Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries by Hollyhill Design

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries Anthony Gibson

Contents 2

List of Figures Tables, and Plates

Abstract

Archaeological and Scientific dating evidence

Tables

Distribution Map

Technical details design and manufacturing techniques Type l

Corpus Type l

Technical details design and manufacturing techniques Type ll Corpus Type ll

Technical Details Type lll Corpus Type lll

Fragments, component parts and Corpus

Secular Art or Sacred Symbols ?

106

What are They ?

112

Conclusion

115

Appendix A

117

Acknowledgements

118

Bibliography

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

List of Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4

Type l Hawnby (Yorkshire) reconstruction Type l Design principals Type l assembly features Type l and ll techniques used for attaching lid top and body base (a Rivets, (b) flange and solder, (c) Convex and solder, (d) Material clenching Figure 5 Type l general arrangement when worn Figure 6 Aldborough (Yorkshire) unusual box with unfinished cruciform on body base Figure 7 Ascot-under-Wychwood (Oxfordshire) Type l base assembly with Impressive Style Il incised iconography Figure 8 Ashmolean Museum (Oxford) Type l unprovenced Figure 9 Dover Painted House (Kent) Type l after Philp 2003, base assembly with angled stop ridge, body decorated with chevron, cross saltire, and diamond pattern Figure 10 Polhill (Kent) Grave 43 Type l after Philp, B 2003, with raised stop ridge. Lid ring and body repousse decorated in curvaceous Salin Style ll, lid top and body base with equal arm Latin cross Figure 11 Verulamium (Hertfordshire) Grave 21 Type l after Ager1989, artistically decorated suggestive of Style ll Figure 12 Wolverton (Buckinghamshire) Grave 2168 after PAS BUC-337D72, Type l with runes and hinged lid Figure 13 North Leigh (Oxfordshire) Type ll with repousse body and incised lid top decorations Figure 14 Suspension Flange Type ll [a] Stanlow [b] Dover Bucklands Grave 102 [c] Sibertswold Grave 80 [d] North Leigh [e] Burwell Grave 42 [f ] Cuxton Grave 306 (iconography exaggerated) [f ] Saint Mary’s Stadium Grave 4202 Figure 15 Burwell (Cambridgeshire) Suffolk Village incomplete Type ll decorative flange Figure 16 Burwell (Cambridgeshire) Grave 42 Type ll lid top and body base decorated with die stamped reconstruction of the Beowulf Dragon Fight? Figure 17 Cuxton (Kent) Grave 306 Type ll after Blackmore et al. Incised iconography on hill very faintly scratched on original, exaggerated for illustration Figure 18 North Leigh (Oxfordshire) Type ll, lid top with incised decoration, body block type repousse similar to that on a Type l box from Verulamium (Hertfordshire) Grave 21 2

ANTHONY GIBSON

Figure 19 North Leigh (Oxfordshire) Type ll proposed construction sequence 1. Size and cut metal blanks 2. Repousse decorate body 3. Shape blanks around a core former possibly a tree branch 4-5 Drill holes apply rivets, shape trefoil flange and lid ring notch 6. Incise lid top around a physical cross? 7-8 Material clench lid top to lid ring, base to body 9. Fit pivot ring Figure 20 Cuxton (Kent) Grave 306 Type lll after Blackmore et al 2006, with incised secondary Gospel scene Figure 21 Harford Farm (Norfolk) Grave 18 Type lll after Penn, K 2000 Figure 22 Marina Drive (Bedfordshire) Grave E3 lid top or body base, solder on underside, reused as a pendant Figure 23 [a] Illustration of design concept cross saltire and diamond pattern [b] Pottery examples after Myres, J 1977 Bagginton (Warwickshire), Chamberlain’s Barn (Bedfordshire), Chevron example Sancton (Yorkshire). [c] Dover Painted House body decoration . [d] Finglesham (Kent) Grave 95 Buckle back plate after Hawke and Grainger 2006 Figure 24 Examples of cruciform decorations [a] Polhill Grave 23, [b] Kingston Down Grave 96, [c] Marina Drive Grave E3 [d] Uncleby Grave 1, [e] Sibertswold Grave 60, [f ] Ashmolean, {g] Garton Green ll Barrow 6 Grave 4a, [h] Uncleby Grave 29

List of Tables Table 1 Table 2 Table 3 Table 4

Corpus of boxes by county and box Type Boxes by Type. Box components (C) Box Fragments (F) Boxes with cruciform decoration and contents Known position of boxes in graves

List of Plates Plate 1 Front Cover Hawnby (Yorkshire) Type l reconstruction Tony Gibson Plate 2 Dover Bucklands Grave 107 Type ll after Evison, V 1987 Plate 3 Standlow Derbyshire reconstruction Peter Grey Plate 4 Bronze Figurine 9cm height, Imst Austria Plate 5 Centre piece bronze diadem Late Iron Age, Vergina Greece Plate 6 Rear cover Hartford Farm (Norfolk) Type l after Penn, K 2000 reconstruction Tony Gibson and Peter Grey 3

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

ABSTRACT This corpus will discuss seventh and possibly eighth century Anglo-Saxon copperalloy containers variously described as work boxes, needle cases, amulet containers or Christian reliquaries. Additionally it will include individual components and fragments of sheet metal that have been identified as elements of such boxes. A typology, material specification, drawings, design and construction principles and a nomenclature applicable to these containers is outlined. Since their earliest discovery, archaeologists and historians have unable to reach a consensus as to their purpose; at this time, for the sake of clarity they will be referred to as boxes.

INTRODUCTION Seventy one boxes, some complete, others incomplete together with metal fragment from boxes have been recorded from forty nine sites across Anglo-Saxon England. There is a need to compile a uniform scheme comprising where possible, individual site location, box type description, decorative features and references. The principal source of information has been retrieved from antiquarian books, archaeological publications, excavation reports, journals, manuscripts and physical examination.

