Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries 1789694086, 9781789694086

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Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries Anthony Gibson

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries Anthony Gibson

Archaeopress Archaeology

Archaeopress Publishing Ltd Summertown Pavilion 18-24 Middle Way Summertown Oxford OX2 7LG www.archaeopress.com

ISBN 978-1-78969-408-6 ISBN 978-1-78969-409-3 (e-Pdf) © Anthony Gibson and Archaeopress 2022

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Contents List of Tables������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ iv List of Figures and Plates���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� iv

Abstract������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� vi Introduction ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� vi

Archaeological and Scientific Dating Evidence���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� vii Tables��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� viii

Artefact Distribution Map����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� xvii Technical Details Type I������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1 Design and Manufacturing Techniques I���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 2

Corpus of Type I boxes��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 7 Aldborough, Yorkshire ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 8 Arncliffe, Carr Farm, Yorkshire �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 8 Ascott-under-Wychwood, Oxfordshire������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 10 Ashmolean Museum, Oxford������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 12 Bidford-on- Avon, Warwickshire����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 12 Bulford, Wiltshire ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 12 Burwell, Cambridgeshire������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 14 Castledyke South, Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 14 Cransley, Northamptonshire������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 15 Didcot Power Station, Oxfordshire ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 15 Dover Painted House, Kent��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 16 Finglesham, Kent������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 18 Garton Green Lane II, Yorkshire������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 18 Harford Farm, Caistor St. Edmunds, Norfolk��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 19 Hawnby, Yorkshire����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 20 Hurdlow, Derbyshire������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 20 Isle of Thanet, Kent��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 21 Kempston, Bedfordshire������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 21 Kingston Down, Kent������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 22 Lechlade, Butler’s Field, Gloucestershire��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 22 Marina Drive, Dunstable, Bedfordshire������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 23 i

Painsthorpe Wold, Yorkshire����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 23 Polhill, Dunton Green, Kent������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 24 Standlake, Oxfordshire��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 24 Tidworth, Wiltshire��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 26 Uncleby, Yorkshire ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 26 Updown, Eastry, Kent������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 27 Verulamium, King Harry Lane, Hertfordshire ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 28 Westfield Farm, Ely, Cambridgeshire���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 30 Wolverton, Buckinghamshire���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 30 Yatesbury, Cherhill, Wiltshire���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 32

Technical Details Type II ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 33 Design and Manufacturing Techniques II������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 33 Corpus of Type II boxes������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 37 Burwell, Cambridgeshire������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 38 Burwell Village, Suffolk ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 40 Cuxton, Kent��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 43 Dover, Buckland, Kent ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 45 North Leigh, Oxfordshire������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 46 St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton, Hampshire ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 50 Sibertswold, Kent ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 50 Stand Low, Derbyshire���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 51

Technical Details Type III�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 52

Design and Manufacturing Techniques III������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 52 Corpus of Type III boxes����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 54 Cuxton, Kent��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 55 Harford Farm, Norfolk���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 56 Kingston Down, Kent ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 56 Little Wilbraham, Cambridgeshire�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 57 Prittlewell, Essex ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 57

Fragments and Component Parts�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 58 Barrington A [Edix Hill],* Cambridgeshire������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 58 Barrington B [Hooper’s Field?],* Cambridgeshire������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 58 Bourne End, Buckinghamshire. SMR 0117702004������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 58 Haslingfield, Cambridgeshire���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 59 Hambleton Moor female burial, Yorkshire. PRN MCA 3633�������������������������������������������������������������������� 59 Marina Drive, Bedfordshire. ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 59 ii

Caerwent, Monmouthshire. PAS WAW-FF3CCA7�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 60 Ilam, Staffordshire. PAS WMIDS-DC4EA4��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 60 Kirton in Lindsey, Lincolnshire. PAS LIN-E32932�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 60 Stroud, Gloucestershire. PAS GLO-DA7D75������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 60 Wolfhamcote, Warwickshire. PAS WAW-DA3434�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 60

Secular Art or Sacred Symbols?����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 61 Box Type I: Components and metal fragments of boxes������������������������������������������������������������������������� 61 Box Type II ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 67 Box Type III ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 69

What are they?������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 70 Discussion: What are they?�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 72 The final deposition of reliquaries������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 74

Appendix : Children’s Inhumation Grave Assemblages ��������������������������������������������������������������������� 77 Didcot (Oxfordshire) Grave 12. Female, age c.3-5 years���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 77 Marina Drive (Bedfordshire) Grave E2. Female, age 12 years ������������������������������������������������������������������ 77 Marina Drive (Bedfordshire) Grave E3. Female, age 8 years��������������������������������������������������������������������� 77 Updown Eastry (Kent) Grave 76:34. Burial of a very small child or baby ���������������������������������������������� 77

Acknowledgements������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 78 Illustrations���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 78 Photographs��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 78 Bibliography����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 79

iii

List of Tables Table 1. Corpus of boxes by county and box Type������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ix

Table 2. Boxes by Type, box components (C) box fragments (F)�����������������������������������������������������������������������xii Table 3. Boxes with cruciform decorations and contents���������������������������������������������������������������������������������xiv Table 4. Known position of boxes in graves���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������xvi

List of Figures Figure 1. Type I Harford Farm reconstruction after Penn, K, 2000.�������������������������������������������������������������������� 1 Figure 2. Type I design principles���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 3 Figure 3. Type I assembly features��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 4

Figure 4. Type I and II techniques used for attaching lid top and body base (a) rivets, (b) flange and solder, (c) convex and solder, (d) material clenching�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 5 Figure 5. Type I general arrangement when worn������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 6 Figure 6. Aldborough (Yorkshire) unusual box with unfinished cruciform on body base������������������������������ 9 Figure 7. Ascott-under-Wychwood (Oxfordshire) Type I base assembly with impressive Style II incised iconography��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 11 Figure 8. Ashmolean Museum (Oxford) Type I, unprovenanced����������������������������������������������������������������������� 13

Figure 9. Dover Painted House (Kent) Type I after Philp 2003, base assembly with angled stop ridge, body decorated with chevron, cross saltire and diamond pattern����������������������������������������������������������������������������� 17 Plate 1. Harford Farm (Norfolk) Type I after Penn 2000, reconstruction Tony Gibson and Peter Grey������ 19 Plate 2. Hawnby (Yorkshire) Type I, reconstruction Tony Gibson������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 20 Figure 10. Polhill (Kent) Grave 43 Type I after Philp 2003, with raised stop ridge. Lid ring and body repoussé decorated in curvaceous Salin Style II, lid top and body base with equal arm Latin cross���������� 25 Figure 11. Verulamium (Hertfordshire) Grave 21 Type I after Ager 1989, artistically decorated suggestive of Style II�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 29 Figure 12. Wolverton (Buckinghamshire) Grave 2168 after PAS BUC-337D72, Type I with runes and hinged lid������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 31 Figure 13. North Leigh (Oxfordshire) Type II with repoussé body and incised lid top decorations������������ 34 iv

Figure 14. Suspension Flange Type II [a] Stanlow [b] Dover Buckland Grave 102 [c] Sibertswold Grave 80 [d] North Leigh [e] Burwell Grave 42 [f] Cuxton Grave 306 (iconography exaggerated) [g] St Mary’s Stadium Grave 4202�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 35 Figure 15. Burwell (Cambridgeshire) Grave 42 [a] Type II most highly decorated of all Types of boxes [b] lid top and body base decorated with die stamped reconstruction of the Beowulf Dragon Fight?������������ 39 Figure 16. Burwell Village (Suffolk) Incomplete Type II decorative flange����������������������������������������������������� 42 Figure 17a. Cuxton (Kent) Grave 306 Type II after Blackmore et al. Incised iconography on hill very faintly scratched on original , exaggerated for illustration������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 43 Figure 17b. Cuxton (Kent) Grave 306 Type II after Blackmore et al. Incised iconography on hill very faintly scratched on original , exaggerated for illustration������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 44 Plate 3. Dover Buckland Grave 107 Type II after Evison 1987���������������������������������������������������������������������������� 45 Figure 18. North Leigh (Oxfordshire) Type II, lid top with incised decoration, body block type repoussé similar to that on a Type I box from Verulamium (Hertfordshire) Grave 21�������������������������������������������������� 47 Figure 19. North Leigh (Oxfordshire) Type II, proposed construction sequence 1. Size and cut metal blanks 2. Decorate body with repoussé 3. Shape blanks around a core former, possibly a tree branch 4-5 Drill holes, apply rivets, shape trefoil flange and lid ring notch 6. Incise lid top around a physical cross? 7-8 Material clench lid top to lid ring, base to body 9. Fit pivot ring��������������������������������������������������������������� 48 Plate 4. Stand Low, Derbyshire, reconstruction by Peter Grey after a watercolour painting by L. Jewitt�� 51 Figure 20. Cuxton (Kent) Grave 306 Type III after Blackmore et al 2006, with incised secondary Gospel scene��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 53 Figure 21. Harford Farm(Norfolk) Grave 18 Type III after Penn 2000��������������������������������������������������������������� 56 Figure 22. Marina Drive (Bedfordshire) Grave E3 lid top or body base, solder on underside, reused as a pendant����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 58 Figure 23. Examples of cruciform decorations [a] Polhill Grave 23, [b] Kingston Down Grave 96, [c] Marina Drive Grave E3, [d] Uncleby Grave 1, [e] Sibertswold Grave 60, [f] Ashmolean Museum, [g] Garton Green II Barrow 6, Grave 4a, [h] Uncleby Grave 29���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 62 Figure 24. [a] Illustration of design concept: cross saltire and diamond pattern [b] Pottery examples after Myres, J 1977 Bagginton (Warwickshire), Chamberlain’s Barn (Bedfordshire), Chevron example Sancton (Yorkshire). [c] Dover Painted House body decoration. [d] Finglesham (Kent) Grave 95 Buckle back plate after Hawke and Grainger 2006������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 63 Plate 5. Bronze figurine 9cm height, Imst, Austria���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 65 Plate 6. Centre piece bronze diadem, Late Iron Age, Vergina, Greece�������������������������������������������������������������� 66

v

Abstract This corpus will discuss seventh and possibly eighth century Anglo-Saxon copper-alloy containers variously described as work boxes, needle cases, amulet containers and Christian reliquaries. Additionally it will include individual components and fragments of sheet metal that have been identified as elements of such boxes. A typology, material specification, and drawings are presented, design and construction principles discussed, and a nomenclature applicable to these containers is outlined. Since their earliest discovery, archaeologists and historians have been unable to reach a consensus as to their purpose. This publication sets out to answer that question.

Introduction Seventy-one boxes, some complete, others incomplete, together with metal fragments from boxes have been recorded from forty-nine sites across Anglo-Saxon England. There is a need to compile a uniform scheme comprising where possible, individual site location, box type descriptions, decorative features and references. Principally, information has been retrieved from antiquarian books, archaeological publications, excavation reports, journals, manuscripts and physical examination. Format Box classification Types I, II and III together with recognisable copper-alloy metal fragments and components from boxes will be listed alphabetically, with county, site location and references. References are those considered relevant to box(es) recovered from individual sites; they are not intended as a complete bibliographical listing for any specific site. Each Type will have its own Technical Detail section. ‘Secular Art or Sacred Symbols ?’ will discuss the iconography of these enigmatic containers and ‘What are They?’ will address their identity and function. Inhumations Documentation relating to the context of boxes from earlier excavated sites, e.g. Aldborough (Yorkshire), Cransley (Northamptonshire), Standlake (Oxfordshire), Yatesbury (Wiltshire), is often vague and unreliable. Other than that from Prittlewell (Essex), the remaining boxes are from inhumation burials of female adults, sub adults and children. Where it has not been possible to sex skeletal remains, female status has been defined from related grave assemblages.

vi

Archaeological and Scientific Dating Evidence The dating evidence for the deposition of boxes to the second half of the seventh and possibly early eighth century based on seriation of graves assemblies and scientific evidence has been widely accepted (e.g. Hawkes 1973, 197; Geake 1997, 35; Lucy et al 2009, 128; Hills, 2015). Hawkes describes them ‘as one of the period’s leading type fossils’. The evidence has been vindicated in a recent publication (Hines and Bayliss, 2013) that, with the use of artefact-typology, seriation of grave assemblages and radio carbon dating (ibid, xvii), outlined a chronological framework for Anglo-Saxon grave goods of the sixth and seventh centuries (so-called ‘workboxes’ were included in the study). Human bones from four of the graves containing boxes or component parts of boxes were radiocarbon-dated (ibid Table 7.1).

Castledyke Grave 183 (Lincolnshire)

Burial radiocarbon dated to cal. 575-650 (95% probability. UB-6038). Lechlade, Butler’s Field Grave 14 (Berkshire)

Burial radiocarbon dated and may date from cal. 650 -730 (84% probability. UB-4051) or cal. 740-765 (11% probability). Marina Drive Graves E1/E2 (Bedfordshire)

Burial radiocarbon dated to cal. 650-675 (95% probability. UB-4550 and UB -4551). Marina Drive Grave E3 (Bedfordshire)

Burial radiocarbon-dated to cal. 625-675 (95% probability. UB-4552). Hines and Bayliss proposed that, on the basis of radiocarbon dating measurements and typology of grave assemblages, the burials at Lechlade and Marina Drive should be assigned to a phase between 665-695 (95% posterior probability). The burial at Castledyke is almost certainly earlier and can be assigned on one of the models used to a phase from 630-660 (95% posterior probability). It is of interest that chronological research suggested that the end of furnished burials in Anglo-Saxon England occurred ‘two decades or more before the end of the seventh century’ (Hines and Bayliss 2013, xvii). For a contrary view on the latter, see Archibald (ibid. 493-512), who on coin sequence evidence argued that furnished burials extended into the first decade of the eighth century.

vii

Tables

viii

1 2

Bourne End

Barrington A Barrington B

Buckinghamshire

Cambridgeshire

ix Prittlewell (male)

Essex

Hertfordshire

St. Mary’s *

Hampshire Verulamium

Stroud

Lechlade

Gloucestershire

Stand Low

Hurdlow

Derbyshire

Westfield Ely

Little Wilbraham

Haslingfield

Burwell

2

Wolverton

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

4

2

2

3

Marina Drive

2

Kempston

Bedfordshire

Total

Site

County

2

1

1

1

1

2

2

2

Type I

1

1

1

Type II

1

1

Type III

F-1

C-4

C-2

C-1

C-2

C-1

Ager 1989

Birkbeck et al. 2005

PAS GLO-DA7D75

Boyle et al. 2011

MoLAS 2018

Bateman 1848

Bateman 1861

Lucy et al 2009

Neville 1852

Fox 1923

Lethbridge 1927, 1931, Cemetery burial, 1- Type I, 1-Type II. 1-incomplete Type II Stray find Suffolk CC

Fox 1923

Fox 1923

PAS BUC- 337D72, Bucks Mono 11,218

Bucks SMR 17702004

Matthews 1962, Gibson and Harris 1994

Fitch 1863

C - Component F - Fragment Reference U - Unknown

Table 1. Corpus of boxes by county and box Type

Tables

1

Polhill

x Harford Farm

Bidford on Avon Wolfhamcote

Burwell Village

Warwickshire

Suffolk

Ilam

Standlake

North Leigh

Didcot

Ascot-uWychwood

Staffordshire

Oxfordshire

Northamptonshire Cransley

Norfolk

Caerwent

Monmouthshire

Kirton in Lindsey

Castledyke South

Lincolnshire

Updown Eastry

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

2

1

1

3

2

1

2

Kingston Down Sibertswold

1

Isle of Thanet

1 1

Dover Painted House

Finglesham

2 1

Cuxton

Kent

Total

Dover Buckland

Site

County

1

1

1

1

1

1

3

2

1

1

1

1

Type I

1

1

1

1

1

Type II

1

1

1

Type III

F-1

C -1

F -1

C -1

U-1

PAS WAW-DA3434

Humphreys et al. 1923

PAS SF-686A1F

PAS WMIDS-DC4EA4

Stone 1856-59

Leeds 1940

Boyle et al. 1995

PAS-OXON-1A54-A6

Baker 1881-83

Penn 2000

PAS WAW-FF3CCA7

PAS LIN-E32932

Sheppard 1939, Drinkall and Foreman 1998

Welch et al. 2008

Philp 1973

Faussett 1856

Faussett 1856

Mason and Andrews (Box recorded no details) Current Archeology April 2012

Hawkes and Grainger 2006

Philp 2003

Evison 1987

Blackmore et al. 2006

C - Component F - Fragment Reference U - Unknown

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

xi



1

49

Ashmolean

Uncleby

Painsthorpe Wold

Hawnby

Hambleton Moor **

71

1

5

1

1

1

1

Garton Green II

Arncliffe

1

1

Aldborough

Yatesbury

1

1

Total

41

1

5

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

Type I

8

Type II

C - 12 F-4 U -1

F -1

Unprovenanced

Smith R A 1912

Mortimer 1905

Denny 1868

Denny 1868 ?

Mortimer 1905

Cale 2000

Smith H E 1852

Mereweather 1851

Wessex Archaeology April 2016 brief details

Wessex Archaeology April 2016 brief details

C - Component F - Fragment Reference U - Unknown

***As this volume was going to press, the author learned of an additional cast bronze Type III box, displayed at Canterbury Beaney Museum, but not included in these totals (information Helen Gittos).

**British Museum Accession Number (c1882) PRN. MCA 3633. Fragment has an identical pattern to the Hawnby Type 1 lid ring. This could be part of that box, which has an incomplete lid ring.

5

Type III

*Excavation records 2 boxes. Copper-alloy fragments Grave 4037 indefinable.

Total ***

Unknown

Yorkshire

Bulford

Wiltshire Tidworth

Site

County

Tables

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Table 2. Boxes by Type, box components (C) box fragments (F) Type

Site

Grave Number

Type I

Aldborough

Burial context unknown

Ascott-under-Wychwood

Stray find

Arncliffe

Ashmolean Museum

Isolated burial

Bidford-on Avon

100

Burwell

121

Bulford

Castledyke South Cransley

12

Finglesham

8

Harford Farm

18

Garton Green II Hawnby

Burial context unknown Cemetery burial

Awaiting excavation report

1, 11, 183

Didcot Power Station Dover Painted House

Excavated from SFB N4

7

Barrow burial

Hurdlow

Isle of Thanet

Barrow burial

Kempston

46, 71

Lechlade

14

Kingston Down Marina Drive

Painsthorpe Wold Polhill

Standlake Tidworth

Awaiting full excavation report

96

Barrow burial

B3/B4, E1/E2

Barrow burial

Barrow 4 Grave 6a 43

Uncleby

1, 3, 29, 30, 31

Verulamium

10, 21

Updown Eastry Westfield Farm Wolverton Yatesbury

Comments

76:34, 89:45

Barrow burial

Awaiting excavation report Barrow burials

2

2166

Barrow burial

xii

Tables

Type

Site

Grave Number

Type II

Burwell

42, another in a field Grave, stray find

Cuxton

306

Burwell Village Dover Buckland North Leigh Sibertswold St. Mary’s

Type III

Stand Low

Box Type Unknown

60

Barrow burial

4202 306

Kingston Down

222

Little Wilbraham

Stray find

107

Cuxton

Harford Farm

Barrow burial

18

Barrow burial Grave find

Prittlewell

Found in a wooden box

Barrington A (C)

Barrington B (Cx2) Bourne End (C) Caerwent (F)

Stray find

Hambleton Moor (F) Haslingfield (Cx3) Ilam (C)

Kirton In Lindsey (C) Marina Drive (C) Stroud (C)

Comments

Stray find Stray find

E3

Stray find

Wolfhamcote (F)

Stray find

xiii

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Table 3. Boxes with cruciform decorations and contents Site

Type I

Aldborough*

Grave

Body

Arncliffe

Ashmolean Museum Bulford

Castledyke South

I

Castledyke South

183

Castledyke South Cransley

Dover Painted House Finglesham

Garton Green II Harford Farm

II

8

7/34 18

Hawnby

Kempston

Kempston

46

XX XX

XX

XX

14

XX

96

Marina Drive

B3/B4

Marina Drive

E1/E2

Painsthorpe Wold

4/6a

Marina Drive #

XX

71

Kingston Down Lechlade

+

XX

Hurdlow Ilam #

?

Top

Base

+

+

+

+?

?

