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Description: | Incomplete copper alloy medieval Byzantine reliquary. This object is the lid from a reliquary box, with the lower portion entirely missing. It is Latin cross shaped in plan (i.e. the lower arm is longer than the other three). There is a downward facing flange, set at approximately 90 degrees, running around all sides. Extending from the top arm are two, transverse, parallel lugs, each with a circular perforation, set 4.76mm apart. The bottom arm has a similar pair of lugs, but these are set only 1.64mm apart. These lugs would have corresponded with a single lug set at either end of the opposing half of the reliquary. The upper face of the cross is decorated with an integrally moulded image of an orating saint. The saint is shown in a long robe, which is detailed with a double, vertical, border that represents two halves of the robe meeting, running from neck to ankle. Either side of this, there are diagonally raised lines running the entire length of the robe. The saint?s head appears to be surrounded by a crude halo or cowl. The saint?s feet are crude blocks that face outwards. The arms are raised with the three fingered hands spread open. The saint?s face is crude and worn but shows two circular incised lines and an open mouth formed from a lentoid depression, that depicts the saint orating. Unusually the decoration is not accompanied by an expected Greek inscription, as is normally the case with these objects. The cross has an even dark green patina with some patches of brighter corrosion at the end of each arm. The reverse of the cross has an even, brownier green patina. The cross has been abrasively cleaned since discovery and there are patches of shiny bronze patina on the flange edges. The cross is 36mm long, and 46.54mm long with the lugs. It is 22.86mm wide. The flange is 2.8mm high. The object weighs 7.71g. Reliquary boxes were pilgrim souvenirs used to hold sanctified objects such as a fragment of saint?s bones. They were produced in large quantities in the Byzantine east and are very common finds in the Eastern Mediterranean. They are an unusual find for Britain, but not unknown. They were produced beyond the Byzantine period throughout the Medieval period, so this example is unlikely to be of an earlier 8th or 9th century date, but probably dates from the 11th-15th centuries. | Format: | text/html | License: | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ | Publisher: | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | Rights holder: | The Portable Antiquities Scheme | Subjects: | archaeology | Temporal: | 1100
1500 | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Creator: | Caroline McDonald | Identifier: | http://www.finds.org.uk/database/artefac... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | text/html | Go to resource |
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