
GOLD PENDANT (BRACTEATE),
BUCKLAND ANGLO-SAXON CEMETERY
This beautiful gold pendant, also called a bracteate, was found in the grave of a high status Anglo-Saxon woman buried within a large cemetery at Long Hill, Buckland, on the outskirts of Dover.
Previous archaeological investigations in the 1950s had identified the presence of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery at the site. Excavations in 1994, ahead of housing development, revealed more of this large and complex cemetery.
This high-status female had been buried with an array of objects that included several glass vessels, a pair of silver pendants, a silver wire finger ring, an assortment of colourful glass beads, and seven garnet stones.
Date: 6th Century AD
OBJECT
Origin and discovery
This pendant or bracteate comprises a circular gold disc with a decorated centre surrounded by single ring of repousse bosses and two rows of neatly-executed ring and triangle punchmarks. This style of decoration is strongly characteristic of English rather than Scandinavian metalwork. There is a suspension loop, below which are applied wire volutes and spirals with Kentish parallels. Its outer rim is beaded, but is variable. This bracteate is a relatively individualistic piece with no close parallels. A bracteate is a flat, thin single-sided gold medal worn as jewellery that was produced in Northern Europe. The manufacture of these items probably originated with Roman and Byzantine portrait medallions. Fitted with a suspension loop, most were intended to be worn around the neck on a chain or cord. Extensive excavations in 1994 on Long Hill, Buckland, just outside of Dover, unexpectedly revealed another large portion of an early Anglo-Saxon cemetery. This cemetery was previously known from excavations carried out further uphill between 1951 and 1953 where 170 Anglo-Saxon graves were identified and dated to the period c AD 475–750. Over 240 graves were discovered with the remains of 233 individuals, comprising men, women and children. Some of the graves contained grave offerings. The graves identified in 1994 fall within the period c AD 450–650. The pendant or bracteate was found within the chest area of a female aged 25–30 who had been buried with a number of grave goods that included an iron knife, a weaving batten and a chatelaine of two sets of keys suspended from iron rings. Glass vessels, gemstones and colourful glass beads were also found in the grave. Excavations revealed that the steep hillside that formed the cemetery had been cut by a series of cultivation terraces sealed with thick colluvium. It was noted that the positions of the graves within the cemetery must have been marked in some way as they were generally respected by later grave diggers. All of the burials were broadly aligned north-west to south-east, following the contour of the hillslope. Most of the bodies had been interred fully clothed and just over two thirds of the burials contained grave goods, with a significant number richly furnished. Several of the high status male burials were interred with an iron sword, whilst other males were provided with a spear and sometimes a shield. The burials of high status women were accompanied by fine brooches, beads of coloured glass and amber and a variety of fittings and personal equipment. The location of an associated settlement remains unidentified but presumably lay somewhere below the cemetery, perhaps next to the Roman road and River Dour. The Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Buckland remains one of the most important post-Roman cemeteries to be excavated in southern Britain.
Use
Pendants with a loop attached for suspension became a regular part of Kentish female dress only after around the mid sixth century AD. This type of pendant has links eastwards across the North Sea between Kent and southern Scandinavia. The connection is also reflected in evidence for other practices and traditions that are associated with the post-Germanic settlement of the Jutes in this area. The pendant shows signs of wear that indicate that it was worn, possibly during the life of the person buried, and was not simply a grave good. The deposition of bracteates in burials is a regular practice in Norway, where these items have been found in women’s graves. The Buckland example shows that a parallel practice was occurring in Kent. Large quantities of bracteates have also been uncovered in Denmark, northern Germany and southern Sweden from ritually placed hoards.
ARCHIVE
Current Location
Canterbury Archaeological Trust archives.
Catalogue Entry
Site code: DBC 94.
Grave 250 (160), SF370: Gold bracteate. Ribbed suspension loop. Applied beaded wire border, broken in three places. Beneath loop is tongue-shaped panel outline in plain wire containing filigree spirals, flanked by one large and two small spirals at top. Outer border of stamped, hatched triangles surmounted by circles, apices pointing outwards. Inner border of plain stamped triangles surmounted by circles. Concentric ring of repousse dots surrounds central motif. Diameter 41mm, weight 9.9g. Found left lower chest of well-preserved female skeleton dated c AD 425–545.








