Bronze Age spearhead by Lukas
SPEARHEAD
Unique ID: OXON-845F3F
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow status: Awaiting validation
A fragment from a cast copper alloy spearhead dating from the Middle or Late Bronze Age, about 1550 – 800 cal BC. Only the tip of the spear remains the rest being lost to a transverse break
The fragment is triangular in plan, tapering from a break to the spear's point. It has a circular shaped midrib that is hollow and runs to the point of the spear from which the flat blade edges of the spear extend these narrow in width to meeting the point. The fragment has a dark reddish green patina that is chipped away in places.
The fragment is 35mm long, 17.4mm wide, 8.1mm thick and weighs 10.32 grams.
Not enough of the spearhead has remained to be able to date this fragment to a more precise range, although the circular section, the angle of the blade, and the midrib extending to the to the tip suggest comparisons with spearheads in Davis Groups 6-11.
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: BRONZE AGE
Subperiod from: Middle
Period from: BRONZE AGE
Subperiod to: Late
Period to: BRONZE AGE
Date from: Circa 1550 BC
Date to: Circa 800 BC
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 35 mm
Width: 17.4 mm
Thickness: 8.1 mm
Weight: 10.32 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Saturday 14th October 2023 - Saturday 14th January 2023
Roman Brooch by Andrew
BROOCH
Unique ID: OXON-74DB3C
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow status: Published
An incomplete Roman copper alloy Colchester derivative, Polden Hill brooch, probably dating to c. AD 70-250. The brooch is missing its spring, and the lower part of its bow, including the catchplate.
The head of the brooch survives to a width of 23.6mm. The wings are an oval cylinder, with an open reverse and each wing terminating in a perforated oval wing cap. The wing caps are pierced by a circular hole the outer edge of which have both been lost to old breaks. The wings has moulded decoration consisting of a raised collar at each end cap and then another in the middle of the wings before the bow.
The bow projects from the head with a width of 9.2mm and has a D-shaped cross section with a flat reverse and domed front. The bow narrows down its length to 1mm wide where it ends in a break where it is a rounded point. At the top of the bow is a broken D-shaped lug now surviving as only two small stubs.
The front of the bow has moulded decoration. This consists of a central ridge flanked by a raised chevron and moulded collars flanking the edge of the bow for the length of the wings.
The brooch is a light green colour across its surface.
The brooch is 23.6mm long at the wings, 19.9mm wide from the wings to the break, 8mm thick in profile and weighs 5.26 grams.
Similar examples are illustrated by Hatatt (2000: 300-301) described as a Polden Hill type brooches. Within Mackreth’s (2011) corpus iwhich he classifies as 5.b4. Both dates this form of brooch to the mid 1st to 2nd century AD. Bayley & Butcher (2004: 159) note that the method of pin attachment seen on this example is characteristic of Polden Hill brooches.
Class: Colchester derivative, Polden Hill
Sub class: Mackreth (2011) CD PH type 5. b4.
Class: Colchester derivative, Polden Hill
Sub class: Mackreth (2011) CD PH type 5. b4.
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: ROMAN
Period from: ROMAN
Period to: ROMAN
Date from: Circa AD 70
Date to: Circa AD 250
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 23.6 mm
Width: 19.9 mm
Thickness: 8 mm
Weight: 5.26 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Saturday 22nd January 2022 - Tuesday 22nd February 2022
Medival bulla by Darius
BULLA
Unique ID: OXON-842FF5
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow status: Awaiting validation
A complete lead papal bulla of Pope Boniface IX (c. AD 1350 to AD 1404), dating to the period AD 1389 to AD 1404, when he held the papacy. The front (recta) face of the bulla depicts the faces of Saints Peter and Paul with a cross between them. 'SPASPE' is written above the busts which is an abbreviation for St. Paul St. This face of the bulla is not as deeply impressed as the reverse.
The reverse (verso) face of the bulla shows the name of the Pope, which is written in the nominative, with his abbreviated title (PP: Pastor Pastorum - Shepard of the Shepards) and ordinal number; 'BONI / FATIUS / P P VIIII'.