+

+

Cloth, leather and hemp like material

+ +

+

+

Verulamium

10

X

Updown Eastry

Verulamium

Wolverton

76/34

21

2166

XX

Two pins or broken needles

“Fabric or linen, remains of a leather purse” “Full of a dark coloured substance”

Thread

Few threads of wool

1

XX

Textiles, wool, hemp, thread, two dress hooks, remains of silver pin suite

Thread and bronze pin

+

Uncleby

29

+

+

+

Uncleby

Thread and seeds, said to be “caper spurge, Euphorbia lathyris”

+

+

43

3

+

+

Polhill

Uncleby

+

+

+

XX

+

+?

E3

Tidworth

+

Contents

+

+

+

Full of thread and small roll of material

+

+?

Thread and iron needle? Thread and chain ?

+

Tinned bronze open-work disc and a peg

+

Two kinds of thread

+

Two Roman coins, iron pin and thread

+

+

Textiles, silk, flax, wool

xiv

Tables

Type II

Grave

Burwell

42

Dover Buckland

107

Cuxton

North Leigh

306

Sibertswold

60

St. Mary’s

4202

Cuxton

306

Type III

Kingston Down

Unknown

Metal fragment Wolfhamcote

222

Body

Flange

Top

Base

X

+

+

+

X

+

+ + +

+

Contents

+

Knob-headed bronze pin, broken point

+

Wool, silk and organic beads ‘like the seeds of the Marvel of Peru’ (Mirabilis jalapa) Silver disc?

+

Linen and brass pin

XX

* Incomplete cross # Copper-alloy discs reused as pendants + Cross X Cross saltire XX Chevron or Conjoined chevrons to form a cross saltire and diamond pattern

xv

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Table 4. Known position of boxes in graves Site

Arncliffe

Grave

Type

Position

I

Left knee

I

Bidford-on-Avon

100

Burwell

42

II

Cuxton

306

III

Dover Buckland

107

II

2

I

Burwell

Castledyke South

Cuxton Didcot

Ely Westfields Finglesham

Garton Green II

121 183

12

8

Harford Farm

18

Kingston Down

96

Marina Drive

B3/B4

Hurdlow

Lechlade

Marina Drive

Painsthorpe Wold Polhill

Prittlewell

Sibertswold

Stand Low Tidworth

14

E1/E2 4/69 43 60

Updown Eastry

89/45

Uncleby

3

Uncleby Uncleby Uncleby

Verulamium Verulamium Wolverton

I

II

Inside or under left hip

Between knees

Between upper thighs

I

Inside pot, left shoulder

I I I I I I I I I

III

By right leg, in a bag? Near ankles Side left leg

In a “hazel basket near right shoulder” Near hips

Over left lower leg Between feet On knees

Inside legs, crouched burial Below left pelvis

Inside wooden box

II

Middle of grave

l

Right shoulder?

II l

I

2166

Left thigh

I

30

21

Between knees, in a bag?

Outside right femur

I

10

Left knee, in a bag?

I

1

31

Centre of grave

I I I I I

Left side of the body Right hip

Left shoulder Near feet

In front of waist Between thighs Around waist

Left side knee

Beside right knee

xvi

Artefact Distribution Map This indicates clusters of recorded finds from the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of East Anglia, Kent and Northumbria. There is a need to debate whether discoveries from Kent and Northumbria are connected to the Christian religious centres at York and Canterbury. Alternatively do they represent the activities of earlier antiquarians? Further, are the concentrations arbitrary, reflecting the result of large scale infrastructure developments in the second half of the twentieth century? Are the Anglian examples ambiguous, the outcome of a reliance on archaeological activity on ‘close to home sites’ centred around the University of Cambridge? Artefact distribution maps should be treated with caution, discussed, questioned but never ignored.

xvii

xviii

Technical Details Type I

Figure 1. Type I Harford Farm reconstruction after Penn, K, 2000.

The most numerous Type (n=41) is distinguishable a two-piece cylindrical box between 40-73mm in diameter and between 40-65mm in height. With the exception of four boxes with hinged lids (Arncliffe, Finglesham Grave 8, Westfield Grave 2 and Wolverton Grave 2168) the lid assembly is held in the closed position by friction between the inside of the lid and the outside of the base assemblies. Lid and base assemblies are usually held together by chains and a wire ring. All are manufactured from copper-alloy sheet metal between 0.50 and 1.00mm in thickness. They employ solder, rivets or metal clenching in any combination in their construction. Lid tops and body bases are either flat or convex. All use similar manufacturing techniques and can be decorated with repoussé and/or incised designs. With the exception of the Polhill Grave 43 and Dover Painted House boxes, and the four boxes with hinged lids (above) they are not difficult to make and most can be made with a low level of skill in 4-6 hours. In this respect they do not represent such prestigious items as Type II and Type III boxes, which require a higher level of metalworking skill, technical ability and additional time to manufacture. 1

Design and Manufacturing Techniques I Type I boxes represent an insular development. They have been compared to Frankish spherical amulet containers but are different in appearance, design and size. Forty one boxes are recorded (Table 1), thirty five from known inhumations. Burial details of those from Aldborough (Smith 1852) (Figure 6), Cransley (Baker 1881-1883) and Standlake (Stone 1856-1859, 92-100) are unknown. Ascott-under-Wychwood, a stray find found by metal detection (Blair and Hills 2020) (Figure 7), and Dover Painted House box (Philp 2003, 14-25, fig. 52) are the only recorded examples of near complete Type I boxes found outside a burial context. The Ashmolean Museum example (Figure 8) is unprovenanced. Many were found in a crushed, fragmented and unstable condition; this was due to a number of factors including acidic soil, human degradation, grave fill pressure and chemical reaction from metallic objects. Further damage occurred as a result of clumsy handling during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and poor, often non-existent conservation treatment of that period. Now, with professionally supervised excavations and a sciencebased approach to post excavation research, conservation and artefact re-construction, it is possible to examine in detail original components and the practical working methods used in their manufacture. The metal used to make Type I boxes is bronze, an alloy of copper and tin. This metal is characterised by an excellent resistance to corrosion and wear, moderate strength combined with high durability. Another influence in selection must relate to its suitability as a decorative material, for not only is it easily marked and patterned with punches and sharp-edged tools, when the metal is polished a high gloss finish is the result. Bronze is an ideal metal for the working processes used to make what is essentially two fabricated seamed tubes, each closed at one end. A sheet of metal c.175 x 100 mm in size is sufficient to make most individual boxes, including accessories, split eyelets, rivets and chains. Box components would have been marked out, decorated, then cut to size by saws and shears evidenced at Lindsay (Hinton and White 1993) and other sites (e.g. Mitchell Hill, Thetford). The now decorated body and lid ring would have been shaped around a suitable core former (possibly a tree branch), the seam closed by rivets and/or solder, and finally the lid top and body base fitted by the same process or material clenching. An added technical innovation is a hinged lid, evident on boxes from Arncliffe (Cale 2000), Finglesham Grave 8 (Hawkes and Grainger 2006, fig. 8.2), Westfield Grave 2 (Lucy et al 2009, 91-94, fig. 4) and Wolverton Grave 2168 (Hancock and Zeepvat, 2018 ). This demonstrates the maker’s mechanical knowledge and improves the security of boxes. The lack of measurement standards between the largest and smallest boxes leads to the conclusion that they were not made to any specific size or scale or that regional differences can be identified. Instead each box reflects their owner’s requirements consistent with whatever function they were to perform and the availability of what may have been a near standard size of sheet of metal. They would have been visually impressive as containers. However, with the notable exception of those with hinged lids and boxes from Dover Painted House (Figure 9) and Polhill Grave 43 (Philp 2003, 177) they do not represent high quality skilled metalwork, they lack craftsmanship and sophistication. Type I boxes are not the end product of skilled metalworkers of the period, their construction is very basic and most employ low technological manufacturing techniques. The self sustaining communities in the seventh century would have had the resources, knowledge and tools to make boxes; they are not difficult to make. Many decorations have been applied freehand without the guidance of pre marked layout. This is evident in the irregular appearance of concentric patterns and misplaced dots on many boxes. Two boxes,

2

Design and Manufacturing Techniques I

Uncleby Graves 1 and 3 (Smith 1912), have guide lines scribed onto the metal. Notwithstanding, the maker was unable to follow the simple pattern with any degree of accuracy: the motifs are badly applied and mis-formed. Other than four Type I boxes, Ascott-under-Wychwood, Dover Painted House, Polhill Grave 43 (Philp, 2003), (Figure 10) and Verulamium Grave 21 (Ager 1989, 219-39, fig. 82) (Figure 11), they display little artistic merit. Decoration comprises simple, repetitive, punch-dotted patterns, evolving around a combination of geometric elements: circles, triangles, straight and angular lines, chevrons and crosses. Some have common quincunxal arrangements, effecting further cruciform shapes. The hinged lid Wolverton Grave 2168 box (Figure 12) is further distinguished by an incised runic inscription, possibly applied at a secondary stage after manufacture. Of the forty-one Type I boxes, those from Marina Drive Grave B3/ B4 (Matthews 1962, 25-48) and Painsthorpe Wold (Mortimer 1905, 113-17, fig. 279) are undecorated; decorative details of the Standlake box are unrecorded. Three boxes are decorated with incised patterns: Aldborough with what could be considered an unfinished cross on its base, while Hurdlow (Bateman 1861, fig. opp. 52) has very faint random geometric decorations. That from Ascottunder-Wychwood has a detailed incised Salin Style II pattern.

Figure 2. Type I design principles

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Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

The remaining boxes display (or were said to display) patterns, signs or symbols in repoussé. This method of ornamentation is produced by striking a shaped punch on the internal face of flat metal sheet. This action displaces the metal into ‘pimples’ or tapered shaped protrusions, which stand in low relief on the external surface, perhaps to imitate filigree. Punches of different shapes and sizes were used to produce the various designs: sharp nail-like tools to create small dotted geometric lines and circles; smooth radiused punches of a larger diameter, made from metal, fire hardened wood or bone to form higher relief radiused boss shapes. The repoussé technique stretches and reduces the thickness of metal at the head of the protrusions and accounts for the sieve like appearance of some boxes, as these raised areas wear during their lifetime and are first to disintegrate after deposition. Of the forty one Type I boxes, details of four are unknown, two are undecorated. Of the remaining thirty five, and additionally the lid tops or body bases reused as pendants from Ilam (PAS WMIDS-DC 4EA4) and Marina Drive Grave E3 (Gibson and Harris 1994, 108-118, fig.1), and the metal fragment from the Wolfhamcote box (PAS WAW-DA 3434), 76% (n=28) have some form of cruciform ornamentation. This high percentage should not be considered coincidental and could imply that Type I boxes had a function that relates to the Christian religion.

Figure 3. Type I assembly features

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Design and Manufacturing Techniques I

Figure 4. Type I and II techniques used for attaching lid top and body base (a) rivets, (b) flange and solder, (c) convex and solder, (d) material clenching

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Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Figure 5. Type I general arrangement when worn

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Corpus of Type I boxes

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Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Aldborough, Yorkshire Figure 6 Isuriam Brigantum Roman town 47mm diameter x 40mm height, worn and repaired. Body extended in length by a seamed internal tube with a single row of six raised punched dots on the exterior periphery. The tube is attached to the inside diameter of the body by four copper-alloy rivets. This arrangement serves twin functions: to increase the capacity of the box and enable the lid assembly to fit firmly onto the body. This method accounts for striations evident on the box. The lid ring is bell mouthed at one end to form a ledge; two bored holes are utilised to attach copper-alloy rivets to corresponding holes in the flat un-decorated lid top to form the complete lid assembly. The body is bell mouthed at one end, the flat body base is attached by a single copper-alloy rivet and solder. The body base has what appears to be a deliberate attempt to incise a crude, incomplete cross of three equally spaced arms meeting on a central circle. Alternatively, the symbol may be unrelated to a cross and represent nothing more than rays from the sun or moon. However, this is no casual ‘doodle’. The cross lines are so straight that they must demonstrate the use of a straight edge – the distorted central circle has been applied freehand. Ascott-under-Wychwood, Hurdlow and Wolverton Grave 2168 are other Type II boxes with incised decorations. Aldborough Roman Site Museum, Boroughbridge Yorkshire.

Arncliffe, Carr Farm, Yorkshire Primary inhumations in a linear earthwork underlying a standing dry stone boundary wall. Human bones recovered indicate two, possibly three, adult female burials. 51mm diameter x 55mm height, repoussé decorated, lid ring absent. The box has a hinged lid, a feature shared with Type I boxes from Finglesham Grave 8, Westfield Grave 2 and Wolverton Grave 2168. The body base is riveted to the body. The convex lid top and body base are decorated by two rows of dots around the outer edge of the circumference, with a three row dotted Latin cross centrally positioned. The body has an arrangement of three double rows of dots around the periphery. Cale, KJ, 2000. Interim Statement Archeological Investigation, Carr Farm North Yorkshire. The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. PAS Arncliffe Yorkshire 2000 LVPL-1664.

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Corpus of Type I boxes

Figure 6. Aldborough (Yorkshire) unusual box with unfinished cruciform on body base 9

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Ascott-under-Wychwood, Oxfordshire Oxford Museum Service accession number OXCMC: 2019. 64 Found by metal detection at Detectival Rally 2017. A complete Type I base assembly, recovered in a distorted and partly crushed condition due to plough damage, possibly resulting from being dragged from an un-located inhumation burial near to the find spot. Found in association with the box was a short length of copper-alloy chain, comprising three figureof-eight links with an iron nail attached to one link. This is the second Type I base assembly recorded, the other is from Dover Painted House (Kent). The base assembly, 50mm diameter x 56.5mm in length, is in remarkable condition with little indication of wear. It was constructed from copper-alloy sheet metal 0.5-0.6mm in thickness, originally formed as a seamed tube with an overlapped joint secured by three copper-alloy rivets. The undecorated convex lid is attached by metal clenching to the body. The now misshaped lentoid shaped body is decorated in Salin Style II iconography and is described by Catherine Hills (Blair and Hills, 2020): ‘The box is decorated with two panels of incised motifs, one zoomorphic and the other interlaced. The zoomorphic panel is occupied by four sinuous beasts, each coiled in a figure-of-eight with backward turning heads and closed jaws biting its own body, which appears to terminate in a rudimentary hind limb. The space within the looped bodies and between the beasts are filled with cross-hatched lines. The lower panel consists of triple strand interlace, each strand formed of paired lines. The interlace has one panel only with crosshatching, either a mistake or an indication that the design was not completed. The lines are not all incised very neatly; some of the cross- hatching is untidy and includes cuts across the edge of the animal bodies, and some of the interlace lines overlap.’ This is the only Type I relic box with incised zoomorphic iconography. The most highly decorated of all boxes is the Type II box from Burwell (Cambridgeshire) Grave 42, which also has Style II decorations; these however were applied by die impressed punches. A further Type II box from Burwell Village has been recorded with Style II body decoration. Portable Antiquities Scheme AS OXON-1A54A6, British Museum. London Blair, J, and Hills, C, 2020, An Anglo-Saxon Relic Box from Ascott-under-Wychwood, Oxfordshire, and the Geography of the seventh century in the Middle Evenlode Valley, Oxoniensia LXXXV, 67-90, Oxford

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Corpus of Type I boxes

Figure 7. Ascott-under-Wychwood (Oxfordshire) Type I base assembly with impressive Style II incised iconography

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Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Uprovenanced Accession Number 1905-568. Figure 8 Conserved and in good condition, 52mm diameter x 60mm height, repoussé decorated. Lid ring and body are bell mouthed at one end, but jointed and soldered. A split eyelet is attached to both lid ring and body joint seams. The lid ring is decorated with two double rows of parallel dots at the top and bottom of its periphery The body decoration is unique, with a curvaceous line of double dots set between two double rows of dots and interspersed with raised bosses. Lid top and body base are convex and crimped to the body; both are decorated with a quincunx overlaid by a cross saltire. The Body base is slightly damaged and repaired with conservation material. The body decoration on this, the Polhill Grave 43 and Verulamium Grave 21 boxes are suggestive of Salin Style II, an indication that the makers were familiar with and capable of reproducing this art form. It may be coincidental in that two boxes, a Type I from Oxfordshire Ascott-under-Wychwood and a Type II from North Leigh feature Salin Style II iconography. Ashmolean Museum Oxford.

Bidford-on- Avon, Warwickshire Grave 100 Mixed cremation and inhumation cemetery discovered in 1921 during the construction of a road. Described as ‘2 1/4 in. in height and about 2 in. in diameter’ (Humphrey 1923, 92), repoussé decorated. Although in good condition the lid top is missing. The lid ring is bell mouthed at one end and decorated with a single row of dots. Lid ring and body have overlapped joints and are riveted. Opposing twin elongated ‘S’ shaped chain links terminating with a wire ring are fitted by split eyelets to the lid ring and body, enabling the box and lid ring to be held together. The body, bell mouthed at one end, has a single row of dots at the top edge and a series angular lines set between four parallel lines of dots around the periphery. The flat undecorated box base is material clenched to the body. Humphreys. J. Ryland. J. W. Barnard. E. A. B. Wellstood. F. C. and Barnett. T. G. 1923. An Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire. Archaeologia, LXXIIII, 89-96

Bulford, Wiltshire Type I. Full report unpublished Details at: https://www.wessexarch.co.uk/our-work/bulford (accessed 04/05/21). No response to a request to physically examine box. 12

Corpus of Type I boxes

Figure 8. Ashmolean Museum (Oxford) Type I, unprovenanced 13

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Burwell, Cambridgeshire Grave 121 Inhumation cemetery discovered in 1884, when labourers digging for lime found human remains and grave goods. The site was excavated between 1925 and 1929. 125 burials are recorded. This box is recorded as ‘2 in diameter x2 1/2 in height’ and is repoussé decorated. Body and lid ring have overlapped joints secured by rivets, three on the body, one on the lid ring. Both have a small U shaped hasp fitted. Each hasp has three figure-of-eight chain links attached to a wire ring, which fastens the lid and body assemblies together. The lid ring is decorated with two lines of dots around its periphery, the body with six. Lid top and body base are convex and share the same decorative feature: two lines of dots around the outside circumference and three circular rows of dots around a centrally placed raised boss. A Type II box was recovered from Grave 42 at this site. Lethbridge. T. C. 1931. Recent excavations in Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Burwell Cambridge. Cambridge Antiquarian Society Quarto Publication. New Series No. III 47-70. Plate III, fig 36-37.

Castledyke South, Barton-on-Humber, Lincolnshire During the construction of air-raid shelters in 1939, skeletal remains and grave goods indicated the area was a burial ground. Further excavations were undertaken and among the artefacts recovered were two boxes described by the excavator as ‘a cylindrical bronze box’ and ‘a cylindrical work box and lid’ (Sheppard 1939, Drinkall and Forman, 1998). Post-war, the site underwent fieldwork and excavations; most appear to have been haphazard and lacking discipline, with records, plans and photographs mislaid and lost. This changed in 1989 with a rescue excavation; in 1990 a final excavation took place. A detailed report was published in 1998. Grave I 1939 Box found in a fragmented condition, 45mm diameter x 52mm height, repoussé decorated. Lid ring and body appear butt jointed, decorated around the periphery, with two rows of dots on the lid ring, three on the body. The body has a single split eyelet located near the base. Attached is a single figure-of-eight chain link and one half of another link. Lid top and base are both convex with three concentric rows of small dots around the circumference. Raised bosses form a centrally placed quincunx overlaid with a saltire. Grave II 1939. Box found in a poor condition and originally described as ‘pieces of metal’, c.53mm diameter x c.48mm height, repoussé decorated. Body, lid ring and lid top are fragmented. The base is decorated as Grave I. Lid ring and body are bell mouthed at one end and fitted with a single eyelet. The lid ring is decorated with four rows of closely spaced dots, the body with nine. Remains of textiles, thread wrapped around an iron pin and seeds of the caper spurge (Euphorbia lathyris) were found inside the box. 14

Corpus of Type I boxes

Grave 183 1990. Box found complete though damaged, 62mm diameter x 58mm height, repoussé decorated. Lid ring and body are bell mouthed and butt jointed; each has an eyelet located adjacent to their joint. Attached are two interlocked square-section elongated wire chain links holding them together. The lid ring is decorated with two rows of dots. Between them are double rows of dotted vertical lines; the body has a similar pattern. The lid top has a quincunx displayed in raised bosses: the centre boss is enclosed by a circle of dots and lines of dots connect to the four outer bosses. The body base has a similar pattern without the circle of dots around the central boss. Sheppard. T. 1939. Saxon relics from Barton, Lincs. The Naturalist. 257-262, 281-283. fig opp. 261.

