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Description: | An incomplete cast copper alloy rotary key, probably dating to the Medieval period (c. AD 1150 - c. AD 1400). Length: 38.0mm; width: 12.1mm; thickness: 3.5mm; weight: 3.69g. The key has an incomplete oval bow with a sub-circular perforation. The extreme end of the bow is considerably worn and this wear may have been created when the key was attached to a ring or chain. It has a shank, broadly oval in cross-section, slightly thicker towards the bow, and a simple bit that appears to be incomplete due to corrosion. The bit, measuring 5.1mm x 7.6mm x 2.1mm, may have had clefts. On one side of the bit there is a channel parallel with the shank. There is possibly another channel (now worn) on the opposite face. A point at the end of the shank projects 3.3mm beyond the bit. The key is well worn and has traces of a light green patina overall. In: 'The Medieval Household, Daily Living c.1150-c.1450', Egan (1998, 111) comments that small, crude keys with circular bows and mainly very simple bits was a long-lasting form, from at least the late 12th to the late 14th century (ibid.). He suggests that these sometimes almost rudimentary keys may have been for locks on caskets (ibid.). Many similar keys are recorded on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database. For example, see find: SUSS-A13A03 from Patching Parish, West Sussex.
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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