The papal bulla measures 36.42mm long, 35.58mm wide and 5.63mm thick. It weighs 46.09g.The papal bulla is a beige colour with an even patina.
Papal Bullae act as a formal seal of office used by the Popes to stamp and authenticate documents produced by the curia in either Rome or by the Anti-Popes in Avignon. This bulla is of Boniface IX (1389-1404).
Tim Pestell (Norwich Castle Museum) identified the bull of WAW-C8D175 and commented: Boniface IX is quite a prolific issuer of bulls but this seems to be the result of a relatively long pontificate. I have 10 from the Diocese of East Anglia, although one is an unprovenanced example in Bury St Ed Museum. The bulla is therefore not unusual, although it was issued at a time when papal bullae were on the decline in terms of numbers issued.
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
Period from: MEDIEVAL
Period to: MEDIEVAL
Date from: Exactly AD 1389
Date to: Exactly AD 1404
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 36.42 mm
Width: 35.58 mm
Thickness: 5.63 mm
Weight: 46.09 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Sunday 1st January 2023 - Saturday 8th July 2023
Medival Spur by Darius
SPUR
Unique ID: OXON-84A4F6
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow status: Awaiting validation
Medieval (mid to late 15th century) iron rowel spur: The iron arms of the spur have been squashed together and one arm is incomplete. The complete arm is a slender long rectangle in section, has a horizontal band and the terminal tapers and is angled upwards at c. 70° terminating with two loops (figure-of-8 loops) angled at 45° to the upturned arm. One loop has the remains of a iron ring through it. The outer face of the arms appears to be decorated and has a high relief inscription which is illegible. At the heel of the spur, on the upper edge there is a crest which flares outwards. The neck is of mid length and oval in section. The terminal of the neck divides into two arms with a side protruding knop at each terminal. The neck also appears to be decorated and has a high relief inscription which is illegible. The rowel is hinged on an iron axis and has 8 teeth or points, some of which are incomplete.
The surface of the spur is slightly corroded with some areas of flaking having occurred.
It measures 137.05mm long, 24.95mm wide across the heel, 24.87mm deep at the heel and weighs 78.80g. The spur probably dates to the second half of the 15th century. Ellis (1991) illustrates a similar spur, Figure 21 No. 37, although in iron, and dates it to the second half of the 15th century. The Museum of London Catalogue illustrates another iron spur of broadly the same shape and is also decorated on the arms and neck which dates to the 15th century, Figure 35, No. 1.
Ellis, M. A. 1991, 'Spurs' in Saunders, P. and Saunders, E. 1991 Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum Medieval Catalogue, Part 1 Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum: Salisbury
Ward-Perkins, J.B. 1940 London Museum: Medieval Catalogue HMSO London
Class: Rowel
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
Period from: MEDIEVAL
Period to: MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1400
Date to: Circa AD 1500
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 137.05 mm
Width: 24.95 mm
Thickness: 24.87 mm
Weight: 78.8 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Sunday 1st January 2023 - Saturday 8th July 2023
Neolithic Arrowhead by Andrew
ARROWHEAD
Unique ID: OXON-2F056F
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow status: Awaiting validation
An incomplete flint arrowhead dating to the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age c.2500-1500 cal BC.
The arrowhead is made from a tertiary flake of flint. It has a slightly glossy surface and is predominantly a transluscent, light brown with a single grey inclusion. The arrowhead has a clean break across the base and the tip is also missing.. The surface is covered in scaled retouch.
The arrowhead is 18.5mm long. It is 10.5mm wide (at the break) and 3mm thick and it weighs 0.49 grams.