FORMAT Box classification Types 1, 11 and 111 together with recognisable copper-alloy metal fragments and components from boxes will be listed alphabetically, county, site location and referenced. References are those considered relevant to box(es) recovered from individual sites, they are not intended as a complete bibliographical listing for any specific site. Each Type will have their own Technical Detail section. "Secular Art or Sacred Symbols ?" will discuss the iconography of these enigmatic containers and "What were They?" will address their identity and function.

INHUMATIONS Accurate documentation relating to the context of boxes from earlier excavated sites (e.g. Aldborough (Yorkshire), Cransley (Northamptonshire), Stanlake Oxfordshire), Yatesbury (Wiltshire) are often vague and unreliable. Other than that from Prittlewell (Essex), the remaining boxes are from female adults, sub adults and children inhumation burials. Where it has not been possible to sex skeletal remains, relating grave assemblages has been used to define female status.

ANTHONY GIBSON

ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND SCIENTIFIC DATING EVIDENCE The dating evidence for the deposition of relic boxes to the second half of the seventh and possible early eighth century based upon seriation of graves assemblies and scientific evidence is widely accepted Hawkes (1973, 197), Geake (1997, 35), Lucy et al (2009, 128) and Hills (2011,2015). Hawkes describes them "as one of the periods leading type fossils". The evidence has been vindicated in a recent publication by Bayliss and Hines (ed.) (2013), who with artefact typology, seriation of grave assemblies and radio carbon dating (ibld xvii) outlined a chronological framework for Anglo-Saxon grave goods of the sixth and seventh centuries, so called work boxes were included in the study. Human bones from four graves containing what are now recognised as Christian reliquaries were among those radio carbon dated (ibld Table 7.1). Castle Dyke Grave 183 (Lincolnshire) Radio carbon dated to cal. 575-650 (95% probability ). (UB 6038) Lechlade Butlers Farm Grave 14 (Berkshire) Radio carbon dated and may date from cal. 650-730 (84% probability, or cal. 740-765 (11% probability). (UB-4051) Marina Drive Grave EI and Grave E2 (Bedfordshire) Radio carbon dated to cal. 650-675 (95% probability. (UB 4550 and UB 4551) Marina Drive Grave E3 (Bedfordshire) Radio carbon dated to cal. 625-675 (95% probability). (UB 4552) Bayliss and Hines propose that, on the basis of radio carbon dating measurements and typology of grave assemblages Lechlade and Marina Drive should be assigned to a phase between AD 665-695 with a (95% posterior probability). The CastleDyke burials is certainly earlier and can, on one of the models used be dated to a phase from AD 630-660 with a (95% posterior probability). It is of interest that chronological research suggested that the end of furnished burials in Anglo-Saxon England occurred "two decades, or more before the end of the seventh century" (ibld, fig, 78.4). For a contested opinion on the latter Archibald (ibld.493-512) who on coin sequence evidence argued that furnished burials extended into the first decade of the eighth century. Based upon scientific and a closed chronological seriation the evidence is compelling that Christian reliquaries were deposited in female graves during the seventh century or during the first decade of the eighth.

3 2 2 1 2 3 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 2

Bourne End

Wolverton

Barrington A

Barrington B

Burwell

Haslingfield

Little Wilbraham

Westfield Ely

Hurdlow

Stand Low

Prittlewell (male)

Lechlade

Stroud

St. Mary’s **

Verulamium

Cuxton

Dover Buckland

Dover Painted House

Finglesham

Isle of Thanet

Kingston Down

Sibertswold

Polhill

Updown Eastry

Hampshire

Hertfordshire

Kent

Gloucestershire

Essex

Derbyshire

Cambridgeshire

Buckinghamshire

Bedfordshire

Total

Marina Drive

Site

Kempston

County

Type I

Type II

Type III

U-1

F-1

C-4

C-2

C-1

C-2

C-1

C - Component F - Fragment U - Unknown

Welch et al. 2008

Philp 1973

Faussett 1856

Mason and Andrews (Box recorded no details) Current Archeology April 2012

Hawkes and Grainger 2006

Philp 2003

Evison 1987

Blackmore et al. 2006

Ager 1989

Birkbeck et al. 2005

PAS GLO-DA7D75

Boyle et al. 2011

MoLAS 2018

Bateman 1848

Bateman 1861

Lucy et al 2009

Neville 1852

Fox 1923

Lethbridge 1927, 1931, Cemetery burial, 1- Type l, 1-Type ll. 1-incomplete Type ll Stray find Suffolk CC

Fox 1923

PAS BUC- 337D72, Bucks Mono 11,218

Bucks SMR 17702004

Matthews 1962, Gibson and Harris 1994

Fitch 1863

Reference

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 1 71

Caerwent

Harford Farm

Cransley

Ascot-u-Wychwood

Didcot

North Leigh

Standlake

Ilam

Bidford on Avon

Wolfhamcote

Bulford

Tidworth

Yatesbury

Aldborough

Arncliffe

Garton Green II

Hambleton Moor *

Hawnby

Painsthorpe Wold

Uncleby

Ashmolean

Monmouthshire

Norfolk

Northamptonshire

Unknown

Total

Type I

Type II

Type III

C - 12 F- 4 U- 1

F -1

F-1

C -1

F -1

C -1

Unprovenanced

Smith R A 1912

Mortimer 1905

Denny 1868

Mortimer 1905

Cale 2000

Smith H E 1852

Mereweather 1851

Wessex Archaeology April 2016 brief details

PAS WAW-DA3434

Humphreys et al. 1923

PAS WMIDS-DC4EA4

Stone 1856-59

Leeds 1940

Boyle et al. 1995

PAS-OXON-1A54-A6

Baker 1881-83

Penn 2000

PAS WAW-FF3CCA7

PAS LIN-E32932

Sheppard 1939, Drinkall and Foreman 1998

Reference

Table 1. Corpus of boxes by county and box types. * British Museum Accession Number (c1882) PRN. MCA 3633. Fragment has an identical pattern to the Hawnby Type 1 lid ring. This could be part of that box, which has an incomplete lid ring. ** Excavation records 2 boxes. Copper-alloy fragments Grave 4037 indefinable.

