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Description: | A lead-alloy spindle whorl, decorated on both sides. The whorl is plano-convex with a circular central hole, but is damaged on both faces. The decoration on one side is raised radial ribs dividing the whorl into eight sections, with a large raised pellet in alternate spaces. On the other side, the raised ribs form a square with a St. Andrew??s cross inside it, running from corner to corner of the square. There is also a central raised rib sub dividing two opposing triangles formed by the square and the cross, and central pellets in the other two triangles. It is 32.3mm in diameter and 11.3mm thick. It weighs 39.34gm. There is a raised median rib.
Decorated spindle whorls are very rare finds in excavations, but are often found by metal detectorists. They are usually biconical and are decorated on both faces with raised dots and radiating or zig-zag ribs. They have been found in ploughsoil over the site of Roman buildings, and in an excavated context dating from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century at an Austin Friary (Geake, 2001). It is thus very difficult to date decorated whorls, and it seems that they could have been in use at any time between the Roman and Late Medieval periods. | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Cooper, Amy - Portable Antiquities Scheme | Identifier: | http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/hms/pas_... | Language: | en-GB | Go to resource |
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