The damage to the arrowhead makes it difficult to type using Greens' typology, however its overall shape suggests that it is one of the early forms as illustrated by Butler (Butler 2005, 159-165 after Green 1980). Flint arrowheads are one of the distinctive features of the Beaker phase of the Late / final Neolithic and Early Bronze Age c. 2500 BC-1500 BC (Butler 2005, 162)
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: NEOLITHIC
Period from: NEOLITHIC
Period to: BRONZE AGE
Date from: Circa 2500 BC
Date to: Circa 1500 BC
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 18.5 mm
Width: 10.5 mm
Thickness: 3 mm
Weight: 0.49 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Friday 14th April 2023 - Saturday 14th October 2023
Strap Fitting by Darius
STRAP FITTING
Unique ID: OXON-2FA5F4
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow status: Awaiting validation
A complete, Post-Medieval (mid 16th to mid 19th century) copper alloy snake shaped strap-fitting: The strap fitting is S-shaped in plan and sub-oval in cross section being wider than it is thick. The head of the snake is oval shaped and has a pair of oval eyes. Beyond the head the form of the fitting is S shaped. Both sides of the snake have moulded and incised decoration that give the impression of a snake with the upper surface covered in four rows of dots behind the head which turn then change to small inverted V shapes giving the impression of scales. On the reverse the snake is decorated with a series of short horizontal lines which start at the head and continue to the tail end. The fitting is brown in colour.
The object is 44.5mm long, 19.7mm wide, 4.6mm thick and it weighs 14.7 grams.
Read (2008:230) illustrates similar snake shaped objects which were used as strap fittings, including no.824 which is a close parallel, he gives dates ranging from the mid 16th century to the mid 19th century. Such fittings were used to fasten belts and are commonly seen on sword belts in portraits of the 16th to 17th century although later they may have been used for more general belts including more modern examples. Similar examples on the database include OXON-398EA3, SOM-57096C, PUBLIC-B811C6 and SOM-81D67.
Class: S shaped fastener
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Period from: POST MEDIEVAL
Period to: MODERN
Date from: Circa AD 1600
Date to: Circa AD 1900
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 18.5 mm
Width: 10.5 mm
Thickness: 3 mm
Weight: 0.49 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Friday 14th April 2023 - Saturday 14th October 2023
Purse Part by Darius
PURSE
Unique ID: OXON-30123B
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow status: Awaiting validation
A late Medieval to early Post Medieval (c. 1450 to c. 1600) purse bar fragment
The fragment is from the arm of the purse bar. The bar is rectangular in plan and circular in cross section with a break at one end one. Attached to the bottom of the bar is a flat rectangular attachment plate which has two circular holes drilled through it. The arm fragment is decorated with pairs of parallel lines which cross over each other at even distances creating a series of diamond shapes. The surface of the bar has a mid green patina.
It measures 41.23mm long from terminal to break, 12.5mm wide and 7.9mm thick. It weighs 16g.
A similar example from Oxfordshire on the database is OXON-A9023C
Margeson (1993) illustrates a similar decorated example, No. 290 which is dated to c. 1650 to 1700. Other frames are illustrated in the London Museum Catalogue (1940, 158), dating to the mid 15th to 16th centuries. Williams (2018) classifies this type as A1
Margeson, S., 1993. Norwich Households; Medieval and Post Medieval Finds from Norwich Survey Excavations 1971-78. East Anglian Archaeology Report No. 58. Norwich: Norwich Survey/Norfolk Museums Service
Ward-Perkins, J.B. 1940 London Museum: Medieval Catalogue London plate XXXIII pp158
Williams, D. 2018 Copper-alloy Purse Components: A new classification using finds from England and Wales recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme Finds Research Group Datasheet.
Class: Bar and Loop
Sub class: Williams Class A1
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
Period from: POST MEDIEVAL
Period to: POST MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1650
Date to: Circa AD 1700
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 41.2 mm
Width: 12.5 mm
Thickness: 7.9 mm
Weight: 16 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Friday 14th April 2023 - Saturday 14th October 2023
Brooch by Darius
BROOCH
Unique ID: OXON-311ECB
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow status: Published
Fragment of a Roman copper alloy enamelled Trumpet broch of Bayley and Butcher 2004, Group D and of Mackreth's (2011) Type TR 1.2b1, dating to the period c. AD 75-175. Most of the lower bow,the attachment plate and the pin mechanism is missing.