Yorkshire

Wiltshire

Warwickshire

Staffordshire

Oxfordshire

Lincolnshire

Kirton in Lindsey

Total 3

Site

Castledyke South

County

C - Component F - Fragment U - Unknown

ANTHONY GIBSON

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

Type

Type II

Site

Grave Number

Comments

Burwell

42, another in a field

Grave, stray find

Cuxton

306

Dover-Bucklands

107

North Leigh Sibertswold

St. Mary's

4202

Barrow burial

Standlow

Barrow burial

Cuxton Type III

306

Harford Farm

Kingston Down

222

Barrow burial

Little Willbraham Prittlewell - Male Burial

Found in a wooden box

Barrington A (C) Barrington B (Cx2) Bourne End (C) Caerwent (F)

Stray Find

Hambleton Moor (F) Type Unknown

Haslingfield (Cx3)

Stray Find

Ilam (C)

Full excavation report unpublished

Isle Of Thanet (U)

Stray Find

Kirton In Lindsey (C) Marina Drive (C)

Stroud (C)

Stray Find

Wolfhamcote (F)

Stray Find

Table 2 Boxes by Type, Box Components (C) Box Fragments (F).

Type I

Grave

Body

Top

Base

Aldborough* Arncliffe

Ashmolean Museum

Bulford

? I II

Castledyke South

183

Garton Green II Harford Farm Hawnby

Dover Painted House

7/34 18

+ + +

+ Textiles, wool, hemp, thread, two dress hooks, remains of silver pin suite

XX XX

Hurdlow Ilam #

Cloth, leather and hemp like material

XX 8

? Thread and seeds, said to be “caper spurge, Euphorbia lathyris”

Castledyke South

Cransley

Castledyke South

Finglesham

Content

Two pins or broken needles +

ANTHONY GIBSON

Type I

Grave

Body

Kempston

Kingston Down

Kempston

Lechlade

B3/B4

Marina Drive

E1/E2

Marina Drive #

Content Thread and bronze pin “Fabric or linen, remains of a leather purse” “Full of a dark coloured substance”

Thread Few threads of wool Full of thread and small roll of material

Painsthorpe Wold

Base

Marina Drive

Top

4/6a

Polhill

Thread and iron needle?

Tidworth

Uncleby

Updown Eastry

Thread and chain

Tinned bronze open-work disc and a peg

+ XX

Two kinds of thread

76/34

Verulamium Verulamium Wolverton

Textiles, silk, flax, wool

2166

Type II

Grave

Burwell

Cuxton

306

Dover Buckland

107

Body X

North Leigh

Flange + X

Sibertswold

St. Mary's

4202

Two Roman coins, iron pin and thread

Top

Base

Knob-headed bronze pin, broken point

Wool, silk and organic beads ‘like the seeds of the Marvel of Peru’ (Mirabilis jalapa)

+ +

Silver disc?

Type III

Grave

Body

Cuxton

306

Kingston Down

222

Flange

Top

Base

Content Linen and brass pin

Unknown Metal fragment

Content

Wolfhamcote

Boxes with cruciform decorations and contents * Incomplete cross # Copper-alloy discs reused as pendants + Cross X Cross saltire XX Chevron or Conjoined chevrons to form a cross saltire and diamond pattern

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

Artefact Distribution Map. This indicates clusters of recorded finds from the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of East Anglia, Kent and Northumbria. There is a need to debate if the latter are the result of Christian religious centres located in Canterbury and York? Alternatively, do they represent the activities of earlier antiquarians? Further, are the concentrations arbitrary, reflecting the country wide infrastructure developments in the second half of the twentieth century? Are the East Anglian examples ambiguous, the outcome of a reliance on archaeological activity on close to home sites centred around The University of Cambridge? Artifact distribution maps should be treated with caution, discussed, questioned, but never dismissed. 10

ANTHONY GIBSON

TECHNICAL DETAILS TYPE I

Figure 1 Type l Hawnby (Yorkshire) reconstruction The most numerous Type (n=41) distinguishable as two-piece cylindrical boxes between 40-73mm in diameter and between 40-75mm in height. With the exception of four boxes with hinged lids, Arncliffe, Finglesham Grave 8, Westfield Grave 2 and Wolverton Grave 2168 the lid assembly is held in the closed position by friction between the inside of the lid and the outside of the base assemblies. Lid and base assemblies are usually held together by chains linked to a wire ring. All are manufactured from copper-alloy sheet metal between 0.05 and 1.00mm in thickness. They employ solder, rivets, or metal clenching in any combination in their construction. Lid tops and body bases are either flat or convex. All use similar manufacturing techniques and can be decorated with repousee and/or engraved designs. With the exception of the Polhill Grave 43 and Dover Painted House boxes and the four boxes with hinged lid (above) they are not difficult to make, and most can be made with low level of skill in 4-6 hours. In this respect they do not represent such prestigious items as Type ll and Type lll boxes which require both design and technical ability to manufacture. 11

