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Lot Essay
PUBLISHED:
H. Dalwood and S. Ratkai, Salvage Recording at Bennett's Hill Anglo-Saxon Cemetery, Offenham: interim report, County Archaeological Service, Hereford and Worcester County Council, 18 February 1998 (a copy of the report accompanies this lot, together with documents and a video recording the find and excavation).
The previously unknown site of a pagan Anglo-Saxon cemetery was first discovered by the vendor in 1996 and was subsequently excavated and recorded by the Hereford and Worcester County Archaeological Service. The recovered artefacts are the grave goods from two main burials, one belonging to a warrior, the other of an adult woman. The group also includes similar artefacts from the immediate vicinity, as well as a group of brooches and rings from other areas in Worcestershire.
The grave of the warrior included one iron shield boss and a knife. The female was recorded as having the large florid cruciform brooch placed near her shoulder flanked by two saucer brooches with a star pattern, together with another saucer brooch with stylized zoomorphic design. She held a long amber and rock crystal bead necklace at her waist. The large florid cruciform brooch is of particular interest because of its exceptional size; it is part of only a small group of similar brooches, one of which is a florid brooch found at Stapleford Park, Saxby, Leicestershire in the 19th Century and now in the Leicester Museums and Art Gallery, cf. R. Jessup, Anglo-Saxon Jewellery, Aylesbury, 1974, pp. 65-6, pl. 11.
The late 5th/early 7th Century A.D. Bennett's Hill cemetery is the ninth pagan Anglo-Saxon cemetery to have been found in Worcestershire. It has been suggested that the area was populated by two separate groups during the 5th/early 7th century A.D., pagan Anglo-Saxons and Christian Britons.
H. Dalwood and S. Ratkai, Salvage Recording at Bennett's Hill Anglo-Saxon Cemetery, Offenham: interim report, County Archaeological Service, Hereford and Worcester County Council, 18 February 1998 (a copy of the report accompanies this lot, together with documents and a video recording the find and excavation).
The previously unknown site of a pagan Anglo-Saxon cemetery was first discovered by the vendor in 1996 and was subsequently excavated and recorded by the Hereford and Worcester County Archaeological Service. The recovered artefacts are the grave goods from two main burials, one belonging to a warrior, the other of an adult woman. The group also includes similar artefacts from the immediate vicinity, as well as a group of brooches and rings from other areas in Worcestershire.
The grave of the warrior included one iron shield boss and a knife. The female was recorded as having the large florid cruciform brooch placed near her shoulder flanked by two saucer brooches with a star pattern, together with another saucer brooch with stylized zoomorphic design. She held a long amber and rock crystal bead necklace at her waist. The large florid cruciform brooch is of particular interest because of its exceptional size; it is part of only a small group of similar brooches, one of which is a florid brooch found at Stapleford Park, Saxby, Leicestershire in the 19th Century and now in the Leicester Museums and Art Gallery, cf. R. Jessup, Anglo-Saxon Jewellery, Aylesbury, 1974, pp. 65-6, pl. 11.
The late 5th/early 7th Century A.D. Bennett's Hill cemetery is the ninth pagan Anglo-Saxon cemetery to have been found in Worcestershire. It has been suggested that the area was populated by two separate groups during the 5th/early 7th century A.D., pagan Anglo-Saxons and Christian Britons.