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Description: | A lead ampulla, 53mm in length and 34mm in width, made from a two-piece mould. Such ampulla were pilgrim souvenirs and were used to carry the holy water that was dispensed to pilgrims at holy wells and shrines. In East Anglia they are often found on arable land unassociated with other holy relics and it is likely that they were used in the religious ceremony of 'blessing the fields' each spring to pray for good crops, holy water would have been sprinkled on the fields and then the ampulla discarded. This ampulla is pouch-shaped, on its obverse it has a scallop-shell design of the Salisbury Type II which resembles a cockle (Spencer 1990, p 60). The scallop-shell was the badge of St. James of Compostela and the emblem of pilgrimage itself, above the scallop-shell there is what appears to be a V. On the reverse there is the remains of a circular outline with a zig-zag design around its edge, at the level of the handles there is a band of similar zig-zags. The handles, which would have allowed the ampulla to be suspended from a chain or cord from its owners neck, are at the base of the neck and triangular in shape. Fourteenth to early sixteenth century.
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | http://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/r... | Go to resource |
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