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

ANTHONY GIBSON

DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING TECHNIQUES Type l boxes represent an insular development. They have been compared to Frankish spherical amulet containers but are different in appearance, design, and size. Fortyone boxes are recorded (Table 1), thirty-five from known inhumation. Burial details of those from Aldborough (Smith 1852) (Figure 6), Cransley (Baker 1881-1883) and Stanlake (Stone 1856-1859, 92-100) unknown. Ascot-under- Wychwood, (Figure 7), (Blair and Hills, 2020) a stray find found by metal detection and Dover Painted House box (Philp 2003, 14-25, fig. 52) are the only recorded examples of near complete Type l boxes found outside a burial context. Ashmolean Museum example (Figure 8) is unprovenced. Many were found in a crushed, fragmented, and unstable condition; this was due to a number of factors including acidic soil, human degradation, grave fill pressure and chemical reaction from buried metallic objects. Further damage occurred as a result of clumsy handling during the eighteenth and nineteenth century and poor often non-existence conservation treatment of that period. Now, with professionally supervised excavations and a science-based approach to post excavation research, conservation, and artefact re-construction it is possible to examine in detail original components and the practical working methods used in their manufacture. he metal used to make Type l boxes is an alloy of copper and tin, bronze. This metal is characterised by an excellent resistance to corrosion and wear, moderate strength combined with high durability. Another influence in selection must relate to its suitability as a decorative material, for not only is it easily marked and patterned with punches and sharp-edged tools, when the metal is polished a high gloss finish is the result. Bronze is an ideal metal for the working processes used to make what is essentially two fabricated seamed tubes, each closed at one end. A sheet of metal c175 x 100 mm in size is sufficient to make most individual boxes, including accessories, split eyelets, rivets, and chains. Box components would have been marked out, decorated, then cut to size by saws and shears evidenced at Lindsay (Hinton and White 1993) and other sites (e g. Mitchell Hill, Thetford). The now decorated body and lid ring would have been shaped around a suitable core former (possibly a tree branch), the seam closed by rivets and/or solder, finally the lid top and body base fitted by the same process or material clenching. An added technical innovation is a hinged lid evident on boxes from Arncliffe (Cale 2000), Finglesham Grave 8 (Hawkes and Grainger 2006, fig. 8.2), Westfield Grave 2 (Lucy et al 2009, 91-94, fig. 4) and Wolverton Grave 2168 (PAS Bucks-337D73), This demonstrates the makers mechanical knowledge and improves the security of boxes. The lack of measurement standards between the largest and smallest boxes leads to the conclusion that they were not made to any specific size or scale or that regional differences can be identified. Instead, each box reflects their owner’s requirement consistent with whatever function they were to perform and the availability of what may have been a near standard size of sheet of metal.

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

They would have been visually impressive as containers; however, with the notable exception of those with hinged lids and boxes from Ascot-under-Wychwood (Baker and Hills 2021) (Figure 7) Dover Painted House (Figure 9) and Polhill Grave 43 (Philp 2003, 177) (Figure 10), they do not represent high quality skilled metalwork, they lack craftsmanship and sophistication. Type l boxes are not the end product of skilled metal workers of the period, their construction is very basic and most employ low technological manufacturing techniques. The self-sustaining communities in the seventh century would have had the resources, knowledge, and tools to make boxes, they are not difficult to make Many decorations have been applied freehand without the guidance of pre marked layout. This is evident in the irregular appearance of concentric patterns and misplaced dots on many boxes. Two boxes Uncleby Graves 1 and 3 (Smith 1912) have guidelines scribed onto the metal; notwithstanding the maker was unable to follow the simple pattern with any degree of accuracy, the motifs are badly applied and miss-formed. Other than four Type l boxes, Ascot-under-Wychwood, Dover Painted House (Figure 9), Polhill Grave 43, (Figure 10) and Verulamium Grave 21 (Ager 1989, 219-39, fig. 82) (Figure 11) they display little artistic merit. Decorated with simple repetitive punch dotted patterns evolving around a combination of geometric elements, circles, triangles, straight and angular lines, chevrons, and crosses. Some have a common quincunxal arrangements, effecting further cruciform shapes. The hinged lid Wolverton Grave 2168 box (Figure 12) is further distinguished by an incised runic inscription, possibly applied at a secondary stage after manufacture. Of the forty-one Type l boxes those from Marina Drive Grave B3/ B4 (Matthews 1962, 25-48), Painsthorpe Wold (Mortimer 1905, 113-17, fig. 279) are undecorated, decorative details of the Stanlake box is unrecorded. Three boxes are decorated with incised patterns, Aldborough with what could be considered an unfinished cross on its base, Hurdlow (Bateman 1861, fig. opp. 52) has very faint random geometric decorations. That from Ascot-under-Wychwood has a detailed incised Salin Style ll pattern.

ANTHONY GIBSON

The remaining display (or were said to display) patterns, signs, or symbols in repousse. This method of ornamentation is produced by striking a shaped punch on the internal face of flat metal sheet, this action displaces the metal into 'pimples' or tapered shaped protrusions these stand in low relief on the external surface, perhaps to imitate filigree? Punches of different shapes and sizes were used to produce the various designs, sharp nail like tools to create small dotted geometric lines and circles, smooth radiused punches of a larger diameter made from either metal, fire hardened wood or bone to form higher relief radiused boss shapes. The repousse technique stretches and reduces the thickness of metal at the head of the protrusions and accounts for the sieve-like appearance of some boxes as these raised areas wear during their lifetime and are first to disintegrate after deposition. Of the forty-one Type l boxes, details of four are unknown, two are undecorated. Of the remaining thirty-five and additionally, the lid tops or body bases reused as pendants from Ilam (PAS WMIDS-DC 4EA4) and Marina Drive Grave E3 (Gibson and Harris 1994, 108-118, fig.1) and the metal fragment from the Wolfhamcote box (PAS WAW-DA 3434) 76% (n=28) have some form of cruciform ornamentation. This high percentage should not be considered coincidental and could imply that Type l boxes had a function that relates to the Christian religion.

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

Figure 2 Type I Design principles

Figure 3 Type I Assembly features 16

ANTHONY GIBSON

s:::::::::::::::::: :::_:_--__ ________ 99 s 0 0

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0,'' '' '' , ,, 0,'' '',, ,,,, ,, '' ,, ,,,, '' cf'.

,,,, ,,,,,,

, ,

,, ,, ,,,, ,, ,,

, ,

'' '' ,, '', ,'' ,,,,,,,,

\\ \l.\

,,,, ,,,,

,, '. --·-·o ,, --_-__--·-·o __ '. ... __ ----_-__ -0, cf'.... _......_--- _ ' '

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-0,

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[a] [a]

"" """ "

- ----- , ,_::: - - ---- ... ,:�,\ , ,_::: - ,:, ... ,:�,\ ,, ,:,,,,,:! ,,

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[c] [c]

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,',, ,, ,',,,,,, ,,,,,,,, ,,,,1: ,, 1:

Figure 4 l and ll techniques used for attaching lid top and body base Type Figure I and 44IIType techniques used for attaching top andlidbody basebody [a] Rivet, [b] Flange Figure l and lland techniques usedConvex forlid attaching top [a] Rivet,Type [b] Flange solder, [c] and solder, [d]and Material base and solder, [c] Convex and solder, [d] Material clenching. [a] Rivet, [b] Flange and solder, [c] Convex and solder, [d] Material clenching. clenching.

