TREASURE ANNU AL REPORT 2005/6 - Portable Antiquities Scheme

3. Lead coffin of a teenaged girl, within which nos. 1 &
2 were discovered; no further goods were found with
the skeleton.
Discussion: These items of jewellery can be paralleled
with an example in a child’s grave from Bonn (Sas &
Thoen 2002, no. 99e), and a more elaborate necklace,
nevertheless employing the same construction
technique, from Pouilly-sur-Saône (ibid., no. 111).
The triangular terminals on item 1 are paralleled in
examples from Archar, Bulgaria and a find in a third
century tomb from Lyon; these have been described
as stylised palmette endings (Ruxer & Kubczak 1972,
212–3, fig 30j; their terminal Type E). These parallels
suggest the above date. It seems likely that the items
originated on the continent, probably travelling with
their owner/s to Britain; variscite, a relatively unusual
mineral in British archaeological contexts, is a mineral
known to be found in Germany, for example in the
vicinity of Lichtenberg bei Ronnenburg (Middleton et
al. forthcoming).
Note: I am grateful to Kathy Sas of the Provincial
Archaeological Museum, Velzeke Buizerdlaan, Belgium
for her helpful comments and suggestions.
Disposition: Maidstone Museum hopes to acquire with
the main site archive.
R HOBBS
173. hitcham, suffolk: Roman plain silver
penannular ear-ring (2006 T575)
pAs ID: pAs-AD2D61
Found by Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service
during controlled excavation in June 2006; disclaimed,
to remain with the main site archive (Suffolk County
Council Archaeological Service).
F MINTER
174. stowmarket area, suffolk: probable Roman
silver cat’s head mount, possibly from a necklace or
a pinhead (2006 T614) pAs ID: sF-6bA334
Found by Mr T Southgate while metal-detecting in
November 2006; disclaimed, returned to finder.
R HOBBS
(V) spooNs
175. Turvey, bedfordshire: Roman silver spoon
fragment (2006 T91)
Date: 2nd century AD
Discovery: Found by Mr D Phillips while metaldetecting
in February 2006.
Description: A fragment of Roman silver spoon with
a plain rounded bowl. Part of the bowl has broken
away, leaving a jagged edge, and the handle is missing.
The bowl was originally connected to the handle by
a semicircular offset. Diameter of bowl: 22.5mm;
surviving length: 31.0mm.
Discussion: Small silver spoons with rounded bowls,
often termed ‘egg-spoons’, are well known across
the Roman world (e.g. Pompeii and Herculaneum,
see Ambrosio et al. 2003, 129, 277, 343). In Britain,
examples include one from the Backworth hoard,
Northumberland (BM reg. no. 1850,06-01,14). The
Turvey spoon however is unusual, because the type
does not usually have an offset between the bowl and
the handle, the two sections simply running together.
Comma-shaped offsets, a variation of the semicircular
offset on the Turvey spoon fragment, are a common
feature of late Roman spoons with pear-shaped
bowls, of which there are numerous examples (see for
example Cahn & Kauffmann-Heinimann 1984,
p. 84, table 48).
Disposition: British Museum.
R HOBBS
176. West Essex: probable Roman silver spoon
fragment (2006 T227)
Date: Probably 3rd–4th century AD
Discovery: Found by Mr J Mills while metal-detecting
in April 2006.
Description: A probable Roman spoon handle
fragment, lacking its moulded finial and spoon bowl.
What survives is a stem in the form of an elongated
baluster with reel-and-disc moulding and the broken
stub of the rectangular-sectioned offset that joined it
to the now missing, probably oval, bowl. For the likely
original form see Brown (2001), p. 59, Pl. 10e. Length:
49.4mm; weight: 4.4g.
Disposition: Saffron Walden Museum, the finder’s
share generously donated.
R JACKSON
177. Langford, Essex: Roman silver spoon fragment
(2006 T608)
Date: 4th century AD
Discovery: Found by Mr D Marvin while metaldetecting
in October 2006.
Description: A fragment of a Roman spoon in the form
of a duck’s head. The beak is rounded and flattened
underneath. A step represents the head, whilst the neck
has bevelled edges. Two points (solder?) set back from
the head on the neck may represent the bird’s eyes,
although one is clearer than the other, which is hardly
visible. Length: 29.5mm; weight: 5.6g.
