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Description: | Early medieval lead alloy vat, 310mm in diameter, 130mm high and weighing several kgs. The vessel has been formed in two pieces with a flat circular base, now very worn and patched, attached to shallow vertical sides which have been soldered on to the base. The external surface of the vessel is pitted, suggesting it was cast in a sand mould (see below). The upper edge has a turned rim, 15-20mm wide, and attached to the upper part of this are two iron projections, presumably the remains of a handle. Below each of these is an attached piece of lead. One side has a triangular shaped attachment, 50mm wide at its flat top and 55mm long. This may just have traces of decoration visible in between two areas of iron corrosion? It has a raised border and a central raised crescentric motif. On the opposing side the lead attachment forms a tapering rectangle, which is 30mm wide at the top edge and 15mm wide, and runs the length of the vessel. Next to this the vessel has split running almost its length and on the opposite side, next to the handle projection, there are a serious of hack marks which suggest an attempt at cutting up the object. As well as this obvious damage, the vessel is battered and has several small holes, suggesting it was very well worn and had been discarded after failing to recycle it.At the time of writing there are various similar vats recorded on the PAS database; from Mavis Enderby, East Lindsey (LIN-3A12D0), Carlisle (LANCUM-227D54) Harrogate, West Yorks. (WMID-C31B1B). Grassington, North Yorkshire (LANCUM-DA3E25). Forton, Staffs. (HESH-4E1B95) and Corby, Northants. (WAW-A4D8D4). It is interesting to note that all the examples fall within the Danelaw - possibly suggesting an Anglo-Scandinavian association.Dr Kevin Leahy notes:These tanks to be the largest lead objects to have survived from the Anglo-Saxon period. They were made in two or more parts, the base and one or more pieces forming the side wall. These were cast flat in open sand moulds and rolled around to form a cylinder. The components were melted together with a hot iron. The quality of the finish is often very poor although some examples are decorated. The function of these tanks is not understood. Three tool hoards (Flixborough, Stidriggs and Westley Waterless) have been found in lead tanks, but they would make inconvenient toolboxes. Most of them are fitted with two small iron carrying rings and the Flixborough hoard contained two hooked iron rings that would have allowed the tanks to be carried on a pole. Jane Cowgill thought the tank from Riby Crossroads, Lincs. may never have been watertight, but three lead tanks found near Garton on the Yorkshire Wolds had sooting on their bases which had been burned through and repaired in places. They were found in association with tenth century material. There is a C14 date for Stidriggs of AD 775-892 at one standard deviation.Therefore the above mentioned vessels have been given a date range of 750-1000AD
Original Image | Publisher: | http://finds.org.uk | Source: | Portable Antiquities | Identifier: | https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/ | Go to resource |
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