Figure 5 Figure 5 Type l general arrangement when worn Type IFigure general arrangement when worn 5 Type l general arrangement when worn 17

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Burial Sites ALDBOROUGH - YORKSHIRE Figure 6 Isuriam Brigantum Roman Town 47mm diameter x 40mm height, worn and repaired. Body extended in length by a seamed internal tube with a single row of six raised punched dots on the exterior periphery. The tube is attached to the inside diameter of the body by four copperalloy rivets. This arrangement serves twin functions, to increase the capacity of the box and enabled the lid assembly to fit firmly onto the body. This method accounts for striations evident on the box. Lid ring is bell mouthed at one end to form a ledge; two bored holes are utalised to attach copper-alloy rivets to corresponding holes in the flat un-decorated lid top to form the complete lid assembly. Body bell mouthed at one end, the flat body base is attached by a single copper-alloy rivet and solder. Body base has what appears to be a deliberate attempt to incise a crude incomplete cross of three equally spaced arms meeting on a central circle? Alternatively, the symbol may be unrelated to a cross and represent nothing more than rays from the sun or moon. However, this is no casual ‘doodle.’ The cross lines are so straight that demonstrates the use of a straight edge, the distorted central circle has been applied freehand. Ascot-under-Wychwood, Hurdlow and Wolverton Grave 2168 are other Type l boxes with incised decorations. Aldborough Roman Site Museum, Boroughbridge Yorkshire.

ANTHONY GIBSON

Figure 6 6 Aldborough (Yorkshire) unusual box with unfinished cruciform on body base. Figure Aldborough (Yorkshire) unusual box with unfinished cruciform on body base. 19

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

ASCOT-UNDER-WYCHWOOD - OXFORDSHIRE Oxford Museum Service Accession number OXCMC: 2019. 64

Figure 7 Found by metal detection at Detectival Rally 2017. A complete Type l base assembly, recovered in a distorted and partly crushed condition due to plough damage, possibly resulting from being dragged from an un-located inhumation burial near to the find spot. Found in association with the box was a short length of copper-alloy chain, consisting of three, figure of eight links with an iron nail attached to one link. This is the second Type l base assembly recorded, the other from Dover Painted House (Kent). The base assembly 50mm diameter x 56.5 mm in length is in remarkable condition with little indication of wear. Constructed from copper-alloy sheet metal .050-.060mm in thickness, originally formed as a seamed tube with an overlapped joint secured by three copper-alloy rivets. The undecorated convex lid is attached by metal clenching to the body. The now miss-shaped lentoid shaped body is decorated in Salin Style ll iconography and described hereby Catherine Hills (Blair and Hills 2020, 75-76). “The box is decorated with, two panels of incised motifs, one zoomorphic and the other interlaced. The zoomorphic panel is occupied by four sinuous beasts, each coiled in a figure- of- eight with backward turning heads and closed jaws biting its own body, which appears to terminate in a rudimentary hind limb. The space within the looped bodies and between the beasts are filled with cross-hatched lines. The lower panel consists of triple strand interlace; each strand formed of paired lines. The interlaced has one panel only with crosshatching, either a mistake or an indication that the design was not completed. The lines are not all incised very neatly; some of the crosshatching is untidy and includes cuts across the edge of the animal bodies, and some of the interlace lines overlap.” This is the only Type l relic box with incised zoomorphic iconography. The most highly decorated of all boxes is the Type ll box from Burwell (Cambridgeshire) Grave 42 which also has Style ll decorations, these however were applied by die impressed punches. A further Type ll box from Burwell Village has been found with incised Style ll body decoration, details yet to be illustrated. Portable Antiquities Scheme AS OXON1A54A6, British Museum. London.

Blair. J. and Hills. C. 2020, An Anglo-Saxon Relic-Box from Ascot-under Wychwood Oxfordshire, and the Geography of the seventh century Burials in the Middle Evenlode Valley. Oxoniensia Volume 85,75-90.

ANTHONY GIBSON

centimetres

Figure 7 Ascot-under-Wychwood (Oxfordshire) Type I base assembly with impressive Style II incised iconography 21

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM - OXFORD Unprovenanced Accession Number 1909-568.

Figure 8 Conserved and in good condition, 52mm diameter x 60mm height, repousee decorated. Lid ring and body bell mouthed at one end, but jointed and soldered with a split eyelet is attached to lid ring and body jointed seam. Lid ring is decorated with two double rows of parallel dots, top and bottom of its periphery The body decoration is unique with a curvaceous line of double dots set between two double rows of dots and interspersed with raised bosses. Lid top and body base are convex and crimped to the body, both are decorated with a quincunx overlaid by a cross saltire. Body base slightly damaged and repaired with conservation material. The body decoration on this, the Polhill Grave 43 and Verulamium Grave 21 boxes are suggestive of Salin Style ll, an indication that the makers were familiar with and capable of reproducing this art form. It may be coincidental in that two boxes a Type l from Oxfordshire, Ascot-Under-Wychwood and a Type ll from North Leigh feature Salin Style ll iconography. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

ANTHONY GIBSON

Figure 8 Ashmolean Museum (Oxford) Type I unprovenced 23

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

ARNCLIFFE CARR FARM - YORKSHIRE Primary inhumations in a linear earthwork underlying a standing dry stone boundary wall. Human bones recovered indicate two possibly three adult female burials. Box 51mm diameter x 55mm height, repousee decorated, lid ring absent, box has a hinged lid, a feature shared with those from Finglesham Grave 8, Westfield Grave 2 and Wolverton Grave 2166. Body base is riveted to the body. Convex lid top and body base are decorated by two rows of dots around the outer edge of the circumference, with a three-row dotted Latin cross centrally positioned. Body has an arrangement of three double rows of dots around the periphery. Cale, KJ, 2000. Interim Statement Archeological Investigation, Carr Farm, North Yorkshire. The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority. PAS Arncliffe Yorkshire 2000 LVPL-1664.