The fragment consists of the trumpet head only, the front of which survives intact but the top and the back are obscured by corrosion. At the centre of the top of the head is a small projection which is probably the remains of an attachment loop which would have projected from the head of the brooch. The front of the head is decorated with a moulded double collar incision which mirrors the curve of the trumpet. Beneath this are two cells which are the mirror image of each other on each side which contain a voided arc or crescent. There is a single triangle in the centre above and below these cells. The head tapers into the bow and terminates at an old transverse break. There are traces of blue enamel in the arc on the left side of the head. The reverse of the head is undecorated. The brooch fragment has a mid green patina with large areas of brown iron corrosion behind the head.
The fragment is 27.40mm long, it is 17.83mm wide and 15.25mm thick at the head. It weighs 8.69 grams.
Hattatt (2007, 327) dates this type of Trumpet brooch from the 1st to the second century AD. This matches Mackreth ( 2011,Volume 2, 119) who describes similar examples and has similar examples which he has classified as a Type 1.2b1.
A more complete example of this type of Trumpet brooch can be seen on the database PUBLIC-5FD1A0
Class: Trumpet, Bayley and Butcher 2004, Group D; decorated.
Sub class: Mackreth 2011, Trumpet, Bayley and Butcher 2004, Group D; decorated. Sub-classif: Hull T153A-B, T156, T157A-F; Bayley and Butcher 2004, Group D, 92-4, 163-164, fig. 73, 130; Mackreth 2011, TR 1.2b. Plate 80
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: ROMAN
Period from: ROMAN
Period to: ROMAN
Date from: Circa AD 100
Date to: Circa AD 175
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Length: 27.4 mm
Width: 17.8 mm
Thickness: 15.3 mm
Weight: 8.69 g
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Friday 14th April 2023 - Saturday 14th October 2023
Post Medival Token by Darius
TOKEN
Unique ID: OXON-32AC88
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow status: Awaiting validation
A Post Medieval lead alloy biface token of of Powell type 19 (Animals).
The token is circular in plan and sub-rectangular in cross section. Both surfaces have a clear raised design of a rabbit or hare leaping right. The token is a mid brown colour.
It has a diameter of 20.05mm, 2.7mm thick and weigh 5.09 grams
Lead tokens had a wide variety of uses including as weights, tickets and gaming tokens. They are believed to be locally produced for a local use, making precise dating difficult. Those with coin-like designs were previously thought to be Medieval but Post-medieval moulds for this type have also been found. See Powell: Classification for Lead Tokens online
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Period from: POST MEDIEVAL
Period to: POST MEDIEVAL
Date from: Exactly AD 1500
Date to: Exactly AD 1800
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Thickness: 2.66 mm
Weight: 5.09 g
Diameter: 20.05 mm
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Friday 14th April 2023 - Saturday 14th October 2023
Charles I Halfgroat by Darius
COIN
Unique ID: OXON-32281A
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow status: Awaiting validation
A complete post-Medieval silver halfgroat of Charles I (1625-1649), minted at the Tower of London under Charles I. No inner circles, mintmark: anchor (at end of inscription on obverse) 1630-1631. (North 1991: 161, ref: 2249).
The coin diameter is 15.6mm it is 0.99mm thick and it weighs 0.99.
North, J.J. 1991. English Hammered Coinage, Volume II, Edward I to Charles II, 1272-1662. Spink & Son, London.
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: POST MEDIEVAL
Period from: POST MEDIEVAL
Period to: POST MEDIEVAL
Date from: Exactly AD 1630
Date to: Exactly AD 1631
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Thickness: 0.99 mm
Weight: 0.99 g
Diameter: 15.6 mm
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Friday 14th April 2023 - Saturday 14th October 2023
Edward IV Silver Penny by Darius
COIN
Unique ID: OXON-331CF1
Object type certainty: Probably
Workflow status: Awaiting validation
A complete medieval silver penny of Edward IV (second reign, 1471-1483). Type XVIiii dating to the period 1472-1475. Minted in York under Sede Vacante. I.m rose. North (1991) no. 1648.
Subsequent actions
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Chronology
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
Period from: MEDIEVAL
Period to: MEDIEVAL
Date from: Exactly AD 1472
Date to: Exactly AD 1475
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 1
Thickness: 0.6 mm
Weight: 0.69 g
Diameter: 15 mm
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Friday 14th April 2023 - Saturday 14th October 2023
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