Drinkall. G. and Foreman. M. 1998. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Castledyke South, Barton-on Humber. Sheffield Excavation Report 6. Sheffield, Sheffield Academic Press.

Hines. J. and Bayliss, A. (eds.) 2013. Anglo-Saxon Graves and Grave Goods of the 6th and 7th Centuries AD: A Chronological Framework: The Society for Medieval Archaeology; London: The Society for Medieval Archaeology.

Cransley, Northamptonshire Between 1879 and 1882 Anglo-Saxon artefacts and skeletal remains were found by iron-stone diggers. The box is described as ‘2 in diameter and 2 1/4 in height’. The bottom has a puncture or ornamentation on it, said to be in the ‘form of a cross’; the sides are also slightly ornamented in the same way. On this description it has been interpreted as a Type I with cruciform decorations. Baker. R. S. 1881-1883. Notes on Archaeological discoveries at Irchester, Islip, Twywell, Cransley. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquities. 9: 85-95.

Didcot Power Station, Oxfordshire Grave 12 child c5-7 years of age In advance of development, an inhumation cemetery containing 12 burials was excavated. 51mm diameter (height not determinable), repoussé decorated. Found in a poor condition in six fragments; missing lid top and body base; recorded as being in the form of a tapering cylinder. The lid ring is decorated with two double rows of dots, the body with six rows. The box is classed here as a Type I. The excavators’ description could possibly relate to a Type III. Boyle. A. Dodd. A. Miles. D. and Mudd. A. 1995. Two Oxfordshire Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries Berinsfield and Didcot. Thames Valley Landscape Monograph No.8. Oxfordshire Archaeological Unit. Oxford. 15

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Dover Painted House, Kent Figure 9 One of two Type I incomplete boxes (base assembly only) recorded from outside a burial context, the other found by metal detection at Ascott-under-Wychwood (Oxfordshire). In 1970, a local Archaeological Society (now Kent Archaeological rescue Unit, K.A.R.U), discovered a previously unknown Roman mansio situated in the centre of Dover. This had been partly demolished by the Roman army during the expansion of the Classis Britannica. Excavations in 1973, in an area just north of the Roman bath house, exposed Anglo-Saxon structures and features, including Anglo-Saxon sunken featured buildings. These are now considered to be associated with an Anglo-Saxon great hall (Thomas, 2018). SFB Hut N4, was one of four discovered in 1975 and excavated in 1976. Although the hut had been destroyed by a severe fire, enough evidence remained to indicate that it had been a substantial structure. Hut N4 was c.7.50 metres in length and c.3.15 metres in width and recorded 60-80cm below the current ground surface. Post holes indicate a linear ridge-beam ran the full length of the pit to support a gabled roof. The pit sides were plank lined. Among a large number of artefacts recovered from the fire debris and pit fill were 189 clay loom-weights, part of a bone comb, three spindle-whorls, three bronze pins and the base assembly only of a box. The excavation report suggests that the hut was in active use when it was destroyed. The base assembly is 45mm diameter x 35mm height and repoussé decorated. The lid assembly of the box was not among the artefacts recorded, and there is no evidence that it had been destroyed in the fire. It is possible that a) the lid assembly was taken from the hut during or prior to the fire, or b) for whatever reason there was no lid assembly. The box body has an overlapped joint secured by a split eyelet. It has a narrow sheet metal tube of 12mm width positioned at an angle inside the top of the base assembly, secured by four rivets and angled to project 7mm above the base assembly to form a narrow angular ledge. The purpose of this feature is to make a location or stop ridge that would have enabled the lid assembly to fit securely and it adds to the box’s aesthetic appeal. The flat body base was fixed to the body by six rivets, and evidence of repair can be seen in that three of the rivets had irregular shaped washers fitted. The very precise and symmetrical design on the body reflects the artistic ability of its maker: three equally spaced lines of dots around the periphery with two rows of chevrons meeting on the central line to form a dual pattern of chevrons, linked cross saltire and diamonds. This combination pattern is evident on boxes from Finglesham Grave 8, Harford Farm Grave 18, Hawnby, Kempston Graves 46 and 71, Lechlade Grave 14, Tidworth, Uncleby Grave 29 and Verulamium Grave 21. The base has three circles of dots around a central raised boss overlaid with a Latin cross. Additionally, four short equispaced lines of dots connect the two outer circles, a very attractive design. Similar examples of a stop-ridge can be seen on the Aldborough and Polhill Grave 43 boxes. In design, quality and use of a stop-ridge the box is so like the Polhill box as to have been made by the same maker. Philp. B. J. 2003. The Discovery and Excavation of Anglo-Saxon Dover. Ninth Report in the Kent Monograph Series. Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit. Dover. Thomas. G. 2018. Mead Halls of the Oiscingas: A New Kentish Perspective on the Anglo-Saxon Great Hall Complex Phenomenon. Medieval Archaeology Journal of The Society for Medieval Archaeology 63, 262-303.

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Corpus of Type I boxes

Figure 9. Dover Painted House (Kent) Type I after Philp 2003, base assembly with angled stop ridge, body decorated with chevron, cross saltire and diamond pattern

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Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries Finglesham, Kent Inhumation cemetery of 216 graves first excavated in 1928-1929 by local archaeologists W. Stebbings and W. Whiting. Between 1959 and 1967 the cemetery was further excavated by Sonia Chadwick Hawkes. Prior to her death in 1999 eleven papers relating to the cemetery and details of some artefacts were published in archaeological journals and reports, but full details relating to the cemetery remained unpublished. In 2006, with the assistance of Hawkes’ notes and records, Guy Grainger undertook the unenviable task of collating and publishing the site report. The results were published in 2007. Grave 8 Box located inside a crushed pottery vessel positioned close to the skeleton’s left shoulder (a Type I box was found in the remains of a hazel basket, close to the skeleton’s right shoulder at Hurdlow). Box 59mm diameter x 53mm height, repoussé decorated. It has a hinged lid, a feature shared with boxes from Arncliffe, Westfield Grave 2 and Wolverton Grave 2168. The body and lid rings are bell mouthed at one end. The overlapped joints are held in position with rivets, two with internal washers on the body and one on the lid ring. A small hinge is secured by rivets to the body and lid ring. Both lid top and body base are convex and attached by solder. The lid top is decorated with a single line of dots around its circumference, with raised bosses forming a quincunx overlaid with an eight-rayed starburst in small dots. The starburst pattern decorates either the lid top or body base of boxes from Uncleby Grave 29, Wolverton Grave 2168 and the copper-alloy disc from Ilam. The base, found corroded, has a single line of dots around its circumference with a central boss enclosed with a small circle of dots and what appears as net of curved dotted lines. The lid ring is undecorated. The body has three equally spaced lines of dots around the periphery with two rows of chevrons meeting on the centre line to form a dual pattern of linked chevrons, cross saltires and diamonds. This pattern combination is evident on boxes from Dover Painted House, Harford Farm Grave 18, Hawnby, Kempston Grave 46 and 71, Lechlade Grave 14, Tidworth, Uncleby Grave 29 and Verulamium Grave 21. Stepping. W. P. 1929. Jutish cemetery near Finglesham Kent, Archaelogical Cantianna XLl:115-125.

Hawkes. S. and Grainger. G. 2007. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Finglesham, Kent. Oxford University School of Archaeology Monograph 64. Oxford. Garton Green Lane II, Yorkshire Grave 7 adjacent to Barrow 3. 17-20 years of age Cemetery with twenty seven burials and one cremation excavated in 1871. Described as being 53mm diameter x 50mm height, repoussé decorated. Convex lid top has a double dotted row Latin cross overlaid with a saltire. The base has the same display with the exception that the saltire is wider. The lid ring has two double rows of dots around the periphery. The overlapped body incorporates two double rows of dots around the top of the periphery and one at the base; set between are vertical lines of three dot width from which angular lines of two dot width connect. The base and lid assemblies are attached by a single figure-of-eight chain link and a wire ring. The above description is derived from Agnes Mortimer’s sketch. Mortimer. J. R. 1905. Forty Years Research in British and Saxon Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire, 246-247, Pl. LXXXIV fig. 643 A Brown and Sons London. 18

Corpus of Type I boxes

Harford Farm, Caistor St. Edmunds, Norfolk Grave 18 coffin burial Figure 1 Plate 1 Inhumation cemetery excavated in 1990, consisting of two groups of burials totaling forty-six individuals. Two boxes were recovered from a coffin burial. The other, a Type III, will be recorded in Section 3. The Type I box is 55mm diameter x 68mm height, repoussé decorated. The box is fragmented, missing a section of the body and parts of the lid top and body base. Lid ring and body are bell mouthed at one end; overlapped joints on the body are secured by two rivets and an attachment loop; a similar loop is fitted to the lid ring joint. Originally the lid top and body base would have been material clenched to lid ring and body. The slightly formed convex lid top and base, both incomplete and detached from the box, have three concentric rings of dots around their circumference and a central raised boss. A series of short, randomly placed dotted lines connect the two outer rings. The lid ring has two rows Plate 1. Harford Farm (Norfolk) Type I after Penn 2000, reconstruction Tony Gibson and Peter Grey of repoussé dots around the periphery, the body three, with two rows of chevrons offset to one another meeting on the central line. This decoration is so similar to the linked cross saltires and diamond pattern on the Dover Painted House, Hawnby, Finglesham Grave 8, Kempston Graves 46 and 71, Lechlade Grave 14, Tidworth, Uncleby Grave 29 and Verulamium Grave 21 boxes to suggest that originally the intention was to make the chevron points meet to create a pattern as on those above. This is evidenced by a chevron underlying the overlapped joint. The maker appears to have miscalculated the correct length of metal required to make the chevron points align. To correct this the box diameter would have either been reduced or expanded in size – if the lid assembly had been either cut out or completed this would not resolve the problem. The lid ring and base assemblies were originally connected by five figure-of-eight-shaped chain links attached to a wire ring. The box contained two copper-alloy dress hooks with a textile fragment, remains of a silver pin suite comprising a silver zoomorphic terminal, a looped wire plaited chain, a silver pin with wire suspension loop, a silver pin, another silver zoomorphic terminal and a silver loop and attachment on the eye of a pin. The remains of textiles were found on the lid and the box contained textile fragments. Penn. K. 2000. Excavation on the Norwich Southern Bypass. Part 2. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Harford Farm, Caistor St. Edmunds Norfolk, Anglian Archaeology 92, Norfolk Museum Service, Gressenhall.

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Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Hawnby, Yorkshire Plate 2 A barrow inhumation burial. No further details given. A most attractive box, 54mm diameter x 65mm height, repoussé decorated. Lid and base are slightly convex, the base is incomplete and both have the same decorative arrangement: a single row of dots around their circumference and a cruciform formed of double lined arms meeting on a circle enclosing a raised central boss. Inside each arm further raised bosses form a quincunx. The base has the same pattern. The lid ring is decorated with conjoined chevrons set between two single rows of parallel lines; the body is similarly decorated with twin rows of repoussé at the base of the body. When the top assembly is fitted to the body the pattern is similar to those on the Dover Painted House, Finglesham Grave 8, Harford Farm Grave 18, Kempston Graves 46 and 71, Lechlade Grave 14, Tidworth, Uncleby Grave 29 and Verulamium Grave 21 boxes. The lid top decoration is a distinctive AngloSaxon artistic design that can be seen incorporated on a number of composite cloisonné disc brooches (e.g. Kingston Down, Milton North Field) and jeweled scutiform pendants (e.g. Lechlade). Nothing is new in art, and a 9th century BC bronze diadem from Vergina, Greece (Plate 6) has an identical repoussé pattern. Denny. H. 1868. Notice of an early British Tumuli on the Hambleton Hills near Thirsk. Proceedings of the Geological Society of the West Riding of Yorkshire. 488-502.

Plate 2. Hawnby (Yorkshire) Type I, reconstruction Tony Gibson and Peter Grey

Hurdlow, Derbyshire Single inhumation under a burial mound. Opened 7th of July 1849. Bateman records that the box was found in a crushed condition, located on the right shoulder ‘amid the remains of a hazel basket ... 2 inches in height and the same in diameter’. The lid ring and body have overlapped joints, each secured by three rivets. The flat lid top and body base are undecorated, while the lid ring and body are ornamented with faint incised geometric and lozenge shapes in no discernible pattern. The box contained ‘two pins or broken needles’. The Aldborough and Ascott-under-Wychwood

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Corpus of Type I boxes

examples are other Type I boxes with incised decoration. A Type I box was recorded from Finglesham Grave 8 inside a ‘crushed pottery vessel positioned to the skeleton’s left shoulder’. Bateman. T. 1861. Ten Years Digging in Celtic and Saxon Grave Hills in the Counties of Derby, Stafford and York from 1848-1858. London: George Allen and Sons. 52-54, fig opp. 52 Isle of Thanet, Kent Type I box recorded with no further details given. Mason, S and Andrews, P, 2012 Isle of Thanet, Digging the gateway to Britain, Current Archaeology, May 2012, No.266, 28-35 Kempston, Bedfordshire Inhumation and cremation cemetery discovered during gravel extraction, containing c.129 burials and c.51 cremations. Largely investigated and recorded by Rev. Samuel Fitch MD and James Wyatt, a local antiquarian, in 1863-1865; stray finds associated with the site were still being reported as late as 1913. The cemetery, on seriation evidence, is dated 5th to 7th century. Early site reports and grave numbers allocated to specific artefacts are confusing, haphazard and need to be treated with caution. Grave 46? (BM 1891-6 24-140) An incomplete box, missing lid top and body base, c.48mm diameter x c.53mm height, repoussé decorated. Lid ring and body are bell mouthed at one end, the overlapped joints are riveted, and the body has a small U-shaped loop to which are attached two figure-of-8 shaped copper-alloy chain links. The lid ring has three double rows of dots around the periphery; the body has three equally spaced rows of double dots with two rows of chevrons meeting on the central line to form a dual pattern of linked cross saltires and diamonds. This pattern combination is also evident on the boxes from Dover Painted House, Finglesham Grave 8, Harford Farm Grave 18, Hawnby, Tidworth, Lechlade Grave 18, Uncleby Grave 29 and Verulamium Grave 21. The box was said to be gilded when found and said to contain a bronze pin and spiral of thread. Grave 71? (BM 1891-6 24-M1) Now fragmented and missing lid ring, top and body base, it has two small swivel catches attached opposite one another on the body. These would have engaged with corresponding components on the lid ring enabling the box to be locked. Fitch records that underneath one of these catches he found ‘gilding in its most original purity and brightness’. The body fragment examined has the same decor as the box in Grave 46. The box contained fabric, linen and the remains of a leather purse. Fitch, S E 1864. Discovery of Saxon remains at Kempston. Associated Architectural Societies Report. 7, 266-269. Wyatt, J 1864. Further Discoveries of Saxon at Kempston Collectanea Antiqua VI 166-172. London.

Kennett, D 1986. Recent work on the Anglo-Saxon Cemetery found at Kempston. CBA Group 9. South Midland Archaeology 16. Bedford 3-14. TG11/11/2016. 21

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Kingston Down, Kent Grave 96 coffin burial ‘Burial under a small tumulus was opened 19th July 1771.’ This Type I box was described as ‘... a brass box like our common dredging boxes ...two and a quarter inches in height; two inches in diameter... and full of a dark-coloured substance’ (Faussett 1856, 57-58). Both lid ring and body are bell mouthed at one end. The lid top is convex and crimped to the body; the body base is lost. The lid top is repoussé decorated with six rows of dots and a centrally placed Latin cross. The body has seven lines of dots, the lid ring two. The Latin cross evident on the box is not shown on the excavator’s original sketch or in the excavation report. A Type III box was recovered from Grave 222 at this site and is detailed in Section 3. Faussett. B. 1856. Inventorium Sepulchrale An Account of Some Antiquities dug up at Gilton, Kingston, Sibertswold, Barfriston, Beaksborough, Chartam and Crundale in the County of Kent, from AD 1757 to AD 1773, C R, Roach Smith (ed.) London.

Lechlade, Butler’s Field, Gloucestershire Grave 14 c.14-16 years of age In advance of a proposed development, a previously unknown cemetery was excavated in 1985. The cemetery contained 219 inhumations in 199 graves and 29 cremations. 50mm diameter x 70mm height, repoussé decorated. Body and lid ring are bell mouthed at one end with overlapped joint secured by three rivets on the former and two on the latter. Both have a single eyelet, attached are two elongated S shaped chain links placed each side of a wire suspension ring holding the lid and body assemblies together. Lid ring and body both have three equal spaced double rows of dots around their periphery, additionally the body has two rows of chevrons meeting on the central line to form a dual pattern of linked cross saltires and diamonds. This pattern combination is evident on boxes from Dover Painted House, Finglesham Grave 8, Hawnby, Harford Farm Grave 18, Kempston Graves 46 and 71, Tidworth, Uncleby Grave 29 and Verulamium Grave 21. Lid top and base are convex and have circular rows of dots around a central raised boss. Boyle. A. Jennings. D. Miles. D. and Palmer. S. 1998. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Butler’s Field, Lechlade, Gloucestershire. Vol.1: Prehistoric and Roman Activity and Anglo-Saxon Grave Catalogue Valley Landscapes Monographs 10. Oxford University School of Archaeology Oxford.

22

Corpus of Type I boxes

Marina Drive, Dunstable, Bedfordshire Inhumation cemetery with 49 burials grouped around a Bronze Age burial mound and ditch, excavated in 1957. Grave B3/B4 Double burial male and female. Box 50mm in diameter x 52mm in height, undecorated, and said to be ‘silvered bronze’. Lid top and body base are missing. Lid assembly is attached to the base assembly by three figure-of-eight-shaped chain links and a wire ring. The box contained a few threads of wool. The lid top from Grave E3 was described as a reused waist pendant and could possibly be associated with this box. Grave E1/E2 Double burial children. Box 48mm diameter x 50mm height, repoussé decorated. The damaged lid top has a large, central raised boss and three concentric lines of rings four dots in width. The body base is missing. The lid ring has two lines of double dots around its periphery; the body has two rows of four dots. Four elongated S shaped chain links and a wire ring attach the lid ring and body assemblies together. The box ‘was full of thread and a small roll of material’. Matthews, C I, 1962 The Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Marina Drive Dunstable. Bedfordshire Archaeological Journal, 125-47 fig 4-8

Gibson. T. and Harris. P. 1994. Analysis of Anglo-Saxon Solder Deposited on a Copper-Alloy Disc from the Cemetery at Marina Drive, Bedfordshire. Bedfordshire Archeology. 21, 108-119.

Painsthorpe Wold, Yorkshire Barrow 4, Grave 6a Secondary inhumations in a Bronze Age burial mound, excavated 1876. Box undecorated, 40mm diameter x 42mm height. Overlapped joints on lid ring and body. Lid top and body base missing. Inadequate sketch and description by excavator. Box was said to contain ‘remains of thread and iron needle’. Mortimer. J. R. 1905. Forty Years’ Researches in British and Saxon Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire, A Brown & Sons, London 113-117, Plate XXXV, fig 279.

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Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Polhill, Dunton Green, Kent Figure 10 Historical references to the site are known from 1839. In 1967 excavations prior to roadworks were undertaken. Further excavations in 1984 revealed 50 additional graves – in all 162 graves are recorded from this site. Grave 43 double burial. Box 40mm diameter x 47mm height, repoussé decorated. The box is an excellent example of skillful metalwork and artistic application. It is unique in that the body has a raised, undecorated stop ridge incorporated into its design. This enables the lid assembly to slide over the body assembly to a fixed point, this feature adds to the box’s proportions and aesthetic features. The flat lid and body base share the same pattern: three rings of dots overlaid with a Latin cross. Both lid ring and body have overlapped joints, each with a single eyelet. The lid ring and body have a single row of sinuous interlacing formed in double lines of very fine dots set between two parallel lines of dots. The Ascott-under-Wychwood, Ashmolean and Verulamium Grave 21 examples share an artistic affinity with this box in that they are decorated with Salin Style II interlacing. The box contained thread and a chain. Philp. B. J. 1973. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Polhill Dunton Green. Excavations in West Kent 1960-1970. Kent Archaeological Rescue Group. Dover. Philp. B. J. 2002. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Polhill near Sevenoaks, Kent 1964-1986. Kent Archaeological Rescue Group. Dover.