ANTHONY GIBSON

BIDFORD-ON- AVON - WARWICKSHIRE Grave 100 Mixed cremation and inhumation cemetery discovered in 1921 during the construction of a road. Described as “2 1/4 in. in height and about 2 in. in diameter" (Humphrey 1923, 92) repousee decorated. Although in good condition lid top is missing. Lid ring is bell mouthed at one end and decorated with a single row of dots. Lid ring and body have over-lapped joints and riveted. Opposing twin elongated S shaped chain links terminating with a wire ring are fitted by split eyelets to the lid ring and body, enabling the box and lid ring to be held together. Body, bell mouthed at one end has a single row of dots at the top edge and a series angular lines set between four parallel lines of dots around the periphery. The flat undecorated box base is material clenched to the body. Humphreys. J. Ryland. J. W. Barnard. E. A. B. Wellstood. F. C. and Barnett. T. G. 1923. An Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire. Archaeologia, LXXIIII, 89-96

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

BULFORD - WILTSHIRE Type 1 Full report unpublished. Wessex Archaeology Blog /Bulford.13th and 15th April 2016. No response to a request to physically examine box.

BURWELL - CAMBRIDGESHIRE Grave 121. lnhumation cemetery discovered in 1884 when labourers digging for lime found human remains and grave goods. The site was excavated between 1925 and 1929, 125 burials are recorded. This box is recorded as '2 inch diameter x 2 ½ inches height' and is repousse decorated. Body and lid ring have overlapped joints secured by rivets, three on the body , one on the lid ring. Both have a small U shaped hasp fitted. Each hasp has three figure-of-eight chain links attached to a wire ring, which retains the lid and body assemblies together. The lid ring is decorated with two lines of dots around its periphery, the body with six. Lid top and body base are convex and share the same decorative feature: two lines of dots around the outside circumference and three circular rows of dots around a centrally placed raised boss. A Type II box was recovered from Grave 42 at this site. Lethbridge. T.C. 1931. Recent excavations in Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Burwell Cambridge. Cambridge Antiquarian Society Quarto Publication. New Series No. III 47-70. Plate III, fig 36-37.

CASTLEDYKE SOUTH BARTON-ON-HUMBER LINCOLNSHIRE During the construction of air-raid shelters in 1939, skeletal remains and grave goods indicated the area was a burial ground. Further excavations were undertaken and among the artefacts recovered were two boxes described by the excavator as "a cylindrical bronze box" and “a cylindrical work box and lid" (Sheppard 1939, Drinkall and Forman, 1998). Post-war the site underwent field work and excavations, most appear to be haphazard and lacking discipline with records, plans, and photographs miss-laid and lost. This changed in 1989 with a rescue excavation, in 1990 a final excavation took place. A detailed report was published in 1998. 26

ANTHONY GIBSON

Grave I 1939 Box found in a fragmented condition 45mm diameter x 52in height repousee decorated. Lid ring and body appear but jointed, decorated around the periphery with two rows of dots on the lid ring three on the body. Body has a single eyelet located near the base, attached is a single figure of 8 chain link and one half of another link. Lid top and base both convex with three concentric rows of small dot around the circumference, raised bosses form a centrally placed quincunx overlaid with a saltire. Grave II 1939 Box found in a poor condition and originally described as " pieces of metal " c53mm diameter x c48mm height, repousee decorated. Fragmented body, lid ring and lid top. Base decorated as Grave l. Lid ring and body bell mouthed at one end and fitted with a single eyelet. Lid ring is decorated with four rows of closely spaced dot, body with nine. Remains of textiles, thread wrapped around an iron pin and seeds of the Caper Spur (Euphorbia lathyris) were found inside the box. Grave 183 1990 Box was found complete though damaged 62mm diameter x 58mm height, repousee decorated. Lid ring and body bell mouthed, but jointed each has an eyelet located adjacent to their joint. Attached are two inter- locked square section elongated wire chain links holding them together. Lid ring is decorated with two rows of dots between them are double rows of dotted vertical lines, the body has a similar pattern. Lid top has a quincunx displayed in raised bosses, the centre boss is enclosed by a circle of dots and lines of dots connect to the four outer bosses. The body base has a similar pattern without the circle of dots around the central boss.

Sheppard. T. 1939. Saxon relics from Barton, Lincs. The Naturalist. 257-262, 281-283. fig opp. 261. Drinkall. G. and Foreman. M. 1998. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Castledyke South, Barton-on Humber. Sheffield Excavation Report 6. Sheffield, Sheffield Academic Press. Bayliss. A. and Hines. J. (ed.) A. Hoilund Nielson. K. McCormac. G. and Scull. C. 2013. Anglo-Saxon Graves and Grave Goods of the 6th and 7th Centuries AD: A Chronological Framework: The Society for Medieval Archaeology; London: The Society for Medieval Archaeology.

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

CRANSLEY - NORTHAMPTONSHIRE Between 1879 -1882 Anglo-Saxon artefacts and skeletal remains and were found by iron-stone diggers. The box is described as 2" in diameter and 2 1/4" in height. The bottom has a puncture or ornamentation said to be in the "form of a cross", the sides also slightly ornamented in the same way. On this description it has been interpreted as a Type l with cruciform decorations? Baker R. S. 1881-1883. Notes on Archaeological discoveries at Irchester, Islip, Twywell, Cransley. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquities. 9: 85-95.

DIDCOT POWER STATION - OXFORDSHIRE Grave 12 child c5-7 years of age In advance of a development an inhumation cemetery containing 12 burials was excavated. 51mm diameter (height not determinable), repousee decorated. Found in a poor condition in six fragments missing lid top and body base, recorded as to be in the form of a tapering cylinder. Lid ring is decorated with two double rows of dot, the body with six rows. Classed here as a Type l. The excavators description could possibly relate to a Type lll ? Boyle. A. Dodd. A. Miles. D. and Mudd. A. 1995. Two Oxfordshire Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries Beringsfield and Didcot. Thames Valley Landscape Monograph No.8.Oxfordshire Archaeological Unit. Oxford.

