case no. 2004 T187 (FindID 206749).jpg

Potential find of Treasure: a group of closely associated Anglo-Saxon grave finds, including silver and gold jewellery, from a site on the Isle of Wight. Ref.: 2004 T187 Receipt nos.: 4106 (nos. 1-38); 4307 (nos. 39-68, 70-71); 4488 (nos. 72-76)

General background

The finds derive from possibly eight or nine ploughed-out, shallow graves at one site and were all found fairly close together in an area of the field, the findspot of each artefact being precisely plotted using a global positioning device (see plan). Except for find no. 69, however, which comprises the artefacts from a single male grave, there was no visible sign of the grave cuts, which appear to have been destroyed by agricultural activity. To some extent this activity has fragmented and dispersed some of the other objects and it has not been possible therefore to assign them to individual grave groups with any certainty, although many of them would probably have been buried in graves containing items of precious metal and so would count as Treasure finds by association (an approximate listing of objects which are all but one [no. 18] of similar date, but do not appear to be closely associated with these finds is noted in the conclusion to this report). As the finds have been discovered and deposited over a period of time it seemed advisable to submit a single complete report after everything had been finally deposited at the British Museum, rather than one for each new batch; hence the delay in submission.

The Treasure finds

The thirteen objects of precious metal are lettered in bold letters A-H and J-N in the list below. The numbers in brackets refer to find numbers as recorded on the plan. Surface metal analysis conducted at the British Museum indicated the approximate precious metal contents given in the entries for these items. The significant, non-precious metal finds are listed after that (i) - (ix) and then the remaining finds are briefly noted.

A. (nos. 1 and 3) Gilded silver square-headed brooch (disc-on-bow type) in three pieces, consisting of: most of the rectangular head-plate with the bow (pierced for a missing decorative disc) and top end of the foot-plate; and the rest of the foot-plate, in two fragments; overall length, approximately 90 mm; 95% silver. The head-plate has a shattered square garnet set in one corner and traces of a nielloed zigzag border, while in the centre is a disc of white paste flanked by empty triangular settings and minimalist animal motifs in Style I. In the centre of the foot-plate is a lozenge-shaped garnet between two circular settings, one of which is now empty, and in the separate tongue-shaped terminal is a small garnet disc in a loose gold collet surrounded by an empty channel which would originally have contained white paste. The brooch forms a matching pair with item B and therefore most probably derives from the same female grave. It dates from the mid-6th century and may be compared with other examples of the type from Buckland, Dover, and Howletts, Kent (V.I. Evison, 1987, Dover: The Buckland Anglo-Saxon Cemetery, London, pl. 6a; N. Åberg, 1926, The Anglo-Saxons in England, Uppsala, fig. 145; D. Leigh, 1980, The Square-Headed Brooches of Sixth-Century Kent, unpublished PhD thesis, University College Cardiff).

B. (nos. 2, 4 [in two pieces], 5 and 16) Gilded square-headed brooch (disc-on-bow type) in five pieces, consisting of: three fragments of the head-plate together with half of the bow; and the foot-plate with half of the bow and a separate, tongue-shaped terminal; overall length, approximately 92 mm; width, 38 mm (of head-plate); 96% silver. The design is the same as on brooch A above, indicating it is most probably from the same grave.

C. (nos. 7 and 17) Silver sword-pommel of 'cocked-hat' form from a ring-sword, with traces of gilding on the shoulders and in three grooves along the base of one side. A separate grooved silver hook and ring derive from the hilt of the same sword and the end of the hook fits into a central depression at one end of the pommel. The pommel has traces of a nielloed border on the ungrooved side and shoulders with flat, tongue-shaped, median ridges; a diagonal cross is incised on top; length, 45 mm; height 19 mm; 92% silver; height of hook, 25 mm; 96% silver; diameter of ring, 16 mm; 95% silver. The pommel and ring are typical of Menghin's 6th-century, mainly Kentish, Bifrons-Gilton group (W. Menghin, 1983, Das Schwert im Frühen Mittelalter, Stuttgart, pp. 312-315, Karte 2).