Standlake, Oxfordshire Box discovered in an inhumation cemetery c.1826 by workmen digging for gravel. Described as ‘a box of brass or bronze’, and said to ‘resemble a pepper-box’. On this description the box has been interpretated as being Type I and repoussé decorated. Stone. S. 1856 -59. Account of certain (supposed) British and Saxon remains recently discovered at Standlake, in the County of Oxford. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquities Series 1, 4, 92-100

24

Corpus of Type I boxes

Figure 10. Polhill (Kent) Grave 43 Type I after Philp 2003, with raised stop ridge. Lid ring and body repoussé decorated in curvaceous Salin Style II, lid top and body base with equal arm Latin cross

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Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Tidworth, Wiltshire Inhumation cemetery containing 55 burials uncovered prior to a military house-building programme. Excavation details not available. Box 55mm diameter x 65mm height, repoussé decorated. Body has overlapped joint. Lid top and body base appear crimped. The lid ring has two rows of repoussé dots around the periphery; set between is a single row of conjoined chevrons. The body has three rows of repoussé dots, with two rows of chevrons offset to one another meeting on the centre line. This pattern is similar to the linked cross saltires and diamond pattern on the Dover Painted House, Harford Farm Grave 18, Hawnby, Finglesham Grave 8, Kempston Graves 46 and 71, Lechlade, Uncleby Grave 29 and Verulamium Grave 21 examples. The lid top has a series of repoussé individual rosette patterns within a single row of dots around the periphery. The lid top and body assemblies are held together with two S shaped links; attached is a figure-of-eight link and wire ring. (Details from photograph). Information from Wessex Archaeology Blog https://www.wessexarch.co.uk/our-work/tidworth (accessed 05/05/21). Full report unpublished. No response to a request to physically examine box.

Uncleby, Yorkshire Cemetery with 78 inhumations located in a Bronze Age burial mound and ditch. Excavated by Cannon William Greenwell in 1868, details from his notebook are inadequate and his plan incomplete. Allocation of boxes to specific graves should be treated with caution. This site is important as it contained five Type I boxes, the largest number from any one site. Grave 1 Recorded as ‘1 3/4 in height and diameter 2 in’, repoussé decorated. Lid ring and body have overlapped joints with a single loop of wire attached to the lid ring. They are decorated with two rows of dots around the periphery. The flat lid top has a single row of dots around the circumference, radiating from which are four curved lines meeting on a centre circle. Each of the four quadrants and the centre circle have a raised boss, effectively forming a quincunx. The flat base has three concentric circles terminating with a centrally placed Latin cross. The body has four lines of repoussé with a herring-bone pattern set between rows two and three. Greenwell states that inside ‘was found a tinned bronze open-worked disc with a peg’. The box, complete with iron chain and bronze open-worked disc, appears to have been found inside the remains of a wooden box that had been placed above the left hand shoulder of the female at the time of burial. (See Hurdlow and Finglesham Grave 18 where boxes were located in a similar position). The cross on the base is not mentioned in Greenwell’s notes.

26

Corpus of Type I boxes

Grave 3 Recorded as ‘2 1/4 in high and 2 1/8 in diameter’, repousée decorated. Lid ring and body have overlapped joints, each with an eyelet; two figure-of-eight shaped chain links are attached to the body. The body has five rows of dots around its periphery. The lid top is decorated with three concentric of circles centered around a raised boss. The base has three concentric row of dots around what appears to be an incomplete Latin cross of dots. Grave 29 Recorded as ‘1 3/4 in high and 2 1/2 in diameter’, repoussé decorated. The lid ring is decorated with two rows of dots around the periphery. The body has three equal spaced lines of dots around the periphery with two rows of chevrons meeting on the central line to form a dual pattern of linked cross saltires in a diamond pattern. This combination is evident on boxes from Dover Painted House, Finglesham Grave 8, Harford Farm Grave 18, Hawnby, Kempston Graves 46 and 71, Lechlade Grave 14, Tidworth and Verulamium Grave 21 . The base is decorated with three concentric rows of dots; displayed inside the centre circle is a cruciform overlying a saltire, effectively forming an eight-rayed starburst. Similar starburst patterns are evident on the lid tops or body bases of boxes from Finglesham, Wolverton and the copper-alloy disc from Ilam. The box was said to contain ‘two types of thread’. Grave 30? and Grave 31? Greenwell records two boxes in Grave 31. It is possible that one box is from the adjacent Grave 30. No details other than a ‘bronze box in front of the waist’ and ‘between the thigh and shin-bone another bronze box’. Smith. R. (ed.) 1912. The Excavation by Cannon Greenwell in 1856 of an Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Uncleby. East Riding of Yorkshire. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries 24, 146-158.

Updown, Eastry, Kent The cemetery was located by aerial photography in 1973. A rescue excavation ahead of a pipeline installation was completed in 1976; 36 graves were located. In 1989, in advance of the Eastry Bypass, further excavations recorded 41 additional graves and 13 graves from the 1973 excavation were re-opened. It is argued (Welch et al. 2008) that these burials represent only a part of a much larger cemetery, yet to be excavated. Grave 76:34, grave size indicates a very small child or baby? Box 50mm diameter x 54mm height, repoussé decorated. Lid ring and body have overlapped joints and both have a single U shaped wire loop placed on their joints, additionally a single rivet on the body. They are bell mouthed at one end, the flat lid and body base are each secured by four rivets. Two linked figureof-eight chains placed each side of a wire ring hold the lid and body assemblies together. The decoration on the lid and base appears as a series of random dots with no discernible pattern. The lid ring has a single row of dots around its periphery, the body four. The box contained textiles, silk, flax and wool. 27

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Grave 89:45, 16-24 years of age. Box c.53mm diameter x 40mm height, repoussé decorated. It was recovered in a fragmented condition and is missing its body base. Lid ring and body have over-lapped joints, each secured by a single rivet and bell mouthed at one end. The lid ring is decorated with two rows of fine dots around the periphery, the body assembly with three. The damaged lid top has what appear to be four circular rows of dots around a raised boss. Two figure-of-eight chain links connected to a wire ring were recorded as accompanying the box. Philp. B. J. and Keller. P. 2002. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Eastry, near Dover. Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, Dover.

Welch. M. Duhig. C. Rega. B. Crowfoot. E. Edwards. G. Morris. C. and Williams. G. 2008. Report on Excavations of the Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Updown, Eastry Kent. In S Crawford and H Hamerow (ed.) Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History 15. Oxford: Oxford University School of Archaeology.

Verulamium, King Harry Lane, Hertfordshire Inhumation cemetery with 39 graves, excavated in 1966-1968. Located at the south-eastern end of an Iron Age cemetery and adjacent to an area of Roman cremations. Grave 11 Box c.42mm diameter x c.40mm height, repoussé decorated. It is incomplete, the body damaged and the lid top and body base missing. A copper-alloy fragment 25mm in length x 15mm in height, part of the lid ring, has an overlapped joint with three vertical punched holes, two with rivets in position, the other empty. This is decorated with two double rows of dots set between a cross saltire. The body, with overlapped joint, has four vertical punched holes, three rivets in position and one empty. The body has four rows of dots around its periphery; in the zone created between rows two and three are vertical rows of dots that make blocks. Some are left empty, three are decorated with cross saltires. This block-like form of decoration is similar to that on the North Leigh Type II box (Oxfordshire). Two copper-alloy figure-of-eight shaped chain links and a rod 52mm in length with looped ends wound back around the shank are associated with the box and may indicate that the rod was originally attached to the box. Grave 21, c. 17-25 years of age Figure 11 Box c. 56mm diameter x 42mm height, repoussé decorated, lid top and body base damaged and incomplete. Lid ring and body are constructed with overlapped joints and riveted, the lid ring with two rivets, the body with three, one now missing. The lid ring has two rows of double dots around the periphery; set between is an interlinked pattern of curvaceous chevrons and diamonds. The body has three equally spaced double dotted lines around the periphery with two rows of patterns as above meeting on the central line. These patterns would appear to introduce a Salin Style II element to the geometric chevron and diamond motifs on the Dover Painted House, Finglesham Grave 8, Harford Farm Grave 18, Hawnby, Kempston Graves 46 and 71, Lechlade Grave 14, Tidworth, Uncleby Grave 29 boxes. The Ascott-under-Wychwood, Ashmolean, 28

Corpus of Type I boxes

Figure 11. Verulamium (Hertfordshire) Grave 21 Type I after Ager 1989, artistically decorated suggestive of Style II 29

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Polhill Grave 43, and Type II examples from Burwell Village and North Leigh are also decorated with Salin Style II interlacing. Lid top and body base carry the same unique decorative pattern: a single circular row of dots inside a quincunx, the raised bosses enclosed in single circles of dots. These are overlaid with a cross formed by twin lines of dots, each terminating in a crescent shape reversed C at the end of the arms of the cross and meeting on the central raised boss of a quincunx. Lid ring and body have an eyelet attached and are linked together with two S-shaped chain links and two wire rings. The excavator suggests that the box was suspended from the waist by a ‘chain of iron’ in figure-of-eight links with ‘two bronze rings’ 240mm in length. The box contained ‘two Roman coins and an iron pin (or needle?) with twisted thread around it’. Ager. B. 1989. The Anglo-Saxon cemetery. In I M Stead and V Rigby, Verulamium: the King Harry Lane Site, English Heritage Archaeological Report No 12. London: English Heritage, 219-239. Westfield Farm, Ely, Cambridgeshire Grave 2, c.15-17 years of age Small inhumation cemetery containing 15 burials, excavated in 2006 in advance of a housing development. 53mm diameter x 57mm height, repoussé decorated, lid ring missing, overlapped body joint secured by four rivets, body bell mouthed at one end to accommodate the base by metal clenching. A hinge and catch is riveted to the body joint, the corresponding components (possibly fitted to the missing lid ring) are absent; above and below this hinge assembly is a wire loop – both have an elongated S shaped chain link attached. The hinged lid assembly is a feature it shares with Arncliffe, Finglesham Grave 8 and Wolverton 2166 Type 1 boxes. The body is decorated with four dotted lines of repoussé. Both lid and base are flat and fragmented, both are decorated with three concentric circles of repoussé around the circumference. A re-assessment of the inner circle on the fragmented lid top and base indicates an equal armed Latin cross was originally part of the iconography. A series of small randomly placed dotted lines connect the two outer circles on the body base. This element of decoration is similar to Harford Farm Grave 18 Type I box. Lucy. S. Newman. R. Dodwell. N. Hills. C. Dekker. M. O’Connell. T. Riddler. I. and Walton Rogers. P.W. 2009. The burial of a princess? The latter seventh-century at Westfield Farm, Antiquaries Journal, 89, 81-141.

Wolverton, Buckinghamshire Site excavated in advance of a development in 2008. The cemetery contained eighty-three inhumations and two cremation burials. Grave 2005 This Type I box (Hancock and Zeepvat 2019, fig 3.1), 52mm diameter x c.65mm in depth, was recovered together with six metal fragments, two recognisable box components, two rings and a split eyelet. The box appears to have been disassembled prior to deposition and is difficult to interpret. Both convex 30

Corpus of Type I boxes

Figure 12. Wolverton (Buckinghamshire) Grave 2168 after PAS BUC-337D72, Type I with runes and hinged lid

shaped lid top and body base are undecorated. The lid ring and body have the same repoussé decorative feature, two parallel lines of dots enclosing a single line of conjoined chevrons forming a zigzag pattern around their circumference. When the lid top and body base assemblies are fitted together they form a conjoined chevron, cross saltire and diamond pattern (Figure 24a). There is the possibility that one of the two components found with this box was used to extend the length of its body in a similar manner to that on the Aldborough box. Grave 2168 (Find number 95) Figure 12 This Type I box was recovered in a fragmented condition and is 40mm diameter x 60mm length, repoussé decorated with runes incised on the body and unrecognizable symbols on the lid ring. It has a hinged lid assembly, a feature shared with the Arncliffe, Finglesham Grave 8 and Westfield Farm Grave 2 Type1 boxes. Body and lid ring are bell mouthed at one end with overlapped joints. The hinge is positioned on the lid ring by two vertically placed rivets, the corresponding component with four, two either side of the joint. Both have dotted lines around their periphery, the lid ring two and the body three. Additionally between the second and third line on the body is a runic inscription BUG[I?]TN and unidentifiable symbols. The box has a convex lid top and body base decorated with an eight-rayed starburst around a raised central boss. Similar starburst decorations are evident on the lid top or body base of boxes from Finglesham Grave 8, Uncleby Grave 29 and the copper-alloy disc reused as a pendant from Ilam. 31

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Portable Antiquities Scheme. 2008. Bucks-337D73

Archaeology in Milton Keynes. (undated) Archaeological Services & Consultancy Service Limited. Milton Keynes.

Hancock. A. J. Zeepvat. R. J 2018. Wulfhere’s people. Buckingham Archaeology Society Monograph Series No 11.

Yatesbury, Cherhill, Wiltshire Double burial. Secondary burials in prehistoric mound, discovered 4th August 1849 while lowering a barrow in aptly named Barrow Field. Described by its finder Mr. H. Shergold ‘There was a little box of metal 3” long; it had a lid at one end, and a chain fixed in the middle, and it had been fastened to the end where it opened; it was round’. On this description the box has been interpretated as Type I. Merewether. J. 1849. Diary of the examination of barrows and other earthworks in the neighborhood of Silbury Hill and Avebury in July and August 1849. in Memoirs illustrative of the history and antiquities of Wiltshire and the City of Salisbury, communicated to the annual general meeting of the Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland held at Salisbury 1851. : 96-97. London.

32

Technical Details Type II Although the eight boxes in this classification are notably different in appearance from one another they have characteristics in common to enable them to be classified together. All share some features with Type I boxes in that they are manufactured from copper-alloy sheet metal between 0.50 mm and 1.00 mm in thickness and the lid and base assemblies are constructed in the same manner. Additionally they have a suspension flange projecting from one side of their body and hinged lid. Four, Burwell Grave 42, Burwell Village, Dover Buckland Grave 107 and North Leigh (Figure 13) have a rigid sheet metal suspension flange, while those from Cuxton Grave 306, Sibertswold Down Grave 60, Stand Low and St. Mary’s Stadium Grave 4202 have a cast or wrought pivoting flange. Type II boxes demonstrate the skill and design capabilities of the Anglo-Saxon metal craftsmen, evidenced by the complexity of individual components necessary to complete them. Each box represents many hours of work – the Burwell Grave 42 box may have taken days rather than hours to complete, such is the artistic detail. Their time-consuming manufacture and unique appearance demonstrate that the women who owned a Type II box could possibly have had a significant social status within their community.

Design and Manufacturing Techniques II The principal characteristics of the insular Type II boxes is either a pivoting or rigid suspension flange projecting from one side of the body (Figure 14) and a hinged lid assembly, yet each is different in appearance, physical dimensions and iconography. Their design appears to have been influenced by Frankish containers with suspension flanges and hinged lids. Eight boxes are recorded (Table 1). Other than the North Leigh box (Leeds 1940, 21-30) all were found in a crushed, fragmented and fragile condition. That from Burwell village, recovered from plough soil, is badly damaged and initially appeared to be missing component parts. Later the lid top, body base and suspension flange were located separated from the box body, possibly an indication that the box had been taken apart prior to deposition. A Type I box from Wolverton Grave 2005 is recorded as being deconstructed before burial. That all were designed before construction is evidenced by the careful measurement and metal shaping required to construct individual sub-components prior to final assembly, and repoussé and die struck decorations. They were made from copper-alloy sheet metal and manufactured in a similar manner to Type I using the same tools and construction methods. Further boxes from Cuxton Grave 306, Sibertswold Grave 60 (Faussett 1856, 112, pl. XIII, fig. 8), Stand Low (Bateman 1848,74) and the St. Mary’s Grave 4202 (Birbeck et al 2005, 33, figs. 17-18) have a wrought or cast pivoting flange. Every Type II box demonstrates

33

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Figure 13. North Leigh (Oxfordshire) Type II with repoussé body and incised lid top decorations 34

Design and Manufacturing Techniques II

Figure 14. Suspension Flange Type II [a] Stand Low [b] Dover Buckland Grave 102 [c] Sibertswold Grave 80 [d] North Leigh [e] Burwell Grave 42 [f] Cuxton Grave 306 (iconography exaggerated) [g] St Mary’s Stadium Grave 4202 35

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

an advanced standard of design, workmanship and mechanical knowledge, especially those with a pivoting flange. A movable flange enables a box to rotate one hundred and eighty degrees through its horizontal plane. This action relates to the physical operation associated with the boxes, which, when suspended from a belt or chatelaine adjust to body movements; they would have been more comfortable than the rigid flanged models, which were inflexible, bumping on hips and upper thighs. It is difficult to understand or explain how the makers of the four boxes came to feature a pivoting flange. The location of the two Kentish sites 50 km apart may indicate the same maker or that they were made in the same workshop. With Stand Low to St Mary’s a distance of 290 km and Cuxton to St. Mary’s 165 km it is difficult to argue the same scenario. It appears likely they were developed independently yet they employ similar manufacturing methods. This suggests knowledge transfer through cultural or trading contact between these dispersed areas. Whilst each suspension flange serves the same function, all are different in appearance to one another and those that are decorated display unique patterns (Figure 14). Type II boxes, with the exception of the St Mary’s, Burwell Grave 42 and the lid top assembly from Burwell Village, are decorated in repoussé punch dots. Although the Dover Buckland Grave 107 (Evison 1987, 106108, fig. 48) (Plate 3) body is undecorated, both lid top and body base carry a quincunx formed by large bosses. The Burwell Grave 42 box (Lethbridge 1928, fig. A) (Figure 15), the most highly decorated of all Types of boxes, demonstrates a remarkable combination of metal craftsmanship and artistic detail, and represents an outstanding example of Anglo-Saxon sheet metal work. Metal dies were used to stamp Salin Style II interlacing on the lid ring and body, and possibly at a later date individual bone or fire hardened wooden die punches were used to reproduce the figural fight scenes on the lid top and body base and the somewhat clumsy predatory bird heads on the flange. Gibson (2015, 156-157) argued that the scenes depicting a battle between a warrior and a dragon are the earliest narrative of the Beowulf poem. The Burwell Village base assembly is decorated with incised Style II iconography, furthermore the folded flange displays what appears to be the head of a fish or sea creature. The Cuxton Grave 306 box (Figures 17a, 17b) is an exceptional artefact. Displaying leaf like crosses on lid top and body base and a saltire in repoussé on its body, on the flange is an explicit incised Christian gospel scene. The North Leigh box (Figure 18), displayed at the Ashmolean Museum is in a remarkable condition. Like the Cuxton Grave 306 box it displays two forms of iconography, the body with a block like pattern in repoussé, its lid top incised with a expanded terminal cross and crudely styled interlacing under each cross arm. The now lost Stand Low box (Plate 4) is distinguished by its hinged suspension flange wrought or cast in the shape of a serpent’s or snake’s head, a very impressive example of workmanship and artistic skill. Unlike Type I, Type II boxes can be seen as prestigious and ostentatious objects, expressed in every aspect of design, complexity of manufacture and individual iconography. Unlike Type I boxes, none are evident in sub adult or children’s graves. Five of the seven extant Type II boxes (St. Mary’s Stadium is undecorated) carry cruciform symbols. The incised fish or serpent on the Burwell Village flange shares an affinity with what is considered to be a gold arm from a Christian cross included in the Staffordshire hoard (Fern, Dickinson and Webster 2019, fig 2.78,102-103). This, when combined with the explicit Christian graffito on the Cuxton Grave box, supports the view that Type II boxes were specifically manufactured as Christian objects, functioning as accessories in worship and ceremony. They should not be identified as female secular household items.

