Today’s image shows the front and back views of a jet button that was found within the same grave as yesterday’s plano-convex flint knife from Manston, near Ramsgate in 1987.
The jet button was found resting on the floor of the grave to the west of the skull. Jet buttons of this ‘V’ perforation type that are also associated with a flint knife and a Beaker vessel are known as far afield as Devon, Berkshire and Wiltshire.
Today’s VM_365 image shows a plano-convex flint knife found within a grave that was excavated at the centre of a Bronze Age barrow at Manston, near Ramsgate in 1987.
The grave contained the remains of a slightly built young adult in a crouched position accompanied by the flint knife, which was located just above the skull, as well as a jet button and a long-necked beaker vessel.
Today’s VM_365 image shows a skewer roughly fashioned from a small animal bone.
This object was found within a Late Iron Age hut floor at Ebbsfleet, Thanet in 1990. The hut floor was made up of a 15cm thick layer of flint pebbles which was covered with a deposit consisting of pottery dating to the late Iron Age, many animal bones, some of which had been roughly fashioned into skewers or awls, a clay spindle whorl and marine shells.
It is not clear what this object would have been used for. Perhaps it was used for extracting marine molluscs from their shells, perhaps it was used in some way during weaving, or perhaps it was a general purpose tool that could be quickly fashioned and used in a myriad of ways.
Today’s image for Day 157 of VM_365 shows three views of an interesting square pottery vessel, which may have been used as a salt container.
The square pot is made of a thick, flint tempered fabric, fired to a dark brown to black colour. The flint tempering can be seen in section where parts of the wall of the container have broken. The container was found at the Iron Age coastal site at South Dumpton Down, Broadstairs where concentrations of post holes within a boundary enclosure seem to represent the focus of the settlements within the enclosure. The square vessel was found within the fill of one of the main groups of post holes.
The suggestion that this was a salt container was made by the ceramic specialist, Nigel Macpherson-Grant in his report on the pottery. Because it is essential to the biological functions of livestock, and a valuable method of preserving produce to extend its life, salt was a valuable commodity in the Iron Age period, as it was throughout history. Salt may have been extracted from the sea water near to the settlement.
Today’s VM_365 image is of an Iron Age bone pin excavated from a pit at Dumpton Gap, Broadstairs in 1994.
The pit had been used for the disposal of domestic refuse which included animal bone, quern stone fragments and sherds of pottery dating to the Early Iron Age before being used to bury a single adult individual in a similar way to the burial at North Foreland.
The bone pin, possibly used to fasten a cloak, was found at the left shoulder of the skeleton, fragments of an Iron buckle were found at the right shoulder.
The image for Day 154 of the VM_365 project shows a 2nd to 3rd century Roman seal-box lid, found in the excavation of the Roman villa at Minster.
Seal-boxes were small bronze containers, used to seal the openings of documents and parcels. The box protected inside an impression made in a piece of wax from an intaglio seal, a carved image on a hard stone which was perhaps mounted on a signet ring. The wax seal impressions from an intaglio served as private or public signatures, guaranteeing that the contents of the sealed document or parcel were authentic.
To secure a parcel, a cord was passed through a central hole in the base of the seal-box forming a loop. The two ends of the cord were wrapped around the parcel and through two additional holes on the underside of the box. The loose ends were passed through the central loop and pulled tight, through two notches either side of the base. The cords were held in place with beeswax and the personal seal iwas pressed into the wax, protected in transit by closing the lid of the seal box over it.
Our example is a leaf shaped seal box lid in bronze, with an enamelled heart shaped design on the lid.
Further reading
Holmes, S. 1995. Seal-boxes from Roman London. London Archaeologist 7.15, 392-395.
For Day 153 of the VM_365 project our image shows an Anglo Saxon ceramic bottle vase, excavated in 1990 from Grave 277 at the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Sarre, the iron châtelaine ring and keys shown in yesterday’s post came from the same grave.
The bottle vase shown here is wheel turned in a smooth grey fabric and has been decorated with a lightly impressed rouletted chevron design. Fourteen similar vessels were excavated from graves in the same cemetery by John Brent in 1862.
Vessels of this type were manufactured on the continent by the people of the Frankish Kingdom, who also used them as grave goods. Examples from east Kent; other cemeteries in Thanet and graves from the Sarre cemetery are known to have been continental imports, considered by archaeologists to be luxury items. The decoration on the vessel from Sarre shown here is similar to, although slightly more complex, than an example found in grave 156 at Buckland Anglo-Saxon cemetery near Dover.
The vessel shown today has been carelessly cut from the potters wheel with wire so that it does not stand straight. It has been considered unlikely that a ‘second’ like this would have been included in a shipment of luxury goods from the continent.
It has been suggested that because of the inferior execution of the manufacture of the vessel, it may have been the product of a less able local Anglo-Saxon potter rather than a continental Frankish import. This idea perhaps underestimates several aspects of human nature that may have been at play in production, trade and consumption in Anglo-Saxon society.
Today’s image for VM_365 Day 152 shows a heavily corroded iron châtelaine ring holding two iron keys or latchlifters which were excavated from grave 277 at Sarre in 1990.
This grave was undisturbed. Because of its small size and the lack of survival of much of the bone. was interpreted as the grave of a child, probably female. Along with the châtelaine and keys, a bottle vase and an iron knife were also found accompanying the individual in the grave.
The two keys or latchlifters were suspended from the iron ring and were accompanied by a hook ended object with a sliding fitting on its shaft, which may be a keeper designed to hold the châtelaine fast to a girdle when it was worn around the waist.
Our image for VM_365 Day 151 shows one of the most common artefacts excavated within Anglo Saxon graves; an iron knife.
Iron knives are often found in both male and female graves and come in many different types. This example was found in grave 279 at Sarre excavated in 1990. The grave it was found in had been heavily disturbed, probably through contemporary grave robbing. Skeletal material of four individuals was found scattered throughout the grave fill suggesting that the grave may originally have held multiple occupants.
Although this knife is heavily corroded you can clearly identify the tang and the blade. This knife originally had a wooden handle into which the tang fitted. Iron knives from Anglo Saxon graves have been classified according to their size and shape by Vera Evison. This knife is of a late 6th to 7th century type and conforms to Evison’s type 1 classification.