D. (no. 13) Silver fragment from the top left and centre of the foot-plate of a smaller version of the mid-6th-century Kentish square-headed brooch (Leigh's Series II), decorated with an animal or bird head above a roundel and raised central lozenge, and traces of nielloed zigzag frames; length, 21 mm; 99% silver. A central lozenge, replaced by cut garnets on larger brooches, appears also on brooches from Bifrons, Stodmarsh, and Richborough, Kent (Åberg op. cit., figs. 138-140).

E. (no. 35) Silver fragment of half of the head-plate of a 6th-century miniature square-headed brooch, decorated with one of originally two quatrefoil scrolls, a double concentric circle (originally in the centre of the plate) and traces of nielloed triangles on a raised border; length, 14 mm; 99% silver.

F. (no. 46) Silver-overlaid, copper-alloy basal end of a buckle-tongue with expanded end and semi-cylindrical shape; length, 13 mm; 96% silver. Uncommon 6th-century Anglo-Saxon type, usually associated with decorative rectangular buckle-plates like ix below.

G. (no. 51) Silver lozenge-shaped fitting or pendant with bevelled edges and a collared, ovoid terminal at one end, which has a fragment of a sheet back-plate surviving; the other end is broken off making it difficult to identify precisely; length, 31 mm; 97% silver. Probably early post-medieval (16th-17th century?).

H. (no. 55) Silver fragment from the corner of a square-headed brooch of Kentish 6th-century type, with a double border of small, interlocked, nielloed triangles and traces of gilding (mercury gilt); length, 18 mm; 99% silver. The fragment does not appear to be from any of the other brooches in this report.

J. (no. 59) Silver-gilt fragment (mercury gilt), possibly from the bow of a square-headed brooch; traces of a curved line of small, punched triangles and an engraved zigzag across the ungilded end; length, 11 mm; 87% silver.

K. (no. 63) Gold belt mount; square, but distorted by damage, with remains of a frame of oblong cloisonné garnets enclosing a green glass cross-shaped inlay with rounded arms. The garnets are now missing from the two damaged sides. There is a filigree wire soldered round the base; width, 19 mm; 73% gold. The mount is probably from the sword grave (no. 69; see vii below). It is a late 5th/early 6th-century 'import' from the Continent, probably from the Merovingian Frankish kingdom, or perhaps the Visigothic kingdom, where quatrefoil settings and rectangular garnets occur on a range of inlaid gold jewellery, belt and sword fittings, e.g. a sword scabbard mouthpiece from the grave of a Frankish warrior at Planig, Germany, or a buckle of Visigothic origin from Bulles (Oise), grave 747, France (published in the exhibition catalogues: Die Franken, Wegbereiter Europas, Mainz 1996, fig. 317; and La Picardie, berceau de la France: Clovis et les derniers Romains, Amiens 1986, fig. 135).

L. (no. 65) Silver sword pommel of Menghin's late 5th/6th-century 'Brighthampton - Ciply' type, in the form of an elongated pyramid with a round lug at each corner and traces of a double groove along the base on one side; length, 42 mm; width, 17 mm; height, 13 mm; 85% silver (Menghin op. cit., pp. 309-311, Karte 2 . The type is common in southern England, northern France, Germany and Scandinavia. The pommel was found in the topsoil above a shallow grave (no. 69; see vii below), which contained a gold belt mount (K above, no. 63) and a sword, and it is most likely from the hilt of the latter.

M. (no. 70) Silver fragment from the centre of the head-plate of a small square-headed brooch, with a billeted border, a pin-lug on the back and part of the bow with a decorated panel on either side of a worn line of interlocking triangles that were originally nielloed; length, 16 mm; 97% silver. The short, vertical billets above the end of the bow are similar to the borders of the brooches from Finglesham D3 and Bifrons, grave 41, Kent, indicating a date of around AD 480-520 (G. Haseloff, 1981, Die germanische Tierornamentik der Völkerwanderungszeit, Studien zu Salin's Stil I, Berlin, pls. 2 and 18-19).

N. (no. 9) Silver fragment of a buckle-loop of plano-convex section with a broad channel in the base and ribbing across the stub of the hinge-bar; length, 17 mm; 99% silver. 6th-century Anglo-Saxon type.