Discussion: this fragment has become detached, either
accidentally or deliberately, from the curved handle
of a short-handled spoon or cignus, a well known late
Roman spoon type attested in a number of late Roman
hoards, for example Hoxne, Suffolk, and Thetford,
Norfolk. The spoon compares well with an example in
the Thetford deposit (Johns & Potter 1983, cat. no. 62).
Disposition: Colchester and Ipswich Museums Service
hopes to acquire.
R HOBBS
178. Woodnesborough, Kent: Roman silver spoon
fragment, possibly hacksilver (2005 T165)
Date: 4th century AD
Discovery: Found by Mr I Redfern while metaldetecting
in March 2005.
Description: A silver spoon fragment, the surviving
part consists of the spoon’s offset with an ovular
perforation, a short section of the handle on top and a
small part of the bowl. The offset originally belonged
to a long-handled cochlearia, a standard late Roman
spoon type with pear-shaped bowl. It is possible this
fragment should be considered as a piece of Hacksilver,
i.e. part of a deliberately cut item of silver tableware.
Length: 19.5mm; width: 14.5mm; weight: 4.8g.
Disposition: Disclaimed, returned to finder.
R HOBBS
179. Great shelford, Cambridgeshire: Roman silver
spoon fragment (2005 T581) pAs ID: pAs-AD5F57
Found by Mr S Fordham while metal-detecting in
December 2005; disclaimed, returned to finder.
R JACKSON
180. sible hedingham, Essex: Roman silver ‘cochlear’
spoon fragment (2005 T530) pAs ID: Ess-ED4C82
Found by Mr K Wood while metal-detecting in
September 2005; disclaimed, returned to finder.
C McDONALD
181. Whitchurch, hampshire: Roman silver
‘fiddle-shaped’ spoon fragment (2005 T133)
pAs ID: NmGW-91FCC3
Found by Mr W Belmont while metal-detecting in
February 2005; disclaimed, returned to finder.
R JACKSON
182. Walesby, Lincolnshire: Roman copper-alloy
spoon bowl and stem fragment (2006 T374)
pAs ID: pAs-AD8F32
Found by Mrs A Bygrave while metal-detecting in
August 2006; not Treasure, returned to finder.
A DAUBNEY
183. Wacton, Norfolk: Two Roman incomplete
offset lyre-shaped spoons (2006 T643)
pAs ID: pAs-ADAF72
Found by Mr L Laing while metal-detecting in
November 2006; disclaimed, returned to finder.
S ASHLEY
184. stowmarket area, suffolk: Roman silver spoon
bowl fragment (2006 T536) pAs ID: sF-F81A90
Found by Mr C Bayliss while metal-detecting in
October 2006; disclaimed, returned to finder.
F MINTER
(VI) oThER objECTs
185. Tadcaster, North yorkshire: 4 Roman silver
denarii, copper-alloy lamp & arm purse (2005 T268)
Date: Probably end of 2nd century AD
Discovery: Found by Mr A Harper while metaldetecting
in February 2005.
Description:
The coins: Four Roman silver denarii: one each from
Domitian (AD 81–96), Trajan (AD 98–117), Marcus
Aurelius (AD 161–80), and Commodus (AD 180–92).
Although it is possible that these coins could have been
drawn as savings randomly from the Antonine period
(late 2nd century AD) coinage pool in Britain, the
selection could also have been a deliberate deposition
ritual if, for example, associated with a burial.
The arm-purse: An annular copper-alloy arm-purse,
hollow and leech-shaped, with the normal six-facetted,
cambered exterior surface, with a central channelled rib
and a panel of rather rudimentarily incised rectilinear
decoration at the junction with both ends of the purse.
One side is broken away. Only two small, unattached
fragments of the hinged lid survive. Where the original
surface is visible, a degree of wear is apparent. Date:
Probably 2nd–3rd century AD. External dimensions:
109.8 x 106.9mm; internal dimensions: 101 x 74mm;
weight: 149g.
68 ROMAN ROMAN 69