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Description: | A lead alloy spindle whorl. The whorl is discoid with bevelled edges and pentagon shaped in section. There is a large gash in one side. It has a diameter of 28.9mm and is 7.8mm thick. The whorl has a mid grey patina which is thin and appears to be more recent than many commonly seen. It is also decorated in an unusual way. The bevelled faces are decorated with close set radial lines. There is also a border of similar lines round the top face, but the centre is filled with a complex motif which is mainly obscured by the central perforation. The sides of the central perforation are straight. On the reverse there is a double concentric circle of raised lines round the central hole, and the test of the surface is filled with raised radial lines matching those on the outer edge.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. This example has a very unusual style of decoration.
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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