Probable Treasure finds by grave association

The associated non-precious metal finds comprise:-

(i) Two gilded, copper-alloy, joining fragments of a saucer brooch (nos. 26 - 7) with decoration of a border of alternating hatched and plain triangles enclosing the remains of a disc of triangular panels alternately plain and decorated with Style I animal motifs; lengths, 45 mm and 31 mm.

(iia) A copper-alloy hooked mount (no. 38) from a hanging bowl with a triple-grooved chevron at the join between the plain, almond-shaped plate and the hook, which terminates in a bird or animal head; the edges and tip damaged; length, 63 mm; width, 28 mm.

(iib) another hooked mount (no. 74) from the same bowl, but less complete; length, 55 mm; width, 21 mm.

(iic) a fragment of corroded and slightly crumpled bronze sheet (no. 73), probably from the body of the bowl; length, 33 mm; width, 26 mm. These bowls are thought to have been made in Celtic areas of Britain mainly in the 6th/early 7th century and one with similar mounts was found at Chessell Down in the 19th-century excavation (J. Brenan, 1991, Hanging Bowls and their Contexts, British Archaeological Reports, British Series, no. 220, 200-201, pls. 16a-b).

(iii) A flat, copper-alloy fragment of a belt-fitting or jewellery (no. 20) with punched and hatched decoration, and inlaid with curved silver wires in the immediately post-Roman, 5th-century, Quoit Brooch Style (S. Suzuki, 2000, The Quoit Brooch Style and Anglo-Saxon Settlement, Woodbridge); length, 18 mm.

(iv) A fragment of a copper-alloy miniature square-headed brooch (no. 54) comprising the head-plate, bow and part of the foot, with traces of gilding in the grooves and a narrow, rectangular panel on the head-plate decorated with a row of five pellets; length, 24 mm surviving. It belongs to a type found mainly in Kent and the Isle of Wight dating to the early to mid-6th century and may be compared with gilded silver examples from the Chessell Down cemetery (C.J. Arnold, 1982, The Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries of the Isle of Wight, London, fig. 25, 12-13; pl. 7b; Åberg op. cit., figs. 131-4).

(v) A gilded copper-alloy button brooch (no. 58) of Avent & Evison's late 5th/early 6th-century, southern English type Bi, with a face-mask enclosed by two circular ridges, similar to one from the Chessell Down cemetery; rim missing (R. Avent & V.I. Evison, 1982, "Anglo-Saxon button brooches", Archaeologia, 107, pp. 77-124, at 106-7, pl. 15: 10.4); diameter, 18 mm.

(vi) A gilded copper-alloy section from the mouth-band of a sword scabbard (no. 71) of Menghin's mainly Anglo-Saxon Kempston-Mitcham type dating from c. 500 to the 6th century, and decorated with four or five horizontal ridges alternating with lower ridges in the furrows; ends and edges damaged (Menghin op. cit., pp. 336-7, Karte 12); length, 49 mm surviving; width, 15 mm surviving. It probably derives from the sword in the grave no. 69 (see vii below).

(vii) The contents, all in a very poor condition, from a single male grave (no. 69) comprising: a heavily corroded iron sword missing the hilt, with pattern-welding in four strips and a scabbard mouthpiece plate visible in x-radiographs (length, approx. 820 mm); a very corroded iron shield boss with the remains of the grip (diameter, approx. 190 mm; height, 90 mm); a copper-alloy buckle-loop found adjacent to the sword and possibly from the sword belt, with part of the tongue surviving (width, 27 mm); the copper-alloy remains of a hanging bowl with parts of two of the bird-shaped escutcheons surviving, similar to iia-b (nos. 38 and 74 above); a fragmentary iron vessel; and the remains of a clear, fluted glass vessel, probably a bowl.

(viii) A copper-alloy object (no. 25) consisting of a circular plate with remains of a silver foil appliqué joining a lozenge-shaped plate on one side, which is broken across at the other end; length, 70 mm; diameter of disc, 40 mm.