ANTHONY GIBSON

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

DOVER PAINTED HOUSE - DOVER KENT One of two Type l incomplete boxes (base assembly only) recorded from outside a burial context, the other found by metal detection at Ascot-under-Wychwood (Oxfordshire). In 1970 a local Archaeological Society (now Kent Archaeological rescue Unit, K.A.R.U), discovered a previously unknown Roman Mansio situated in the centre of Dover. This had been partly demolished by the Roman Army during the expansion of the Classis Britannica. Excavations 1973 in an area just north of the Roman bath house exposed Anglo-Saxon structures and features, including AngloSaxon Sunken Featured Buildings. These are now considered to be associated with an Anglo-Saxon Great Hall (Thomas, 2018). SFB Hut N4, one of four discovered in 1975 and excavated 1976. Although the hut had been destroyed by a severe fire enough evidence remained to indicate that it had been a substantial structure. Hut N4 was c7.50 metres in length and c3.15 metres width and 60-80cm below the current ground surface. Post holes indicate a linear ridge-beam ran the full length of the pit to support a gabled roof, the pit sides were plank lined. Among a large number of artefacts recovered from the fire debris and pit fill were 189 clay loom-weights, part of a bone comb, three spindle-whorls, three bronze pins and the base assembly only of a box. The excavation report suggests that the hut was in active use when it was destroyed. The base assembly is 45mm diameter x 35mm in height, and repousee decorated. The lid assembly of the box was not among the artefacts recorded, and there is no evidence that it had been destroyed in the fire. It is possible that a) the lid assembly was taken from the hut during or prior to the fire, b) for whatever reason there was no lid assembly? The box body has an over-lapped joint secured by a split eyelet. It has a narrow sheet metal sheet tube 12mm width positioned at an angle inside the top of the base assembly secured by four rivets and angled to project 7 mm above the base assembly to form a narrow angular ledge. The purpose of this feature is to make a location or stop ridge, would have enabled the lid assembly to fit securely and adds to the boxes aesthetic appeal. The flat body base was riveted to the body by six rivets and evidence of repair can be seen in that three of the rivets had irregular shaped washers fitted. The very precise and symmetrical design on the body reflects the artistic ability of its maker, three equal spaced lines of dots around the periphery with two rows of chevrons meeting on the central line to form a dual pattern of chevrons, linked cross saltire and diamonds. This combination pattern is evident on boxes from, Finglesham Grave 8, Harford Farm Grave 18, Hawnby, Kempston Graves 46 and 71, Lechlade Grave 14, Tidworth, Uncleby Grave 29 and Verulamium Grave 21.

ANTHONY GIBSON

The base has three circles of dots around a central raised boss overlaid with a Latin Cross, additionally four short equi-spaced lines of dots connect the two outer circles, a very attractive design. Similar example of a stop-ridge can be seen on the Aldborough and Polhill Grave 43 boxes. In design, quality and use of a stop-ridge the box is so like the Polhill box as to have been made by the same maker? Philp. B. J. 2003. The Discovery and Excavation of Anglo-Saxon Dover. Ninth Report in the Kent Monograph Series. Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit. Dover. Thomas. G. 2018. Mead Halls of the Oiscingas: A New Kentish Perspective on the Anglo-Saxon Great Hall Complex Phenomenon. Medieval Archaeology Journal of The Society for Medieval Archaeology 63, 262-303.

Figure 9 Dover Painted House (Kent) after Philp 2003, Type I base assembly with angled stop ridge, Body decorated with chevrons, cross saltire and diamond pattern. 31

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

FINGLESHAM - KENT Inhumation cemetery of 216 graves first excavated in 1928-1929 by local archaeologists W. Stebbings and W. Whiting. Between 1959 and 1967 the cemetery was further excavated by Sonia Chadwick Hawkes. Prior to her death in 1999 eleven papers relating to the cemetery and details of some artefacts were published in archaeological journals and reports, full details relating to the cemetery remained unpublished. In 2006 with the assistance of Hawkes notes and records, Guy Grainger undertook the unenviable task of collating and publishing the site report. The results were published in 2007. Grave 8 Located inside a crushed pottery vessel positioned close to the skeletons left shoulder, (a Type l box was found in the remains of a hazel basket, close to the skeletons right shoulder at Hurdlow). Box 59mm diameter x 53mm height, repousee decorated it has a hinged lid a feature shared with boxes from Arncliffe, Westfield Grave 2 and Wolverton Grave 2168. The body and lid rings are bell mouthed at one end the over lapped joints are held in position with rivets, two with internal washers on the body, and one on the lid ring. A small hinge is secured by rivets to the body and lid ring. Both lid top and body base are convex and attached by solder. The lid top is decorated a single line of dots around its circumference with raised bosses forming a quincunx overlaid with an eight rayed star- bust in small dots. The star-burst pattern decorates either the lid top or body base of boxes from, Uncleby Grave 29, Wolverton Grave 2168 and the copper-alloy disc from Ilam. The base found corroded has a single line around its circumference with a central boss enclosed with a small circle of dots and what appears as net of curved dotted lines. The lid ring is undecorated the body has three equal spaced lines of dots around the periphery with two rows of chevrons meeting on the centre line to form a dual pattern of linked chevrons, cross saltires and diamonds This pattern combination is evident on boxes from Dover Painted House, Harford Farm Grave 18, Hawnby, Kempston Grave 46 and 71, Lechlade Grave 14, Tidworth, Uncleby Grave 29 and Verulamium Grave 21. Stepping. W. P. 1929. Jutish cemetery near Finglesham Kent, Archaelogical Cantianna XLl:115-125. Hawkes. S. and Grainger. G. 2007. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Finglesham, Kent. Oxford University School of Archaeology Monograph 64. Oxford.

