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Description: | An incomplete shaft from an Anglo-Saxon silver stylus. The shaft is octagonal in cross-section and tapers evenly from the break to the terminal. A groove separates the shaft from the conical tip. The shaft is 3mm in diameter at the break, which is worn and appears to have been done in antiquity, as the force needed has bent the shaft. However, a shiny facet is clearly visible just below the break, which has removed part of one of the angles of the octagon. The shiny nature of the facet may suggest this is more recent damage.Facetting of the shaft is found on several of the more elaborate Anglo-Saxon styli, including four examples from Flixborough, also in Lincolnshire (Pestell in Evans and Loveluck (eds) 2009, 125, nos. 1006, 1011, 1012 and 1014; Leahy 2007, fig. 20). On all of these the facetting is octagonal and is coupled with a moulding or groove at the tip, as on this example.It is hard to date Anglo-Saxon styli precisely, but they centre on the middle Anglo-Saxon period, probably most dating from the eighth to tenth centuries.Update: In 2014 the upper part of this stylus was found and recorded as LIN-DFA138 (2014T88). The spatulate eraser of this fragment has Mercian-style decoration, allowing a more precise date-range for the object as a whole to the 8th century AD.
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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