(ix) Rectangular, copper-alloy, buckle-plate (no. 75) with traces of gilding and a rectangular garnet cracked across one end set in a central, raised collet; length, 35 mm; width, 29 mm (possibly belongs with F [no. 46], or no. 72 below). The panel round the garnet is decorated with two head-to-tail animals in Salin's Style I, their heads in diagonally opposed corners, and in one corner is the head of a silver rivet, the stubs of the rivets appearing on the back of the plate. A narrow flange survives round most of the plate. This is a Kentish type of buckle dating to the earlier 6th century, and was exported to, or copied in, other parts of the country. Complete buckles with similar plates have been found at Lyminge, Kent, and Mucking, Essex (S. Marzinzik, 2003, Early Anglo-Saxon Belt Buckles (late 5th to early 8th centuries AD), British Archaeological Reports, British Series, no. 357, Oxford, pls. 84, 8 and 85, 3).

Also one copper-alloy buckle-loop with a tongue with a shield-shaped basal plate (no. 76); thirteen D-shaped copper-alloy buckle-loops (nos. 8, 10-11, 15, 21, 24, 32, 36, 42, 45, 47, 50, 72). Six D-shaped high-tin bronze buckle-loops (nos. 6, 22, 29+37, 31, 48, 62; two of the fragments join). Five copper-alloy buckle-tongues (nos. 43, 56, 57, 60, 67). Four high-tin bronze buckle-tongues (nos. 19, 23, 33-4). These are all of typical early Anglo-Saxon types (Marzinzik op. cit.). One fragmentary copper-alloy bracelet of circular section (in three pieces: nos. 39-41; perhaps joining no. 64). One curved, copper-alloy fragment of rod with a 'spur' at one end (no. 64; possibly joins bracelet, nos. 39-41). One gilded copper-alloy fragment (no. 68) with a raised, circular setting containing a fractured, flat garnet; probably from the sword grave, find no. 69 (see vii above); width, 15 mm. One copper-alloy strap-end(?) of long, narrow, tapering strip (no. 12); length, 41 mm. One copper-alloy lozenge-shaped fragment with a projecting ridge (no. 28); length, 25 mm. One copper-alloy fragment of flat sheet (from a brooch?), tinned on one side (no. 44); length, 37 mm. One copper-alloy fragment of rounded triangular section with a moulded collar, probably a foot from a medieval tripod jug (no. 18); length, 36 mm. Two copper-alloy rings of round section (nos. 30, 49); diameters, 29 mm and 25 mm. Two copper-alloy fragments, possibly from brooches (nos. 53, 61). Part of a copper-alloy disc mount (no. 60), possibly tinned on one side and with traces of one or two rivet holes near the edge; width, 28 mm surviving. One flat, curved fragment of gilded copper alloy of uncertain date (no. 52). One large, faceted rock-crystal bead (no. 14) of irregular hexagonal shape with pentagonal top and bottom faces; diameter, 37 mm (max).

All of the precious metal items are Anglo-Saxon and date to the 6th century AD, except for two items noted above: the garnet and glass inlaid square mount (K), which is of the late 5th/early 6th century and probably imported from Merovingian France; and the silver lozenge-shaped fitting probably of post-medieval date (G). Most of the non-precious metal items and the crystal bead (no. 14) are also Anglo-Saxon and of the same date, except for the fifth-century fragment (iii); the Celtic hanging bowl (see vii) and the other two hanging bowl mounts and fragment (iia-c), probably all 6th century; and the medieval jug foot (no. 18), which is possibly 14th century in date.

Conclusions

The precious metal finds from the cemetery on the Isle of Wight would therefore qualify as Treasure under two of the stipulated criteria of the Treasure Act: they are more than 300 years old and the precious metal content exceeds 10%. The non-precious metal finds would also mostly qualify because of probable close grave association with them, e.g. particularly the objects from the sword grave (vii above, find no. 69), as they are associated with the gold mount 'K' above. But a number of the other non-precious metal finds (nos. 25-29, 34, 37, 39-44, 47, 61-2, 68) do not appear to have particularly close associations with precious metal finds such as the brooches. As the grave outlines, except for vii/find no. 69, cannot now be traced, however, and some dispersal of finds may have occurred through agricultural activity, it is difficult to be entirely certain, except obviously in the case of the medieval jug foot (no. 18).

B.M. Ager, Curator, Department of Prehistory & Europe, 11 May 2005