36

Corpus of Type II boxes

37

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Burwell, Cambridgeshire Grave 42 Figure 15 Inhumation cemetery discovered in 1884 when labourers digging for lime found human remains and grave goods. The site was excavated 1925-1930; 125 burials are recorded, 92 adults, 33 children. A Type I box from this cemetery, Grave 121, is recorded in Section I. This Type II box, the most highly decorated of all boxes of any Type, was found in a worn, repaired and fragile condition. It is, nevertheless, an exceptional, important and overlooked example of Anglo-Saxon metalwork and artistic application. Both lid ring and body are bell-mouthed, the convex lid top and body base attached by solder. The radiused suspension flange, made from two separate metal sheets crimped together, is attached to the body by rivets and overlies the overlapped body seam. The only undecorated component on the box is the hinge bracket located on the lid ring, which may indicate that this is either a replacement or a later addition; it is possible the box started life as a Type I box and at a later stage was altered to a Type II by the addition of the hinged lid and flange. This could imply that the lid top and body base are a later feature, even so, this would not alter the date of deposition. Lethbridge (1927, 88) considered the scene depicted on the lid top and body base could represent either Beowulf or Sigurd, the legendary dragon slayers. The outstanding feature of the relic box relates to the impressive Salin Style II zoomorphic decorations on the lid ring, body and flange and the quite remarkable figurative arrangement displayed on the lid top and body base. Metal dies were used to stamp zoomorphic decorations on both lid ring and body, individual carved bone or fire-hardened wooden punches used to reproduce the heroic dragon fight on the lid top and body base and opposing birds’ heads on either side of the flange. The lid ring has three rectangular bead-bordered panels each with interlaced, looped, back biting, spotted reptilian creatures. These show a resemblance to those on the seventh century copper-alloy die from Mitchell’s Hill (Suffolk) (Speake,1980, fig.14f). The body also has three bead die impressed bordered panels, each showing a scaly back-biting, sinuous, opened-mouthed serpent or worm-like creature, interlaced together with elongated curved jaws and coiled back feet. These can be compared to those on the seventh century silver-gilt sword pommel from Crundale Down (Kent) (Webster, 2012, fig.44). In contrast, on each side of the flange are crude versions of opposing predatory birds’ heads, shown in profile. The importance of the reliquary to Anglo-Saxon archaeology and to the composition of the poem Beowulf lies in the theatrical encounter on the lid top and body base. These are unique in Anglo-Saxon artistic improvisation, not because they demonstrate precision workmanship, but for what is depicted in a naive decorative style. Each is stamped with an unusual equal-armed waisted cross positioned around a central rosette. Inside each quarter is what was intended to be a narrative representing a warrior: a heroic figure armed with a seax or sword, slaying a prostrate creature which can be described as a dragon. During the process of embossing, the raised nonmetallic punch deteriorated. As a result, only one scene on each component was complete, the others are debased and jumbled. Nevertheless they can be recognised as being struck from the now fragmenting punch. The reliquary is a remarkable combination of sheet metal craftsmanship and artistic creativity. This is demonstrated in every aspect of its design and construction, from the complexity of individual components 38

Figure 15. Burwell (Cambridgeshire) Grave 42 [a] Type II most highly decorated of all Types of boxes [b] lid top and body base decorated with die stamped reconstruction of the Beowulf Dragon Fight?

Corpus of Type II boxes

39

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

to the skill required to carve the punches used to produce the iconographical scenes on the reliquary. Notwithstanding that the artwork portrayed indicates a non-Christian genesis, the warrior fight scene can be viewed as a paradox and the imagery, Christian imagery (Gibson, 2015, 156). If an explanation is required for both Christian and pagan themes being evident on the Burwell reliquary, an example linking Germanic legend to biblical events through Anglo-Saxon decorative art can be seen on the early eighth century Franks Casket. Webster (2012, 96) remarks that the story makes ‘Christianity more attractive and accessible to the heathen population. Hence once again we see the past used to inform an understanding of the present’. The Burwell reliquary is a Christian reliquary, a visual declaration of its owner’s religious beliefs and practices. Furthermore, all extant decorated Type II reliquaries are cruciform decorated and all have hinged lids to secure brandea, thus replicating the continental spherical Christian amulet boxes. Lethbridge, T C, 1928 The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Burwell Cambridge (Part II). Proceedings of the Cambridgeshire Antiquarian Society, XXVll: 116-123

Lethbridge, T C, 1931 Recent Excavations in Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. Cambridge Antiquarian Society Quarto Publication New Series III Gibson, A, 2015 Anglo-Saxon ‘work boxes’ and the Burwell Grave 42 box, Christian or Pagan? Proceedings of the Cambridgeshire Antiquarian Society, ClV 149-160 Gibson, Tony, 2020 The Dating of Beowulf: Archaeological Evidence of the Dragon Fight? https:// nottingham.academia.edu/TonyGibson

Burwell Village, Suffolk PAS SF-686A1F Suffolk County Council Archaeology Unit. Figure 16 The most recent find, a much damaged, incomplete, copper-alloy Type II box, yet to be fully illustrated, c. 52mm diameter x 45mm in height and recovered from a field located on the Suffolk/Cambridgeshire county border. The box has an incised Style II zoomorphic decoration around its body; this appears similar to that on the Type I box from Ascott-under-Wychwood (Oxfordshire) (Blair and Hills 2020). The once circular metal fragments from the lid top and body base were located a distance away from the box body. Each has identical incised decoration: a single groove around their periphery with two further concentric grooves forming three circular zones – two are decorated with double-strand, sinuous, nonanimal interlacing and the area between the loops appears to be cross-hatched – these zones terminate on an undecorated centre circle. The interlaced art appears irregular and constricted; it lacks the flowing style usually associated with this type of decoration. This could imply the maker was unfamiliar with this type of artistic composition. A feature of these fragments are the accurately formed shallow incised rings, so precise to initially suggest these were lathe turned. A more likely explanation is that they were formed by the use of a low technical method still in use today to produce circles and arcs, a ‘fixed centre pin device’. This is a narrow, flat piece of wood or metal with a row of holes spaced centrally along its length.

40

Corpus of Type II boxes

A fixed centre pin is located in the end hole, a sharp scriber is placed in a hole corresponding to the circle diameter required and rotated around, inscribing the metal. The incised rectangular flange, radiused at one end, was found detached from the box body. When unfolded it is c. 30mm x 70mm, made from two pieces of 0.7mm sheet metal riveted together, and originally attached by six rivets to the box body. When recovered, the shaped end was so tightly folded back on itself in alignment as to conclude that this action was carried out by human intervention. This leaves two alternatives: possibly it was folded still attached to the box on deposition and plough action detached it from the box. A more likely explanation is that the box, for whatever reason, was taken apart prior to burial (if there is a burial). The flange, together with the lid top and body base, were then deposited separately. The flange, with a single rivet still in place, is decorated on both sides with twin outline borders of repoussé; inside this, against a hatched background, is what can be described as the head of an open-mouthed fish. The iconography on the flange shows an outline resemblance to two artefacts from the Staffordshire Hoard. Firstly the great gold cross (Fern et al. 2019, catalogue number 539): on each transverse arm are two entwined zoomorphic serpents (ibid figures 2.74, 3.42, 5.12). Their head shapes display a remarkable likeness to those on the box flange. The other is the gold or gold-sheeted ‘inscribed strip’ with a Latin biblical inscription on both sides, termed by Fern a ‘certain Christian object’ (Ibid 205, figure 2.78, catalogue number 540). Located at one end of the strip is a cast gold D-shaped gem setting, flanked by intertwined serpents. The other end has a straight edge; incised on both sides is the head of a fish, which, other than a cross from its mouth, can be compared to those on the Burwell Village flange and the great cross. The head shapes on all three artefacts are so alike to suggest they were not the result of separate individual inspiration – this could indicate that their construction had been authorised either by a controlling high status elite, contact between workshop(s) or familiarity between metalworking artisans. This is supported in that they are not only complementary, but also from the same region. A further example from the Anglian region of a creature with ‘open jaws’ referred to by the excavator as ‘a dragon’ (Lethbridge 1927, 88) may be seen in the Beowulf poem fight scene (Gibson 2020) on the lid top and body base of a Type II relic box found in Grave 42 at the Burwell (Cambridgeshire) cemetery, and can be taken as an indication that the maker had a close association with those noted above. The dating evidence on the two objects from the hoard, c.610-c.650 (Fern, Dickinson and Webster, 2019, table 6.1), indicates that they are within a similar time frame as that from Burwell and other relic boxes – c.630-c.690 (Bayliss and Hines, 2013, table 7.1). The physical presence of a cross on a battlefield and relic box within a community suggests both were visual sacred objects representing the abstract faith of the Christian religion. They are irrevocably linked together in ecclesiastical function, iconographical art and time; further, all are considered to have originated from East Anglia. Christian fish symbols? The interpretation of the objects above as ‘fish’ could be considered contentious, as others term them either ‘beasts’ (Fern, Dickinson and Webster 2019, 102) or ‘fish creatures’ (ibid, fig. 285). The fish has long been symbolically associated with the Christian religion. As an iconic representative they are frequently mentioned in both the Old and New Testament (e.g. Jonah 1: 17, Luke 9: 10-17). Fern et al illustrates a carved stone step from Poitiers, France (ibid, fig 2.85) showing two fish, one with a cross in its mouth, perhaps representing an allegorical connection to Christian faith. Closer to home, the box from Cuxton (Kent) 41

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Grave 306 (Blackmore et al. 2006, 17-19) among other crudely incised Christian symbols depicts the biblical scene of Golgotha. Around the box are three pictorial representations of the sacred hill with three Latin crosses on top. The centre cross is taller than the others, and within this hill interior the scene is repeated. From one hill a fish emerges with a Latin cross protruding from its open mouth. Finally, included in the Staffordshire Hoard is a small, open mouthed, fish-shaped cloisonné garnet mount (catalogue number 513). Could this possibly have been attached to a Christian object?

Figure 16. Burwell Village (Suffolk) Incomplete Type II decorative flange

42

Corpus of Type II boxes

Cuxton, Kent Grave 306, c.17-25 years of age Figure 17 The site was excavated in advance of the construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail link in 1998. Thirty six graves and the skeletal remains of thirty five individuals are recorded. Grave 306 contained two boxes, a Type II described here, the other, a Type III, is detailed in Section 3. The importance of this burial lies in the explicit biblical event incised on both boxes. These are early examples of Christian iconography evidenced on an Anglo-Saxon sheet metal artefact. They demonstrate a direct archaeological association with the Christian Gospels, and the woman buried with them should be considered as a devotee of the Christian religion.

Figure 17a. Cuxton (Kent) Grave 306 Type II after Blackmore et al. Incised iconography on hill very faintly scratched on original , exaggerated for illustration

43

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Figure 17b. Cuxton (Kent) Grave 306 Type II after Blackmore et al. Incised iconography on hill very faintly scratched on original , exaggerated for illustration

Recovered in a crushed and fragmented condition, originally 46mm diameter x 60mm height, repoussé decorated with incised imagery added at a later stage. Convex lid top and body base have four concentric rings centered around a boss and a crude punch-dot representation of a leaf-like cross. The lid ring has two, possibly three, rows of dots around the periphery; the body four, with a number of randomly placed angled and vertical lines of dots connecting the rows. A cross saltire on the body is positioned adjacent to 44

Corpus of Type II boxes

where the hinged flange was located. The pivoting cast flange found detached from the body consists of three zones: on either side of a central zone are what appear to be representations of two outward looking animal heads. Underneath each is what could be considered to be lightly scratched church steeples topped with a flag. Separated from the central zone by cross hatching and positioned centrally is a large faintly incised Latin cross, the shaft intersects a hill or mound and inside the mounds on either side are two smaller crosses. These overtly Christian symbols can only refer to the crosses erected at Calvary. This box should be recognised as a Christian reliquary. The inscribed scenes have been applied by, or for, the owner after the box was manufactured. They are crude and lack fluency and the skill levels associated with other areas of the box. Blackmore. L. Mackinder. T. and Powers. N. 2006. Iron Age Settlement and an Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Cuxton, Kent Vol. 2: The Grave Catalogue. J McKinley (Ed) London: CTRL Integrated Site Report Series. Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture.

Dover, Buckland, Kent Grave 107 Plate 3 Inhumation cemetery discovered during the construction of housing development. A rescue excavation commenced in September 1951 and continued until July 1953. Under difficult site and weather conditions graves were disturbed or destroyed, others were looted. The final excavation report was published in 1987; the catalogue records 161 graves. The Dover Buckland box was recovered in a miss-shaped and worn condition. At the time of burial the lid assembly had been sealed closed by rivets. It shows evidence of having been repaired on a number of occasions during its lifetime by having small copper-alloy patches riveted to worn areas on the base, flange and hinge bracket. Both lid

Plate 3. Dover Buckland Grave 107 Type II after Evison 1987

45

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

and body assemblies are constructed in the same manner, a single sheet of metal was formed around 360 degrees then further extended to form a double thickness flange terminating in a radiused shape held together by rivets, with a suspension loop attached by two rivets and a wire ring. A small shaped metal component is located between the plates on the flange to strengthen the hinge. The box is opened by an upwards pivoting motion based on a single pin acting as a fulcrum located through the flange. Among the unique design features incorporated into the box are three circular wire bands soldered onto the external structure. The two positioned at the top edge of the hinged top assembly and the bottom edge of the base assembly act as points for the attachement of small circular wire rings to the flat lid top and body base. These would have been clipped over the wire and back through the lid and body assemblies effectively holding individual components together; only one clip is now evident. The third wire band is placed centrally around the base of the hinged lid assembly and serves both to strengthen and balance the artistic presentation of the container. Unlike other Type II boxes the Buckland box is devoid of body decoration. The lid top and body base have identical quincunxes expressed by five raised bosses. The box contained a damaged knob-headed bronze pin. Evison, V 1987. Dover: Buckland Anglo-Saxon Cemetery. English Heritage Archaeological Report 3. London: English Heritage

North Leigh, Oxfordshire

Figures 13, 18, 19 A small cemetery discovered during extraction of stone from a quarry. The burial site initially contained five inhumations and grave goods; later excavations revealed three additional burials. Details relating to the site were published in 1940. The design and construction of the North Leigh box (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Accession Number1929. 399c) demonstrates the technical ability of its maker, who with four basic tools (shears, hammer, punch and scriber) manufactured an exceptional example of seventh century Anglo-Saxon metalwork. That it was designed before construction is evidenced by the careful measurement and metal shaping required to construct individual components prior to final assembly and the repoussé decoration on the body. Despite the skill used by the maker in other areas of manufacture, it is difficult to understand why no attempt was made to use a straight edge to cut out the metal blanks or to mark out guidelines for the iconographical body pattern. With four rectangular 0.50mm thick copper-alloy sheet metal blanks, short lengths of copper-alloy wire and a metal ring, a high quality decorative hinged lid relic box was produced. The lid ring and body were cut to size then formed around a core, possibly a tree branch, to make circular tubes with a double thickness rectangular projection to one side. That on the lid ring was used to produce a curved rear-projecting pivot tag. The body blank was repoussé decorated when flat, then shaped to make the abstract trefoil suspension flange, secured by a rivet. The now circular body was bell-mouthed at the top to form a narrow ledge around the circumference. This method of construction allowed the lid top to be clamped to the body by metal crimping. The process again reflects the skill and knowledge of the maker, who by increasing the diameter of the lid top enough to overhang the ledge enabled the metal to be folded back to the underside and secure the lid top without the need for solder or rivets. 46

Corpus of Type II boxes

Figure 18. North Leigh (Oxfordshire) Type II, lid top with incised decoration, body block type repoussé similar to that on a Type I box from Verulamium (Hertfordshire) Grave 21 47

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Figure 19. North Leigh (Oxfordshire) Type II, proposed construction sequence 1. Size and cut metal blanks 2. Decorate body with repoussé 3. Shape blanks around a core former, possibly a tree branch 4-5 Drill holes, apply rivets, shape trefoil flange and lid ring notch 6. Incise lid top around a physical cross? 7-8 Material clench lid top to lid ring, base to body 9. Fit pivot ring 48

Corpus of Type II boxes

Other boxes, including Ascott-under-Wychwood (Oxfordshire), Dover Painted House (Kent) and Bidfordon-Avon (Warwickshire), use the same technique. It is unclear how the base was originally fitted to the body assembly. Currently the base appears to be secured by bending the metal inward around the tubular body in an attempt to hold it in position. If this method is original (which the author doubts), it is very unsatisfactory as the base appears to be unsupported and a loose fit. This is surprising, as other sheet metal working techniques used to make the box indicate a high degree of skill. A possible explanation to consider is that when the reliquary was first uncovered (Leeds, 1940,21-40, pl. Vl ) the base was found separated from the box and this was an attempt to relocate the base. An iron ring passed through the lid ring pivot tag and the top notch of the suspension flange holds the assembly together and acts as a pivot point to open and close the box. A centrally located hole bored through both lid ring and body would have enabled a small peg to lock the box in the closed position. This method of securing the box and its contents is evident on the Type II box from Grave 107 Buckland, Dover (Kent), (Plate 3). Both circular lid ring and body base are undecorated. The iconography on the body consists of two parallel tiers or courses of rectangular dotted panels offset to one another, giving the impression of an ashlar built wall. The Verulamium Type I box (Stead and Rigby 1989) has a similar pattern, so alike as to suggest a possible connection between the communities or the maker. The rigid, notched, trefoil-shaped suspension flange is a unique feature. At some time, possibly after manufacture, a cross saltire has been scratched on one side. Iconography on the North Leigh lid top features an engraved expanded terminal cross; within the space between each cross arm is poorly replicated Salin Style II interlacing. The very precise shape of the cross could indicate that this was scribed around an actual physical cross as the reproduction is of a high standard. In contrast, the four naive engraved interlaces are misshaped and poorly applied. They appear out of context given the quality of the box and were possibly applied at a later date. In addition, the explicitly Christian cross engraved on the lid top and the advanced mechanical method by which it was fitted may imply that this is not the original and for some unexplainable reason had been replaced after manufacture. Leeds , E T, 1940 Two Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries at in North Oxfordshire. Oxoniensia 5, 21-40 Blair, J, and Hills, C, 2020, An Anglo-Saxon Relic Box from Ascott-under-Wychwood, Oxfordshire, and the Geography of the seventh century in the Middle Evenlode Valley, Oxoniensia LXXXV, 67-90, Oxford

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Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton, Hampshire Grave 4202 A mixed inhumation and cremation burial ground located prior to development of the Northam Stand at St Mary’s Football Ground. The site consisted of twenty three inhumation and eighteen cremations. 60mm diameter x 40mm height, plain and undecorated, the box was found in a fragmented condition missing large areas of lid, body base and body. It has a cast or wrought D shaped flange (Figure 14g) attached to the box by an integral vertical hinge and rod arrangement, enabling the box to swing and adjust to body movements, a feature shared with Type II boxes from Cuxton Grave 306, Sibertswold Grave 222 and Stand Low. A single ovoid leaf hinge is attached by two rivets to the lid ring and body enabling the lid assembly to open. In this respect it is similar to the Sibertswold box, which has an additional locking hinge. Lid top and body are both bell mouthed; fragments of lid top and body base are convex. The box may have contained a silver disc found adjacent to the box. Birbeck. V. (ed.), 2005. The Origins of Mid-Saxon Southampton: Excavation at the Friends Provident St Mary’s Stadium 1998-2000. Wessex Archaeology Report 20. Salisbury, Wessex Archaeology.

Sibertswold, Kent Grave 60 Single primary burial under a large tumulus, opened 17th July 1772. Recorded as being ‘two inches in height’ (Faussett 1856,112), repoussé decorated. Superior in design and very well constructed, the box has a lockable lid assembly and a hinged flange, a feature shared with the Type II boxes from Cuxton Grave 306, Stand Low and St. Mary’s Grave 4202. The plain, undecorated, two part swivel flange (hinged part now lost) features a purpose-designed splayed bracket, attached to the body with an integral vertical pivot rod around which the box moved and adjusted. Another unique feature that indicates the quality of the box is the identical dual purpose and interrelating locking leaf hinges attached on opposite sides of the box. Each hinge/locking device consists of two sub-triangular shaped brackets, one fitted to the lid ring, the other to the body. Both have a rolled hinge arrangement together with a loop headed hinge pin attached to a single link chain secured by rings to the body of the box. When a single pin is placed its corresponding hinge the lid can swing open, conversely when both pins are located the box is locked in the closed position. The body is decorated with two rows of interlinked geometric step-shaped patterns. Lid top and base are bell mouthed and have a single circle of dots around the periphery; set inside is an equal armed cross with bifurcated ends. The flat lid top and body base are each fitted to lid ring and body by four rivets. An unusual feature of the lid top and body base decorations is that the Greek cross with bifurcated ends is absent from both Faussett’s original sketch

50

Corpus of Type II boxes (ibid, pl.XIII.11) and also the illustration in Inventorium Sepulchrale. The hinged action on this and other boxes above when fitted to a chatelaine or belt enables the boxes to flex with the body movement making them more comfortable when worn. This box is an exceptional example of design and workmanship. It contained wool, silk and organic beads ‘like the seeds of a plant which we call Marvel of Peru’ (Mirabilis jalapa). Faussett. B. 1856. Inventorium Sepulchrale: An Account of some Antiquities dug up at Gilton, Kingsdown, Sibertswold Barfriston, Chartam and Crundale., in the County of Kent, from AD 1727 to AD 1773. C R Roach- Smith (ed.) London.

