Object of the Week: A crumpled glimmer of medieval gold discovered in a field in Wales
This article originally appeared on Culture24.
A wealth of treasures have been declared by Her Majesty's Coroner in Wales – including important early medieval gold
© National Museum of WalesIts baseplate decoration – a spherical blue glass bead set in a gold collar, with a pattern of S- and Z-scrolls amid beaded wire and various motifs – suggests it comes from the 8th century.
This would have been part of a brooch made from gilt bronze or silver brooch. “Early medieval gold work of this period is rarely found in Wales,” says Dr Mark Redknap, the Head of Collections in history and archaeology for potential buyers National Museum Wales.
“This new find adds significantly to our understanding of early medieval jewellery and its circulation, as well as the gold working technologies used at this time.”
The gold has just been officially declared treasure, as well as an early medieval silver ingot found by Francis Hodge in the parish of Trelawnyd and Gwaenysgor, Flintshire and an early Bronze Age hoard discovered in the Vale of Glamorgan.
- Treasures: Adventures in Archaeology is at National Museum Cardiff until October 30 2016. Read more about it.
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