Shropshire Bronze Age gold pendant 'amazingly rare'

[Neil]

11 December 2018



A pendant found by a metal detectorist has been described as "one of the most significant pieces of Bronze Age gold metalwork" ever discovered in Britain.

Details of the "amazingly rare" artefact were shared on Tuesday by the British Museum, which said the craftsmanship would have been "almost unequalled in the period".

The detectorist's career-high discovery was made in Shropshire in May.

The museum says only one other similar item had been found in Britain.


The Shropshire Marches bulla - so named after the Latin word for bubble - is a crescent-shaped hollow pendant suspended from a gold tube, decorated with geometric patterns.

Peter Reavill, Shropshire Council's finds liaison officer, said: "The design is such that the play of light over the surface is what you would see most... shimmering, dancing and ever different".

He added it would have been "stunning when viewed by firelight or in bright sunlight".

[probono]

It's a fantastic and strange object at the same time

[Neil]

Agreed. It doesn't seem to reflect any prevailing fashion at the time. Dropped by a visiting alien?!?!?

[nobby]

It's a terrys chocolate orange

[Val Beechey]

I looked at it and thought maybe they’d got it wrong. It looks machined to me. But what do I know.
I do know I wouldn’t mind finding one