Stand Low, Derbyshire Plate 4 Secondary burial in a BronzeAge barrow, opened 19th June 1845. Recovered in a decayed and fragmented condition, missing most of the body, lid ring, lid top and body base, the remains of the box are now lost. It was repoussé decorated. The only records we have are Llewellyn Jewitt’s painting Relics of a Primeval Life in England 1850 (Sheffield City Museum) and Bateman’s excavation report. What can be observed from the painting is that the box represented an impressive example of AngloSaxon craftsmanship and metalwork, expressed in the hinged suspension flange cast or wrought in the shape of a Salin Style II snake or serpent’s head. Bateman records the hinge ‘is perfect...’. Bateman. T. 1848. Vestiges of the Antiquities of Derbyshire . London: John Russell Smith. 74-76, fig. opp. 74.

Plate 4. Stand Low, Derbyshire, reconstruction by Peter Grey after a watercolour painting by L. Jewitt 51

Technical Details Type III This section contains details of five boxes. They have a narrow tube-like appearance and are all smaller in diameter and, with the exception of the Prittlewell box, greater in length than Type I and Type II boxes. The Cuxton Grave 306 box has a slightly tapered inverted cone body and, like the Harford Farm Grave 18 example, has an internal fitting plug top. That recorded from Little Wilbraham has a similar inverted cone appearance; as the lid top and body base are separate from the body it is difficult to assess how these were fitted. Those from Kingston Down Grave 222 and Prittlewell are constructed in a similar straight sided manner to Type I boxes to suggest an Anglo-Saxon origin.

Design and Manufacturing Techniques III There are five boxes in this classification. Uniquely the Prittlewell box (Blackmore et al 2019, 156-159, 374375) is from a male burial. Cuxton Grave 306 (Blackmore et al 2006, 17-18, fig. 25), Harford Farm Grave 18 (Penn 2000, 18-19, fig. 87), Kingston Down Grave 222 (Faussett 1856, pl. XIII fig. 7) and Little Wilbraham (Neville 1852, pl.15), although sharing some common features, are different in appearance from one another. They are produced from copper-alloy sheet metal and employ the same manufacturing techniques as Types I and II; all have a tubular appearance. The construction of the Cuxton example demonstrates superior design and technical details which suggest it originated from the Eastern Mediterranean (Blackmore et al. 2006, 35). The inverted cone-like shape of the body and the use of a lathe to turn the four grooves demonstrates the proficiency of its maker. Harford Farm Grave 18 box, with an all over ring and dot artistic display, has three vertical support wire rods soldered onto the body, their purpose being not only to strengthen the box but to act as attachment loops to locate and fit suspension chains. Both the Cuxton and Harford Farm boxes have the added refinement of a plug lid top. This type of internal fitting makes for a very secure method of sealing and closing the boxes and could indicate that they were used to hold a liquid. By comparison, the Kingston Down and Prittlewell boxes are uncomplicated and similar in construction to Type I boxes, in fact so alike as to suggest an Anglo-Saxon origin. The secondary incised biblical scene on the Cuxton box leaves no room for doubt that it was utilised as a Christian accessory, an artefact of devotion. At this time it is not possible to determine an original secular purpose for Type III boxes. However the inverted cone shape design of the boxes from Cuxton and Little Wilbraham does suggest that they could have been used to contained a liquid.

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Figure 20. Cuxton (Kent) Grave 306 Type III after Blackmore et al 2006, with incised secondary Gospel scene

Technical Details Type III

53

Corpus of Type III boxes

54

Corpus of Type III boxes

Cuxton, Kent Grave 306 Figure 20 For site description see the Type II box description. This Type III box was found with a Type II in the same grave. The box has an inverted conical appearance, 25mm diameter at base, 18mm diameter at top x 67mm in height. The body is butt jointed and soldered with a single rivet located at the bottom of the joint. Three chains, each comprising four figure-of-eight shaped links are attached to the body by eyelets terminating on a wire ring. A further chain of three links is secured by a loop to the circular plug lid top. Body decoration consists of four zones delineated by horizontal grooved lines. The precise layout of these lines indicates that they were applied after the cone structure was formed and machined on a lathe. This is demonstrated by a machined cut to the single rivet head located on the joint in the lower groove. Inside zone two are two hatched oblique triangular shapes, each with a cross at their apex, and a mound with a Latin cross positioned centrally. On either side are two smaller crosses. This scene is repeated on the inside of the mound; an open-mouthed fish can be observed facing outwards from the mound. Together, the cross and fish could be interpretated as sacred rebus imagery. These indisputably Christians symbols can, like the Type II box from this grave, only refer to the crosses erected at Calvary. Like the other box in this grave it should be considered a Christian reliquary. Gibson (2015: 10) argues that the box should be seen as a re-use of a secular artefact. These crude, faintly scratched scenes were applied by or for the owner after the box was manufactured, they lack the precision and skill levels associated with other areas of the box. It should be noted that the Type III boxes from Harford Farm and Kingston Down Grave 222 also have a three point suspension. MacKinder. T. 2006. Iron Age Settlement and an Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Cuxton, Kent Vol. 1: The site report. J McKinley(ed.): CTRL. integrated Site Report Series. Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture. Blackmore. L. MacKinder. T. and Powers. N. 2006. Iron Age Settlement and an Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Cuxton, Kent Vol. 2; The grave catalogue. J McKinley (ed.): CTRL Integrated Site Report Series. Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture

Gibson. A. 2015. Anglo-Saxon ‘workboxes’ and the Burwell Grave 42 Box, Christian or Pagan? Cambridge Antiquarian Society . ClV : 149-160 Cambridge

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Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries Harford Farm, Norfolk Grave 18 Figure 21 This Type III box was found with a Type I example in the same grave. Made from copper alloy sheet metal 0.45mm-0.55mm thick, the box has a narrow tubular appearance, c.10mm in diameter x c.73mm in height, butt jointed. Attached to the exterior of the box and originally fitted along the full length (some parts are now detached) are three equal-spaced 3mm wire rods; each rod has a projecting, shaped suspension loop formed 7mm from the tube top, presumably to act as chain locations. A plug top with an attachment loop and figureof-eight shaped chain links, identified as a suspension complex, were found close by. The box is unusually decorated with ring and dot motifs. It should be noted that the Type III boxes from Cuxton Grave 306 and Kingston Down Grave 222 have three point chain suspension arrangements possibly associated with their function. For site details see Section 1.

Figure 21. Harford Farm(Norfolk) Grave 18 Type III after Penn 2000

Penn. K. 2000. Excavations on the Norwich Southern Bypass. Part 2. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Harford Farm , Caister St. Edmunds Norfolk, Anglian Archaeology 92, Norfolk Museum Service, Gressenhall.

Kingston Down, Kent Grave 222 coffin burial Primary burial under a mound opened on 12th August 1771. Type III box in good condition and displayed at Liverpool City Museum. The box has a slight inverted conical appearance in shape, similar to the Cuxton Grave 306 Type III box. It is 20mm diameter at base x 18mm diameter at top x 70mm in height. It is undecorated, with slight damage to the body. The body base is missing; the body is butt jointed with a U loop fitted. The flat lid top has a single U loop placed centrally through which a single figure-of-eight shaped chain link and one half of a link are attached to a circular wire ring. This has three figure-of-eight chain links and two half links, possibly indicating a three point suspension. A Type I box was recovered from Grave 96 at this site and is detailed in Section 1. B, Faussett 1856. Inventorium Sepulchrale. An Account of Some Antiquities dug up at Gilton, Kingston, Sibertswold, Barfriston, Beaksborough, Chartam and Crundale in the County of Kent from AD1757 to AD 1773, CR Roach Smith (ed.) London. 2016

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Corpus of Type III boxes

Little Wilbraham, Cambridgeshire Context uncertain, said to have been found in a cemetery in 1851. Made from copper alloy, like Type III boxes from Cuxton Grave 306 it has an inverted cone appearance, 34mm diameter at the base, 22mm diameter at the top and 70mm in height, butt jointed, seam probably soldered. The body is simply decorated with bands of incised lines at each end. Unattached to the body is an undecorated base and lid top with a centrally placed suspension eyelet and figure-of-eight chain links. Neville, R. C. 1852. Saxon obsequies illustrated by ornaments and weapons discovered by the Hon. R. C. Neville in a cemetery near Little Wilbraham, Cambridgeshire, during the Autumn of 1851. London.

Prittlewell, Essex The Princely burial The recovery of this box is an exemplary example of archaeological investigation, post-excavation conservation and recording. Described as a cylindrical container (Blackmore et al. 2019, 156-159 fig. 139a), this and other artefacts were at the time of burial placed inside a maple-wood box. Due to the collapse of the grave chamber roof, the box was largely destroyed. The container was found in a fragmentary condition beneath the remains of the box then re-assembled in an illustration. Made from copper-alloy c.0.5mm in thickness and recorded as 45mm in length, straight sided and tubular in appearance, probably butt jointed with a soldered seam. A circular lid top with a central pierced hole used to located a suspension eyelet together with a lid top ring were also recovered. The construction and shape of the container is similar to that from Kingston Down Grave 222 but is shorter in length and decorated. Blackmore describes the iconography thus: ‘The decoration on the body extends right up to the seam, suggesting that it was incised while the sheet was still flat. It is clearest at the upper end, part of which survives to a depth of 25mm, and comprises a band of chevrons set below a plain band. Less survives of the lower body and the decoration is less easy to interpret, but appears to comprise a band of chevrons over a basal band of oblique lines. A further patch of oblique lines in the central zone suggests that there may originally have been three rows of chevrons. The top of the lid is decorated with incised radial lines.’ The use of the chevron pattern is an example of the continuation of earlier pagan signs or symbols evidenced on pottery dateable to the 5th and 6th century (Fig.24 ,b3). Blackmore. L. Blair. I. Hirst. S. and Scull. C. 2019. The Prittlewell princely burial. Excavations at Priory Crescent, Southend-on-Sea Essex 2003. Museum of London Archaeology Monograph 73. London.

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Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Fragments and Component Parts

Figure 22. Marina Drive (Bedfordshire) Grave E3 lid top or body base, solder on underside, reused as a pendant

This section contains details of components and copper-alloy fragments recognised and recorded as box parts. It is not possible to allocate them to a specific Type of box.

Barrington A [Edix Hill],* Cambridgeshire Flat copper-alloy circular disc, 58mm diameter – a lid top or body base, repoussé decorated with three rows of dots around the circumference.

Barrington B [Hooper’s Field?],* Cambridgeshire Flat copper-alloy disc , 69mm diameter – a lid top, repoussé decorated with three concentric rows of dots around an incised centre. These raised dots follow externally applied guide marking out lines. A body base, plain, 73mm in diameter, with a raised lip and three pieced holes that indicate it was attached to the body by rivets. Both possibly from the same box?

Bourne End, Buckinghamshire. SMR 0117702004 Copper-alloy strips B3 and B4 from a box body, repoussé decorated with six rows of dots. Buckinghamshire County Museum. From a notebook by Francis Colmer (1873-1967). 58

Fragments and Component Parts

Haslingfield, Cambridgeshire Three copper-alloy undecorated lid rings, over-lapped joints, two 42mm in diameter, one 40mm in two fragments. One copper-alloy undecorated convex lid top or body base 42mm in diameter. Fox. C. 1923. The Archaeology of the Cambridge Region. Cambridge.

Hambleton Moor female burial, Yorkshire. PRN MCA 3633 A copper-alloy fragment from a lid ring, c.40mm x 32mm x 45mm in height. Bell mouthed, repoussé decorated with two parallel rows of dots between which are three dotted chevrons. Attached is a split eyelet with two figure-of-eight chain links, a wire ring and one other figure-of-eight link. The fragment and a copper-alloy chain with thirteen similar links is mounted on a card marked FROM GRAVE ON HAMBLETON MOOR. N. R. YORKS. PURCHASED 1882 FRAGMENTS OF BRONZE BOX, AND CHAIN FOR SUSPENSION Possibly part of the box from Hawnby. British Museum collection. London.

Marina Drive, Bedfordshire. Grave E3, female child 8 years old Figure 22 Flat copper-alloy circular disc, 49mm diameter, solder located on the underside edges – a lid top or body base, repoussé decorated with a single line of dots around the circumference with four lines placed at right angles meeting on a circle enclosing a boss. It has a pierced hole, and its position in the grave indicates it was re-used as a waist pendant. Possibly from Grave B3/B4 in the same cemetery. Gibson. T. and Harris. P. 1994. Analysis of Anglo-Saxon Solder Deposited on a Copper-Alloy Disc from the Cemetery at Marina Drive Bedfordshire. Bedfordshire Archaeology. 21. 108-119.

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Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

The following metal fragments and box components have been recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme

Caerwent, Monmouthshire. PAS WAW-FF3CCA7 Lid ring or body fragment decorated with repoussé dots arranged in two lines with a chevron V and inverted chevron between the lines. Design similar to Lechlade Grave 14 and Hawnby boxes.

Ilam, Staffordshire. PAS WMIDS-DC4EA4 Copper-alloy circular flat lid top or body base, 39mm diameter, repoussé decorated with an eight rayed starburst around a central boss. It has a pierced hole, indicating possible reuse as a pendant. Similar starburst patterns are evident on Finglesham Grave 8, Uncleby Grave 29 and Wolverton Grave 2168 boxes.

Kirton in Lindsey, Lincolnshire. PAS LIN-E32932 Circular copper-alloy lid top or body base, 43mm in diameter. Undecorated, complete, with a copper-alloy split eyelet centrally positioned.

Stroud, Gloucestershire. PAS GLO-DA7D75 Copper-alloy lid ring or body fragment, repoussé decorated as a right angle or possible square with a single chevron dotted V located within the arrangement.

Wolfhamcote, Warwickshire. PAS WAW-DA3434 Copper-alloy lid ring or body fragment, 33mm length x 42mm width, repoussé decorated with two conjoined chevrons in two parallel rows forming a cross saltire or diamond pattern.

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Secular Art or Sacred Symbols?

Secular Art or Sacred Symbols? Box Type I: Components and metal fragments of boxes Decorative features Of the forty-one Type 1 boxes, Standlake, Uncleby Graves 30 and 31 (Smith 1912, 151) and Yatesbury (Merewether 1851, 87-102) are no longer extant and decorative details are unrecorded. Those from Painsthorpe Wold Barrow 4 Grave 6a and Marina Drive Grave B3/B4 are undecorated; Aldborough, Ascottunder-Wychwood and Hurdlow have incised motifs. The outstanding feature on the remaining boxes are the repoussé decorated display schemes incorporated into their manufacture. These demonstrate that individual signs, symbols and decorations were not spontaneous artistic inspirations conceived during or after the construction of the boxes but were predetermined, applied to individual components prior to final assembly. The interpretation of the decorative schemes of Type I boxes is complex and divides opinion: they are viewed either as artistic displays on secular artefacts or as representing Christian symbolism. If the latter is correct the boxes would have religious significance. In Faussett’s Inventorium Sepulchrale the editor Roach Smith opined in a footnote relating to the Kingston Down Grave 96 box, ‘The box itself appears to have been intended for pins, needles and such small implements used for female attire’ (Faussett 1856, 58). This statement would initially appear to have some support. Walton Rogers (2007, 40-41) termed the Harford Farm Type III box a ‘needle case’. Furthermore, the incomplete box found in SFB N4 at Dover Painted House with 189 loom weights and three spindle-whorls could be considered to have a similar association. Excavators and researchers (e g. Mathews, 1962, Philp 1973, Hines and Bayliss 2015) term them, often with caveats ‘work or thread boxes’ because some (Table 3) contained textile, pins and thread that could be associated with sewing repair kits. Others (e g. Ager 1989, Hawkes and Grainger 2006, Welch et al 2008, French 2011, Hills 2011) argue that the boxes should be seen as amulet boxes or Christian reliquaries and their contents viewed as brandea. In most cases the patterns, signs and symbols on boxes would fit with the conclusions expressed above. Body and lid ring. When decorated the sheet metal used to manufacture the body and lid ring forms a distinctive feature of the boxes. The patterns created fall into various design styles. Ten boxes – Dover Painted House, Finglesham Grave 8 (Hawkes and Grainger, 2006, 38-39), Harford Farm Grave 18 (Penn 2000, 18, fig. 88), Hawnby (Denny 1859-1868, 488-502) (Plate 2), Kempston Graves 46 and 71 (Fitch 1864, 269-299), Lechlade Grave14 (Boyle et al 2011, 58, fig. 5.42), Tidworth (Wessex Archaeology 2016), Uncleby Grave 29 (Smith 1912, 151), Verulamium Grave 21 and the metal fragment from Wolfhamcote – display twin parallel linear dotted lines of conjoined chevrons meeting on a centre line(s) to form a conjoined chevron/cross saltire/ diamond-shaped pattern (Figure 24a). Hawnby and Wolverton Grave 2005 have a single conjoined chevron zone forming a zigzag pattern on the lid ring. When the lid is fitted to the box assembly decorated with an identical arrangement, the design becomes like those above. The fragments from Hambleton Moor display a single row of conjoined chevrons, Caerwent two, Stroud one. Both patterns are evident on pottery dateable to the 5th and 6th centuries, in single linear zones of conjoined chevrons (Myres 1977, 61

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Figure 23. Examples of cruciform decorations [a] Polhill Grave 23, [b] Kingston Down Grave 96, [c] Marina Drive Grave E3, [d] Uncleby Grave 1, [e] Sibertswold Grave 60, [f] Ashmolean Museum, [g] Garton Green II Barrow 6, Grave 4a, [h] Uncleby Grave 29

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Figure 24. [a] Illustration of design concept: cross saltire and diamond pattern [b] Pottery examples after Myres, J 1977 Bagginton (Warwickshire), Chamberlain’s Barn (Bedfordshire), Chevron example Sancton (Yorkshire). [c] Dover Painted House body decoration. [d] Finglesham (Kent) Grave 95 Buckle back plate after Hawke and Grainger 2006 63

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Vol. 2) (e g. Girton 229, Lackford 929, Sancton 2330, Snape 2420) and on twin linear zones meeting on a centre line or lines (e g. Bagginton 2454, Caister-By-Norwich 1649, Elkington 632, Chamberlains Barn 390). Hills (1977, 1981) illustrates both forms of linear chevron motifs on pottery and urns at Spong Hill: single linear chevron zones (e.g. 1776, 1867, 2175, 1867) and twin rows (Hills 1977, motif SG 4, fig. 104) (e g. 1730, 2067, 2242, 2610). Three boxes display incised patterning. The body and lid ring of the Ascott-under-Wychwood box have a complex incised Salin Style II zoomorphic motif, Aldborough possibly a cross design and Hurdlow a series of random scratched geometric shapes. Ashmolean Museum, Polhill Grave 43 and Verulamium Grave 21 have repoussé applied sinuous decoration which appears to replicate features from Salin Style II. The remaining decorated boxes are patterned with repetitive repoussé geometric schemes expressed in dotted horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines, chevrons, crosses, saltires, circles and raised bosses. Four boxes – Bidford-on-Avon, Grave 100 (Humphreys et al, 1923), Castledyke Grave 183 (Drinkall and Foreman 1998, 90, fig. 104), Garton Green II (Mortimer 1905, 246-247) and Uncleby Grave 1 – have individual geometric arrangements. The box from Cransley (Baker 1881-1883, 85-95), is recorded as ‘being slightly ornamented with crosses’. Twelve boxes – Arncliffe, Burwell Grave 121 (Lethbridge 1927, 116-125), Castledyke Graves I and II (Drinkall and Foreman 1998, fig.121), Didcot Grave 12 (Boyle et al 1995, 216-217), Kingston Down Grave 96, Marina Drive Grave E1/E2 (Mathews 1962, 31), Uncleby Grave 3, Updown Graves 76:34 and 89:45 (Welch et al 2008, 24-25, fig. 48, 64), Westfield Farm Grave 2 (Lucy et al 2009) and Wolverton Grave 2168 (PAS Bucks-337D73) – display an uncomplicated design of linear rows of dots around their periphery. This feature replicates in repoussé the indented line and dotted schemes seen frequently on earlier pottery. The conjoined chevron, cross saltire and diamond pattern on the body of ten boxes and the fragment from Wolfhamcote, and the chevron marked on three metal fragments as well as the twelve boxes listed above are distinctive and widespread earlier Anglo-Saxon motifs. The pattern is not confined as a decorative element on Type I boxes. It is part of a design on a piece of leather recorded from a ‘girdle or strap’ at Beakesbourne Grave 30 (Faussett 1856, fig.1, 152); a similar crudely applied repoussé design has been applied to the silver back under-plate of the Finglesham Grave 95 buckle (Hawkes and Grainger 2006) (Figure 24d). In a later, now unambiguously Christian context, the pattern is illustrated adjacent to Saint Matthew’s portrait in the Book of Kells (de Hamel 2016, 116). With respect to Type 1 body decorations, the conjoined chevron, cross saltire and diamond pattern should not be considered as artistic inspirations of the seventh century. This decoration represents not only the continuation of an art-style but a visible physical symbol that alludes to the beliefs, customs and ritual of pagan Anglo-Saxon people. Of the thirty-two repoussé decorated Type I boxes and the fragment from Wolfhamcote, eleven share this pattern. It is possible that by the seventh century it had been adopted as a Christian symbol that connected spiritually and culturally with the past and acted as a talisman to balance the appearance of the cross as a Christian icon. Lid top, body base and their reuse as pendants at Ilam and Marina Drive. Of the forty-one Type I boxes with details of the lid tops and body bases, the decoration of four is unknown; two are undecorated. Others – Bidford Grave 100, Didcot Grave 12, Kempston Graves 46 and 71, Marina Drive Grave B3/B4, Verulamium Grave 10 (Ager 1989, 232, fig.79.2) – are incomplete, missing lid tops and/or body bases. Aldborough appears to have an unfinished cruciform pattern scratched onto the base. Of the remaining twenty-nine boxes and the two copper-alloy box components reused as pendants 64

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from Ilam and Marina Drive (Figure 22), twenty (Table 3) display a cruciform motif either on their lid top or body base. Of these eleven feature them on both, four on the lid top only, five on the body base only. Fruitiger (1991, 49) defines the cross as ‘the sign of signs’, such is its versatility and use across the broad spectrum of art, religion, science and mathematics. The cross has a long history as a decorative symbol and was widely used in prehistoric and Roman periods. During the sixth and seventh centuries the cross became an icon of the new faith, Christianity, and was visually displayed by clergy and converts to proclaim their religious beliefs and practices. The cross sign on boxes (Figure 23) has been, and will continue to be, the subject of debate. For Faussett (1856, 39) ‘The crosses mentioned ... plainly show the owner was a Christian’; Ager (1989, 222) suggests ‘ ... that these designs are Christian in intent or at least are a sign of Christian influence ‘; Philp (2003, 197) that they ‘... often bore overtly Christian symbolism’; for Welch (2008, 37) the crosses are ‘ ... a deliberate Christian motif ‘ and for Hills (2011, 18) they ‘ . . . are not accidental inclusions in a geometrical pattern’. The design of the cruciform symbols on the lid tops and body bases of these Type I boxes and components can be placed into three recognisable arrangements. Arncliffe, Cransley, Dover Painted House, Garton Green II, Kingston Down Grave 96, Polhill Grave 43, Uncleby Graves 1 and 3, Updown Grave 76:34 and Westfield, together with the re-used lid top or body base possibly from Marina Drive Grave B3/B4, have well defined cross motifs expressed in small closely spaced dots. These replicate in repoussé those detailed in manuscripts, coinage and jewellery considered to have a Christian association and reflect the views expressed above. Three boxes – Finglesham Grave 8, Uncleby Grave 29 and Wolverton Grave 2168 and the lid top or body base from Ilam reused as a pendant – display an eight-rayed star/sun burst motif. A similar design is stamped on pottery from Spong Hill, identified by Hills (1981, fig. 128) as Class IIIa; and from Mucking (Hirst & Clark 2009, fig. 130), identified as Stamp A5a. This stamp is referred to as a ‘rosette’ or ‘marigold’ and was recognised by Myres (1977, Vol. 2). It is a feature on cups, bowls, beakers and urns (e g. Girton 179, Heworth 85, Howletts 452, Saltburn 132). Notwithstanding the pagan history of the rayed star/sun burst, Gannon (2003, 165-166, fig. 5.11) argued that by the mid seventh century the use of this symbol had a Christian association. Boxes from the Ashmolean Museum, Castledyke Graves I, II and 183, Hawnby and Verulamium Grave 21 display decorative schemes that revolve around a quincunx. This arrangement takes the form of four raised bosses spaced to form a square or rectangle with another placed centrally to form a cross. The quincunx has no diversity of appearance; when additional artistic themes are added (e.g. Verulamium Grave 21) they are secondary and integrate around the cruciform shapes formed by the five raised bosses. This is a very ancient symbol that embraces 65

Plate 5. Bronze figurine 9cm height, Imst, Austria

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both pagan and Christian worlds. The earliest use of the quincunx known to the author is to be seen on the heads of rhomboid headed copper-alloy dress pins of the Northern Carpathian Middle Bronze Age; this cultural period is dated c.14501250 BC. There is evidence to suggest that the quincunx acted as a protective or mystical pre-Christian device and it is commonly found on copper-alloy doors of 8th Century BC Villanovan hut urns and on shields and armour of the same period (Chamay 1993, fig. 9, 48 and 50). It can be seen, possibly as a cult signifier on the clothing of the 7th century BC cast bronze figurine in orante (Plate 5) from Imst, Austria (pers. comm. Dr Zemmer-Plank). As a decorative style it is incorporated in the designs on an early 6th century BC bronze enameled openwork disc from Cuperly, Marne (Megaw & Megaw Plate 6. Centre piece bronze diadem, Late Iron Age, Vergina, Greece 1989, fig. 60) and a bronze flask from Durrnberg bei Hallien (Ibid, pl. 129). Further evidence and examples of the resilience of this symbol can be seen on artefacts from Roman Gaul, Britain and Scandinavia: a belt buckle (Leeds 1933, pl. V), rings (Kendrick 1938, fig. 12a) and late 5th century cruciform brooches (Hines 1984, fig. 1.1 and 2.10b). The sign’s most common early medieval usage is demonstrated on the insular copper-alloy disc brooches dateable to late 5th century (Dickinson 1979, 39-54). Further examples, now representing Christian iconography, can be seen on a silver scutiform pendant from Chamberlains Barn (Hyslop 1963, fig. 17), the jewel formation on the Staffordshire Hoard processional cross (Fern, Dickinson and Webster 2019, fig.2.74), the Fuller Brooch (Webster,2012, fig.115) and the Ormside Bowl (Fern and Speake 2014. fig. 93). The most impressive aspect of the quincunx either as a cult, religious or ornamental design is evident on the lid top and body base of the box from Hawnby; this replicates the central design on a repoussé decorated bronze diadem (Plate 6) from Vergina, Greece, dated to the Greek Iron Age, 1000-700BC (Andronicos 1969). The principal design on the diadem and box is identical to those on gold, composite and plated disc brooches, e.g. Kingston Down Grave 205, Milton North Fields (Avent 1975, Class 4.2 and 4.3), and on a gold filigree and jewelled disc pendant from Butler’s Field, Lechlade, Grave 95/1 (Boyle et al 2011, fig.5.74). Type I conclusion The evidence is overwhelming that many patterns, symbols and decorations on Type I boxes have their genesis in earlier pagan cultures. It is impossible to ascertain whether they were ever intended to act as abstract ornamentation or had some symbolic significance. By the middle of the seventh century a Christian God and his religion were asserting their authority, and in a largely illiterate and pagan society the people were undergoing a fundamental challenge to their beliefs and practices. These identifiable 66

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pagan decorations, now in a Christian context, would have been a reassuring link with the past and possibly now acted as a apotropaic device, protecting both box and contents. It is possible that some of the earlier cruciform decoration styles had by the mid seventh century been adopted as Christian iconography. The Dover Painted House box body decoration features an example of conjoined chevron, cross saltire and diamond shaped patterns combined with a Christian cross on the body base. This cross, like others (above), replicates the cruciform iconography on contemporary coinage, jewellery and manuscripts considered to be Christian and implies that the box had a Christian significance. The conjoined chevron/diamond shaped arrangement on the underside of the Finglesham Grave 95 buckle (Figure 24d) suggests that a re-appraisal of the buckle should be undertaken, for it could be viewed as having religious dualism with both pagan and Christian associations. The initial visual appearance of the buckle demonstrates implicit pagan imagery; by contrast the hidden back plate has a crude punch dot pattern of conjoined chevron, cross saltire and diamonds similar to those on the boxes discussed above. This poorly applied, haphazard pattern indicates it is not original, lacking the artistic detail and precision workmanship evident in all other areas of the buckle. This hidden decoration, possibly Christian, was intended for personal and private contemplation. The interpretation of the repoussé decoration and motifs on the lid tops and body bases is complicated and ambiguous. Six boxes are missing either their lid tops or body bases, six are missing both and details on three are unknown. It is possible that some may have been cruciform decorated, like those reused as pendants from Ilam and Marina Drive. Notwithstanding this observation, twenty five boxes, two pendants and the Wolfhamcote fragment are cruciform decorated, and these indicate a Christian connection. The rayed sun/starburst motif on three boxes and the pendant from Ilam is evident on Anglo-Saxon coinage. Gannon (2003, 165-166, fig. 5.11) terms a similar motif with pelleted ends a ‘marigold’, with a cross on the obverse found on tremisses, and argues it became ‘... simply as a variation on a cross’. Further evidence of the motif ’s transfer as a Christian symbol is its use in manuscripts (e g. Vespasian Psalter, Book of Kells). Notwithstanding the reference to the pagan background associated with the decorations on boxes, there is now enough evidence to support an argument that the ten boxes and the Wolfhamcote fragment, all with the conjoined motifs of chevron and diamond pattern, had by the mid-seventh century been adopted as Christian symbols. This is supported in that five of these (Table 3) also display a conventional cross. Further, the re-use of components as pendants and the fragment from Wolfhamcote indicate that incomplete and unrecorded boxes could also have been cruciform decorated and thus that this motif is under-represented in Table 3. Box Type II Decorative features With the exception of the St Mary’s Grave 4202 box which is undecorated and the lost Stand Low box, the others display individual artistic schemes, and all are cruciform decorated. The North Leigh box, in addition to its unusual visual appearance, is distinguished by the composite nature of the decor. The lid top is engraved with an equal armed cross with expanded terminals, similar to cruciform pendants from Ixworth, Walton and the composite garnet brooch from Boss Hall Grave 93. A cross saltire scratched on one side of the flange is a further indication of the religious nature of the box decorations. The unusual repoussé ‘block’ body decoration is similar to that on the Verulamium Grave 10 Type I box, suggesting contact between the communities. Although the body of the Dover Buckland Grave 107 box (Plate 3) is 67

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undecorated, it has a balanced appearance with three bands of wire around the periphery. Two serve as a manufacturing feature to locate and fit the lid top and body base; the third is positioned centrally to give the box additional strength and aesthetic appeal. Both lid top and body base carry a quincunx expressed by five raised bosses. Elsewhere the author opined that the Sibertswold Grave 60 example (Faussett 1856, pl. XIIl, 8) with pivoting flange (part now lost) and unique locking and hinge arrangement can be identified as a work of manufacturing ingenuity and precision. The body decor features two rows of repetitive punch dot step patterns said by Werner to be characteristic of Frankish metal objects of the seventh century (Meaney 1981,186). Both lid and base display a Greek cross with the arms terminating in angular forked ends (Figure 24e). It is noticeable that the pattern is incomplete in Faussett’s original sketch. Despite now being presumed lost, we have a brief description of the Stand Low (Plate 4) example by Thomas Bateman (1821-1861) and a depiction in a water colour painting, Relics of a Primeval Life, by Llewellyn Jewitt (18161886). Recovered in a very poor condition, only details of the pivoting flange, lid hinge and a small area of the repoussé decorated body are recorded. The wrought or cast suspension-hinged flange in the shape of a snake or serpent’s head demonstrates artistic ability and technical knowledge and indicates the maker was familiar with Salin Style II. Bateman was so impressed with the workmanship of the lid hinge as to comment that it ‘would not disgrace a Birmingham artisan of the day’.The significance of the unique box from Cuxton Grave 306 cannot be overstated. It was found fragmented and reconstructed in an illustration with great skill. The body, repoussé decorated, has a cross saltire positioned adjacent to where the flange was originally attached, an indication that this symbol was preconceived. The importance of the box lies in the faintly incised gospel event applied to the flange and box after the box had been constructed. These graffito scenes and the repoussé leaf-like cross with hidden crosses displayed on the body base, together with further religious scenes on the Type III box from the same grave, indicate beyond doubt that the female in Grave 306 was a devotee of the Christian religion; both boxes attest to her faith. The Burwell Grave 42 box is the most highly decorated example across all Types of boxes. The author argued (Gibson 2015) that this could have been converted from a Type I box into its present form. The use of metal dies to impress the Salin Style II lid ring and body decorations is an indication that permission and loan of the dies came from a higher authority, this is further reinforced by the Salin Style II predatory birds’ heads displayed either side of the flange. The lid top scene, with an unusual waisted cross, is quite unique in Anglo-Saxon art, displaying what could possibly represent the earliest portrayal of the dragon fight from the Beowulf poem. The artist who carved the wooden or bone dies to decorate the lid top would have been aware or made aware of the poem’s Christian significance. Type II conclusion All Type II boxes were individually designed, artistically unique and visually attractive. The use of pivoting cast or wrought flanges and leaf hinges indicates a degree of mechanical knowledge available only to the most skilled and talented metalworkers of the period. These features, when considered together with the cruciform symbols displayed on five extant Type II boxes, demonstrate a Christian association. When combined with the explicit biblical scene on the Cuxton box and the possibility that the overtly pagan iconography on the Burwell box may allude to a biblical event, there is now convincing evidence that Type II boxes had a Christian function and that their owners were Christian.

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Box Type III Decorative features Of the five Type III boxes, four – Cuxton Grave 306, Harford Farm Grave 18, Little Wilbraham and Prittlewell – were decorated. That from Cuxton Grave 306 has four zones of incised lines around its periphery equally spaced over the body. The box is further distinguished by crudely incised Christian symbols applied by, or for, its owner after manufacture. This is an indication that the importance and use of the box revolved around the secondary applied scenes and that, like the Type II from the same grave, it had a function connected to the Christian religion. The Hartford Farm box has a simple artistic ring and dot design over the body, while the Little Wilbraham example is decorated with a series of parallel incised lines located at the top and bottom of the body. A reconstruction of the Prittlewell box (Blackmore 2019, 374-376, fig.286) suggests that its decoration consisted of incised oblique and conjoined chevrons. Type III conclusion The term conclusion in respect of Type III boxes is in itself something of a misnomer. The Little Wilbraham and Cuxton Grave 306 examples are well designed and manufactured to a high standard, evidenced by sheet metal forming to small diameters, conical shaping and the use of lathe grooving apparent on the Cuxton example. That from Harford Farm Grave 18, with three equispaced exterior supporting metal ribs on the body, combined with an appealing ring and dot decoration, again demonstrates skilled metalwork and artistic application. This and those from Cuxton and Little Wilbraham could be considered to be East Mediterranean imports. By contrast the boxes from Kingston Down Grave 222 and Prittlewell are simplistic in design and uncomplicated, so much so as to suggest they are an insular development. The theatrically staged ‘Princely’ burial at Prittlewell, together with the grave assemblage, including a Type III box, clearly symbolised power and wealth. However, the contents of a highly decorated wooden box deposited with the burial appear personal and modest. The graffito incised spoon found adjacent to the box is considered ‘... to be an eating utensil... and not for liturgical use’ (Blackmore et al 2019, 164); it would appear unconnected to the box. Until additional evidence is available Type III boxes should be considered as having an unknown secular function, unless, like the Cuxton box there is evidence that can link them to Christianity.

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What are they? Since their earliest discovery all types of boxes have been considered unusual and enigmatic artefacts. Of the boxes examined by the author, most display evidence of use, indicated by smooth and polished external metal surfaces, others (e.g. Aldborough, Buckland Dover Grave 107, Dover Painted House, Kempston Grave 71) have been repaired. Wear and repair are not always good indicators of age; they can also reflect use, and as a consequence we cannot accurately determine when boxes were made or how long they were in use prior to deposition (see section on dating evidence, above). Their function has long been the subject of both guesswork and academic research, yet a fundamental question remains unanswered: ‘What are they?’ In 1771 Rev. Bryan Faussett (1856, 58), on finding the box at Kingston Down Grave 96, remarked that it was ‘very much like our common dredging box’ and ‘designed to hold perfume’. Stephen Stone (1856-1859, 93), writing of the lost Standlake box, said it resembled a ‘pepper pot’. Wyatt (1864, 168) was told by his labourers that the Kempston Grave 71 box was a ‘tobacco box with tobacco in it’. Later reports have also failed to reach a consensus to their purpose. Hawkes (1973, 197) was astonished that they functioned mostly as containers for sewing kits, but ‘such seems to be the case’. In a reappraisal (Campbell 1982, 89) she expressed the view that ‘the so called thread-boxes, cylindrical bronze capsules … may in fact have been Christian reliquaries’. Meaney, in an attempt to explain their purpose (1981,181-189), presented a number of possible functions: work, thread or relic boxes, amulet capsules, first-aid boxes or containers to symbolically reflect and identify the role of women in Anglo-Saxon society. Crowfoot (1987, 51), with some qualification, approached the boxes as reliquaries, with the small fragments of cloth and threads demonstrating a ‘last mingling of pagan with Christian beliefs’. Gibson (2015, 10) based on design, technical and physical examination of twenty six boxes argued that the long held theory that they are ‘work boxes’ (vide Bayliss and Hines, 2013, fig. 5.217) or ‘needle cases’ (Walton Rogers, 2007, fig. 2.32) in the accepted sense of sewing repair boxes or containers to hold needles is unsustainable. The method used to open and close Type I boxes (Gibson and Harris 1994, fig. 2) is by sliding the lid assembly over the body, the box is then held in the closed position by metal friction between the internal diameter of the lid and the external diameter of the body. Of the boxes examined only the Aldborough example exhibits any degree of wear, indicated by metal serrations on the body assembly, as a consequence of constant use in opening and closing. Four Type I boxes – Arncliffe, Finglesham Grave 8, Westfield Grave 2 and Wolverton Grave 2168 – have the added refinement of a hinged lid to secure and protect their contents. Hills’ seminal papers (2011, 14-19 and 2016, 51-61) argued that the boxes should be considered Christian relic boxes, and when textiles, thread, pins, and organic material are found inside boxes they should be considered brandea. French (2011, 1-11) approached the boxes and contents from a biblical (Mark 5: 2534) and gendered perspective and reached the same conclusion. Of the fifty complete or near complete boxes, 38% (n=19) (Table 3) are recorded as containing materials regarded as brandea. The most compelling evidence that these containers should be recognised as Christian reliquaries relates to thirty-one Type I and Type II boxes, the two components reused as pendants Ilam and Marina Drive and a metal fragment from Wolfhamcote. All display some form of cruciform decoration; this represents 68% (n=34) (Table 3) of the total. This number could in fact be understated, as incomplete boxes, missing lid tops and body bases may have had cruciform symbol(s) included in their iconography. This high percentage suggests

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What are they?

boxes can be seen as not only having an association with the Christian religion but possibly a function within the religious community. Boxes with cruciform symbols were a visible declaration of their owners’ Christian religious beliefs and practices, and would have be recognised as such. A feature that needs an explanation relates to both the chevron and the conjoined-chevron/cross saltire/ diamond patterns used on pottery from an earlier pagan context, the former evidenced on metal fragments from Caerwent, Hambleton Moor, Stroud and the Wolverton Grave 2005 box; the latter displayed on ten boxes – Finglesham Grave 8, Dover Painted House, Harford Farm Grave 18, Hawnby, Kempston Graves 46 and 71, Lechlade Grave 14, Tidworth, Uncleby Grave 29 and Verulamium Grave 21 and the metal fragment from Wolfhamcote. The use of these decorative schemes indicates a continuation of pagan iconography and demonstrates a spiritual connection with the past; possibly an apotropaic device linking pagan rites and customs to the new religion. It is conceivable that some of the females buried with boxes were those whom Markus (1990, 33) termed ‘semi-or paganised Christians’, who, uncertain of the new faith, needed reassurance and the physical presence expressed in both pagan and Christian symbols on boxes. Type I boxes were included in the grave assemblages of young female children (see Appendix) – Didcot Grave 12, aged 3-5 years (Boyle et al 1995, 216), Marina Drive Grave E1 /E2, aged 8 years (Mathews 1962, 31, fig. 4), Marina Drive Grave E3, aged 8 years (ibid. 32, fig. 3) – these were well furnished. By comparison the grave of a very young child or baby at Updown Eastry Grave 76:34 (Welch et al 2008, fig. 23) contained only a knife and box. This could indicate the importance of the box, perhaps belonging to the infant’s mother and buried with her child not as a symbolic gesture, but as a final gift intended to act as a ‘passport’ into a Christian afterlife? That they were intended for display is demonstrated not only by their decoration but by gilding on boxes from Marina Drive Grave B3 /B4 and Kempston Grave 46 and Grave 71. In some communities boxes do not appear to be unusual or scarce objects; eleven cemeteries (Table 1) include more than one box. Five were recovered from seventy one graves in a Bronze Age barrow and ring ditch reused as an Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Uncleby. The excavator, Cannon Greenwell (1820-1918), failed or was unable to determine the sex of some burials; as a consequence it is not possible to express a ratio of boxes to female burials, however they would appear to have been a common artefact among the small community buried there. Geake (1997, 58) considered that boxes may have been worn as part of the chatelaine complex, this is supported by their position in relation to skeletal remains (Table 3). However, the nature of boxes, in that they are fragile and their lids are inherently insecure, makes it unlikely they were worn on an everyday basis. It is possible they were worn only on special (holy?) days and festive occasions. Hills (2016, 55) makes a compelling argument that they were displayed in a special place ‘perhaps a private shrine’. At some burials they were placed in bags or purses (e.g. Bidford-on-Avon Grave 100, Burwell Grave 121, Harford Farm Grave 18), or inside a wooden box or chest (e.g. Lechlade Grave 14, Prittlewell, Sibertswold Grave 60, Uncleby Grave 1). This should not be seen as a deliberate action to hide them from view at the time of burial, but an indication they were personal and intimate possessions, artefacts of importance, placed there, as in life, for safe keeping. Of the eight Type II boxes Stand Low is now lost and St Mary’s undecorated. The remaining six have Christian significance, defined by cruciform iconography. Additionally, that from Cuxton Grave 306 has an incontrovertible biblical scene of the crucifixion site, Golgotha – this is convincing evidence of its use as a reliquary. Further, Gibson (2015, 8-9) argued that the narrative myth or legend portrayed on the lid top 71

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

and base of the Burwell Grave 42 box could be perceived as a biblical event, the War in Heaven (Revelation 12: 4-17), expressed in a pagan setting and should thus be viewed as a paradox and the imagery, Christian imagery. Additional indicators relating to Christian beliefs can be seen on the North Leigh box, with an expanded terminal cross incised on the replacement lid top. Gibson (1993, 51), (Figure 13) demonstrated that the box could have been altered to give the box a Christian identity; a saltire had also been scratched onto the flange. The Dover Buckland Grave 107 with a quincunx on the lid top and body base further strengthens an argument that these boxes are Christian artefacts, and had a function within that religion. The cross with forked terminals on the Sibertswold box is similar to the cross on step design on contempory coinage (Gannon 2009, fig. 5.3) and jewellery (ibid. fig. 5); this appears to imitate in geometric form the expanded terminal cross. It is possible to speculate that the individual designs and higher skill level expressed in each Type II box may indicate that the women buried with them had a special religious status within their community. Type III boxes continue to be an enigma. The reason for their inclusion in this book relates to the Cuxton Grave 306 box. Like the Type II box from the same burial it has a secondary, faintly incised scene that records a biblical event, evidence that both boxes have a definite Christian connection and functioned as devotional objects. The boxes from Harford Farm, Little Wilbraham and Prittlewell are devoid of Christian iconography, while that from Kingston Down Grave 222 is undecorated. It is possible that the superior neck closing stoppers on the Cuxton and Harford Farm boxes may have enabled them to act as ampoules to hold oil or water. A feature common to the boxes which may relate to their function is their chain fixing arrangement, to what, if any, purpose is unknown. The box from Prittlewell is the only box of any type from a male burial. Placed inside a wooden box with other mundane artefacts except for a silver spoon, it only adds to the difficulty in how to define Type III boxes. It seems, though, that they were not originally intended to be used as relic boxes; they are secular artefacts, but their purpose remains elusive. Discussion: What are they? Dating evidence relating the deposition of boxes to the second half of the seventh century and possibly the early eighth is secure. The boxes appeared and disappeared within a 50-70 year period, less if Hines and Bayliss (2013, xii) are correct that regular burials with grave goods ceased two decades or more before the end of the seventh century. This timespan coincided with the consolidation of the of the Christian religion and an increase in conversion by the ruling elite (ibid 548-554), (Yorke 2003, 242-269). Boxes were widely distributed across Anglo-Saxon England, however it is no coincidence that two important centres of Christianity had large concentrations: the Kingdoms of Kent with twelve, and Northumbria with eleven. Furthermore, a very high percentage carry that most recognisable Christian identifier, the cross. Reused components were respected, evidenced by the cruciform decorated pendants from Ilam and Marina Drive Grave E3. The continuing use of familiar pagan symbols is an indication these were not abstract, random decorative displays, for in communities well versed in pagan customs and practices they acted as a cultural conduit linking the past to the new Christian religion. It is possible that by the mid seventh century they had been adopted and incorporated into Christian iconography. Types I and II boxes have in the past been generally referred to as secular artefacts – work, thread or needle boxes – but these terms are incorrect. This becomes apparent on close physical inspection of boxes. The thin, sheet metal, tubular shape of Type I boxes easily distorts. If they were ever used as household secular artefacts, striations on the metal 72

What are they?

resulting from the slide fit method of constant opening and closing the boxes would have been apparent. Other than the Aldborough box these are absent on those examined by the author. That so many display that iconic Christian symbol, the cross, undermines attempts to argue for a non-Christian use. Of the five cruciform-decorated Type II boxes, four (Burwell, Cuxton, Dover Buckland and Sibertswold) carry a cross on both lid top and body base, while that from North Leigh has one on the lid top only. Further support is found in the box from Cuxton with its indisputable biblical scenes and hidden crosses which only strengthens the argument that they had a Christian function. There is now sufficient evidence that Type I and II boxes, even those found without cruciform decoration, were made for a specific purpose associated with the Christian religion. They should now be considered as Christian reliquaries and described and referenced as such, thus validating Hills’ conclusions. At this time the evidence available on the small number of Type III boxes indicates they were not originally intended as relic boxes. The Cuxton Grave 306 Type III example alone demonstrates the box’s secondary use as a reliquary and the biblical decoration serves as a visible declaration of its owner’s religious beliefs. Finally, the importance of all relic boxes – other than their Christian identity – lies not only in their function but in their different and sometimes unusual iconography, for it represents early examples of Anglo-Saxon folk art expressed on copper-alloy metal artefacts.

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The final deposition of reliquaries The author has proposed above that the containers were used in Christian worship and that they functioned as Christian reliquaries. A strange phenomenon and possibly an unusual ceremonial type practice appears to have been applied to some reliquaries prior to burial and eventual closure of the grave cut. Early in this study It became apparent that many boxes were consigned to the grave in a deliberately broken or deconstructed condition prior to back filling. Several boxes (e.g. Dover Buckland Grave 107, Wolverton Grave 2168) were unable to function as containers as their lids had been riveted in a closed position rendering them unusable. Seventeen Type l relic boxes are recorded as missing either lid top or body base, others lack both. In addition, metal fragments identified as individual components from boxes have been recorded outside a burial context (Table 1). An undamaged complete lid top assembly of Type l was recovered from the fire debris at the sunken featured building at Dover Painted House (Kent), although from its condition it does not appear to have been subject to damage by the original fire. In 1997 a further complete lid assembly was recovered by metal detection from Ascott-under-Wychwood (Oxfordshire) and, uniquely, a deconstructed Type ll box was found by fieldwalking at the Burwell Village (Suffolk) site. All three appear to be little-used high status artefacts manufactured and decorated with great skill, yet they were discarded outside a burial in a casual manner. These examples indicate an abrupt and permanent change in the function of reliquaries. The early development of the Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms is usually assumed to have been driven by the ruling class, a powerful elite who were responsible for the initial drive to eradicate heathen practices from the Anglo-Saxon people. They were encouraged and influenced by the Christian community in Gaul, the Byzantine Empire and ‘the most obvious of all external influences was Rome’ (Mayr-Harding 1972). By the mid seventh century, with the establishment of monastic and female religious institutions assisted by missionary zeal and an increase in clergy, and aided by an effective and active bureaucracy, it would appear that individuals within the population were providing the principal momentum to the acceptance of conversion. One more God in a pantheon of gods would have little effect on day to day life for a largely illiterate and uneducated population. Why? If the argument above is accepted that these containers are Christian reliquaries, there is a need to examine possible theories for why they should be subjected to cultural erasure at this time. The interface between cultures and historic events are never straightforward, and that between pagan and Christian religion was no different. Daily life doubtless continued unchanged, and people would have been fluid moving between both beliefs, before eventually accepting institutional control by converting to Christianity. Some may well have considered themselves to be semi-paganised Christians.

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The final deposition of reliquaries

Wamers (1995) lists a number of objects considered to be relics in an early Christian context, including ‘earth, stones, textiles, beads, medicine plants, seeds and animal bones’. Most have been found in AngloSaxon reliquaries. This list is unhelpful as any object can be viewed as a relic, even one that has not been sanctified. Any individual, or a community, can constitute what is or is not a relic, for each decision is based on personal belief and faith. Each item on that list might also be identified as what can be considered ‘good luck charms’, objects unrelated to Christian relics. Relics, as symbols of spiritual and political power, have long played an important part in Christian worship, reaching their zenith between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. In the seventh century, there is a need to examine how the early Christian worshippers and Church viewed the importance of relics. The author considers that these boxes originally functioned and were recognised as portable containers to hold items that were considered to be Christian relics and as such part of a liturgical assemblage used by the clergy. A supplicant, through prayer and the power of the relic, invoked divine Intervention through the Christian God or a saint or martyr to resolve issues or requests. If granted, this action created and strengthened still further the connection between the populace and the church. By contrast a ‘good luck charm’ in a seventh century context relied on the supernatural, probably an unknown supreme being, pagan god or deity to answer requests. Unfortunately many excavation reports do not list the contents of the relic boxes, but only the grave contents . An exception is Harford Farm (Norwich) Grave 18. Here the excavator lifted the reliquary in a soil block and its contents were extracted under laboratory conditions. It contained nine objects including two copper alloy dress hooks; two broken silver zoomorphic terminals and a plaited chain from a two pin suite; and two silver pins; all contained within a leather purse. The broken pin suites suggest that these may relate to family antique jewellery and thus possibly nonreliquary possessions. Other excavation reports record contents that appear to have non-Christian connections (eg. a pair of iron shears and a cowrie shell (Butlers Field Grave 14), iron keys (Verulamium Grave 10), a purse mount (Marina Drive Grave E1/E2), Roman pottery (Barton-on-Humber Grave l) and various pottery sherds at Yatesbury. It is possible that towards the end of the seventh century the relic boxes could no longer be seen solely functioning as a religious object, but were also used to hold other artefacts, perhaps even some with a pagan connection (e.g. the cowrie shell, considered to be a fertility or birthing charm). One of the unintended consequences of enacting either new secular or religious laws is a need to increase bureaucratic control to ensure compliance. For example, the Synod of Whitby (663-664) regulated the date of Easter, resulting in a schism with the Irish Church and missions located in Northumbria. As a consequence the English church now appeared to be based firmly on Roman theology; this could an increase in religious control over what was acceptable to the English Church hierarchy in matters of ceremony, worship and prayer. It is noticeable that the deliberate act of destroying relic boxes coincided with a decrease and the eventual cessation of burials with grave goods. Was this another example of a now dominant Anglo-Saxon church dispensing with cultural practices and traditions now considered to be pagan in origin?

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I would argue that relic boxes that had been used to hold pagan or practical artefacts the boxes were now considered polluted and as such dangerous. Furthermore, the established hierarchy may have held the view that worship through relics was closely related to Graeco-Roman pagan ‘hero worship’ (Freeman, 2011: 9). As such they no longer had a role in Christian worship and were subjected to a use-taboo and break-up before finally being proscribed, rejected and scrapped. However, in some instances the disposal of broken boxes as part of the grave assemblage continued, possibly outside the demands and control of the clergy, as the community followed long established beliefs, customs and rituals, even if these were now viewed by the church as pagan. Whether the evidence provided above is enough to satisfy a highly critical and divided corps of academic researchers and archaeologists remains to be seen.

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Appendix : Children’s Inhumation Grave Assemblages Didcot (Oxfordshire) Grave 12. Female, age c.3-5 years Necklace of six glass beads; knife blade; iron buckle; silver ring; iron fragment, possible pin or toilet implement; iron and copper chain links; possible iron nail; fragment of Roman pottery handle; copperalloy box.

Marina Drive (Bedfordshire) Grave E2. Female, age 12 years Iron knife; necklace consisting of four amethysts, two glass beads, one amber bead, one fish bone, hung from it were three pendants, two fish bones, a beaver tooth and a silver wire ring; bone ring; silvered bronze short long brooch; five faceted crystal object; another small iron knife; stone spindle whorl; polished milky quartz pebble; four fragments of Roman glass; a mass of iron with embossed bronze mount; iron spike; remains of two purses; copper-alloy box.

Marina Drive (Bedfordshire) Grave E3. Female, age 8 years Necklace consisting of fifteen beads of amethyst, amber, glass, fish bones and paste, secured by a silver clasp (number of individual beads not given in excavation report); cylindrical silver box or locket; silver wire earring with bead; pottery spindle whorl; cowrie shell; iron knife; remains of a purse; copper-alloy lid top or body base from box reused as a waist pendant.

Updown Eastry (Kent) Grave 76:34. Burial of a very small child or baby Knife; copper-alloy box.

Boyle, A, Dodd, A, Miles, D and Mudd, A, 1995 Two Oxfordshire Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries: Berinsfield and Didcot. Thames Valley Landscape Monograph No.8 Oxfordshire Archaeological Unit. Oxford Gibson T and Harris P, 1994 Analysis of Anglo-Saxon Solder Deposited on a Copper-Alloy Disc from the Cemetery at Marina Drive Bedfordshire. Bedfordshire Archaeological Journal, 21 108-119 Mathews, C I, 1962 The Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Marina Drive Dunstable. Bedfordshire Archaeological Journal, 1 125-147 Fig. 4-8 Philp, B, Keller, P, 2002 The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Eastry, near Dover. Kent Archaeological Unit, Dover 77

Acknowledgements My thanks go to Vicki Herring, who often from a rough sketch, scribbling or worn photocopy produced line drawings to accompany this text. To Peter Gray, master copper-smith, friend and mentor, who using hand tools explained and demonstrated the versatility and skill of AngloSaxon craftsmen and women who made copper-alloy artefacts. To John Blair and Catherine Hills for their continuing interest and support. I acknowledge the assistance given to me by Faye Minter, Riccardo Caravello and Donna Wreathal from Suffolk County Council Archaeological Department, who allowed me unlimited access to the yet unpublished Burwell Village box. Finally, I am indebted to the curators of the museums visited over the past 35 years, who allowed me to examine these now fragile relic boxes. Without their assistance this puplication would not have been possible. Illustrations Figure 6

Leeds City Museum, Leeds, Yorkshire

Figure 8

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Figure 7 Figures 9, 10 Figure 11 Figure 12

Figures 15, 16 Figures 17, 20 Figure 21

Oxfordshire Museum Services, Standlake, Oxfordshire Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, Dover Historic England, Swindon, Wiltshire

Archaeological Services & Consultancy Services, Milton Keynes. PAS London Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society, Cambridge HS1 Ltd CTRL Report 92, London

Anglia Museum Services, Gressenhall, Norfolk

Photographs Plate 3

Historic England, Swindon

Plate 6

Professor Manolis Andronikos, Athens, Greece

Plate 5

Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck, Austria

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Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

MoLAS [Museum of London Archaeology Service], 2004 The Prittlewell Prince: The Discovery of a rich AngloSaxon Burial in Essex, MoLAS London Mortimer, J R, 1905 Forty Years’ Researches in British Saxon Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire. A. Brown & Sons, London Myres, J N L. 1977 A Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Pottery of the Pagan Period, 2 vols, Cambridge University Press Cambridge Neville, R. C. 1852. Saxon obsequies illustrated by ornaments and weapons discovered by the Hon. R. C. Neville in a cemetery near Little Wilbraham, Cambridgeshire, during the Autumn of 1851. London. Portable Antiquities Scheme, Burwell village PAS SF-686AlF,Caerwent PAS WAW-FF3CCA7, Ilam PAS WMIDS-DC4EA4, Kirton in Lindsay PAS LIN-E32932, Stroud PAS GLO-DA7D75, Wolfhamcote PAS WAWDA3434 and Wolverton PAS BUCKS-337D72 Penn, K J ,2000 Excavations on the Norwich Southern Bypass 1989-91.Part II: The Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Harford Farm, Caister St. Edmunds, Norfolk. East Anglian Archaeology Report 92, Norfolk Museum Service Gressenhall Philp, B, 1973 Excavations in West Kent, 1960-1970. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Polhill Dunton Green Kent. Dover Archaeological Rescue Group, Dover Philp, B, 1989 The Roman Painted House at Dover. Kent Archaeological Rescue Group, Dover Philp, B, 2003 The Discovery and Excavation of Anglo-Saxon Dover, Kent Archaeological Rescue Service, Ninth Report in the Kent Monograph Series, Dover Philp, B, and Keller, P, 2002 The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Eastry, near Dover Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, Dover Scull, C, 2009 Early Medieval (Late 5th-Early 8th Centuries AD) Cemeteries at Boss Hall and Buttermarket, Ipswich Suffolk, Society of Medieval Archaeology Monograph 27, Maney, Leeds Sheppard, T, 1939 Saxon Relics from Barton, Lincs, The Naturalist 257-283 fig. opp. 261 Smith, H E, 1852 Reliquae Insurianae, The Remains of the Roman Insurium (now Aldborough near Boroughbridge, Yorkshire, London Smith, R A, 1912 The Excavation by Cannon Greenwell FCA in 1868 of an Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Uncleby, East Riding of Yorkshire. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquities. Series 24,146-158 Speake, G 1980 Anglo-Saxon Animal Art and its Germanic Background, Clarendon Press , Oxford Stepping , W P, 1929 Jutish cemetery near Finglesham, Kent Archaeological Cantianna XLl: 115-125 Stone, S, 1856-1859 Account of certain [supposed] British and Saxon remains recently discovered at Standlake, in the county of Oxfordshire, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquities Series 1, 92-100 Walton Rogers, P, 2007 Cloth and clothing in early Anglo-Saxon England, AD 450-700 Council for British Archaeology, York Wamers, E (1995), Eine burgundische Pyxis “vom Niederrhein”: Zu merowingerzeitlichen Amulettkapseln und Kosmetikbüchsen, Frühmittelalterliche Studien 29, 144-166 Warmers, E (2009), Behind Animals, Plants and Interlace: Salin’s Style II on Christian Objects, in GrahamCampbell, J and Ryan, M, Anglo-Saxon/Irish Relations before the Vikings, Oxford University Press, 151-204 Webster, L, 2012 Anglo-Saxon Art, The British Museum Press, London Webster, L and Backhouse, J (eds) 1991 The Making of England: Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture. AD 600-900, British Museum Press, London Wessex Archaeology https://www.wessexarch.co.uk/our-work/bulford (accessed 04/05/21) Wessex Archaeology https://www.wessexarch.co.uk/our-work/tidworth (accessed 05/05/21)

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Bibliography

Welch, M, Duhig, C, Rega, B, Crowfoot, E, Edwards, G, Morris, C and Williams, G, 2008 Report on Excavations of the Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Updown Eastry, Kent in S. Crawford and H. Hamerow, Anglo Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History 15 Wyatt, J, 1864 Further discoveries of Saxon remains at Kempston, Collectanea Antiqua Vl Yorke, B, 2003 The Adaption of the Anglo-Saxon Royal Courts to Christianity in Carver M (Ed) The Cross goes North, The Boydell Press, Suffolk

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