ANTHONY GIBSON

GARTON GREEN LANE II - YORKSHIRE Grave 7 adjacent to Barrow 3. 17-20 years of age Cemetery with twenty-seven burials and one cremation excavated in 1871. Described as being 53mm diameter x 50mm in height, repousee decorated. Convex lid top has a double dotted row Latin cross over laid with a saltire. Base has the same display with the exception that the that the saltire has a wider width. Lid ring has two, double rows of repousee around the periphery. The over-lapped body incorporates two double rows of dots around the top of the periphery one at the base, set between are vertical lines of three dot width from which angular lines of two dot width connect. The base and lid assemblies are attached by a single figure of 8 chain link and a wire ring. Above description from Agnes Mortimer's sketch. Mortimer. J. R. 1905. Forty Years Research in British and Saxon Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire, 246-247, Pl. LXXXIV fig. 643 A Brown and Sons London.

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

HARFORD FARM TYPE I CAISTOR ST. EDMUNDS NORFOLK Grave 18 coffin burial Plate 6 Rear Cover Inhumation cemetery excavated in 1990 consisting of two groups of burials totaling forty-six individuals. Two boxes were recovered from a coffin burial, the other a Type lll will be recorded in Section 3. Type l box 55mm diameter x 68mm height, repousee decorated. Box fragmented, missing section of body and parts of lid top and body base. Lid ring and body are bell mouthed at one end, over- lapped joints on the body secured by two rivets and an attachment loop, a similar loop is fitted to the lid ring joint. Originally the lid top and body base would have been material clenched to lid ring and body. The slightly formed convex lid top and base both incomplete and detached from the box have three concentric rings of dots around their circumference and a central raised boss. A series of short randomly placed dotted lines connect the two outer rings. Lid ring has two rows of repousee dots around the periphery the body three, with two rows of chevrons offset to one another meeting on the central line. This decoration is so similar to the linked cross saltires and diamond pattern on the Dover Painted House, Hawnby, Finglesham Grave 8, Kempston Graves 46 and 71, Lechlade Grave 14, Tidworth, Uncleby Grave 29 and Verulamium Grave 21 to suggest that originally the intention was to make the chevrons points meet to create a pattern as those above. This is evidenced by a chevron under lying the over lapped joint. The maker appears to have miscalculated the correct length of metal required to make the chevrons points align; to correct this the box diameter would have either been reduced or expanded in size, if the lid assembly had been cut out or completed either action would not resolve the problem. The lid ring and base assemblies were originally connected by five figures of eight shaped chain links attached to a wire ring. The box contained two copper-alloy dress hooks with fragment of textile, remains of a silver pin suite comprising a silver zoomorphic terminal, a looped wire plaited chain, silver pin with wire suspension loop, silver pin, another silver zoomorphic terminal and a silver loop and attachment on the eye of a pin. The remains of textiles were on the lid and the box contained textile fragments.

Penn. K. 2000. Excavation on the Norwich Southern Bypass. Part 2. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Harford Farm, Caistor St. Edmunds Norfolk, Anglian Archaeology 92, Norfolk Museum Service, Gressenhall. 34

ANTHONY GIBSON

HAWNBY YORKSHIRE Plate 1 Front Cover A barrow inhumation burial no further details given. A most attractive box, 54mm diameter x 65mm height, repousee decorated. Lid and base slightly convex, base incomplete, both have the same decorative arrangement; a single row of dots around their circumference and a cruciform formed of double lined arms meeting on a circle enclosing a raised central boss, inside each arm further raised bosses form a quincunx. The base has the same pattern. The lid ring is decorated with conjoined chevrons set between two single rows of parallel lines; the body is similarly decorated with twin row of repousee at the base of the body. When the top assembly is fitted to the body the pattern is similar to those on the Dover Painted House, Finglesham Grave 8, Harford Farm Grave 18, Kempston Graves 46 and 71, Lechlade Grave 14, Tidworth, Uncleby Grave 29 and Verulamium Grave 21. The lid top decoration is a distinctive AngloSaxon artistic design, it can be seen incorporated on a number of composite cloisonné disc brooches (e.g., Kingston Down, Milton North Field) and jeweled scutiform pendants (e.g., Lechlade). Nothing is new in art and a c9th century BC bronze diadem from Vergina Greece (Plate 5) has an identical repousee pattern.

Denny. H. 1868. Notice of an early British Tumuli on the Hambleton Hills near Thirsk. Proceedings of the Geological Society of the West Riding of Yorkshire. 4 488-502. 35

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

HURDLOW - DERBYSHIRE Single inhumation under a burial mound. Opened 7th of July 1849. Bateman records that the box was found in a crushed condition located on the right shoulder "amid the remains of a hazel basket ... 2 inches in height and the same in diameter". Lid ring and body have overlapped joints each secured by three rivets, flat lid top and body base are undecorated the lid ring and body are ornamented with faint incised geometric and lozenge shapes in no discernible pattern. The box contained "two pins or broken needles". The Aldborough and Ascot-under-Wychwood examples are other Type 1 boxes with incised decoration. A Type l box was recorded from Finglesham Grave 8 inside a "crushed pottery vessel positioned to the skeletons left shoulder". Bateman. T. 1861. Ten Years Digging in Celtic and Saxon Grave Hills in the Counties of Derby, Stafford, and York from 1848-1858. London: George Allen and Sons. 52-54, fig opp. 52.

ISLE OF THANET - KENT Type I Box recorded no further details were recorded. Mason and Andrews Current Archaeology April 2012.

ANTHONY GIBSON

KEMPSTON - BEDFORDSHIRE Inhumation and cremation cemetery discovered when extracting gravel containing c129 burials and c51 cremations. Largely investigated and recorded by Rev. Samuel Fitch MD and James Wyatt local antiquarians 1863 to 1865, stray finds associated with the site were still being reported as late as 1913. The cemetery on seriation evidence is dated 5th to 7th century. Early site reports and grave numbers allocated to specific artefacts are confusing, haphazard and need to be treated with caution. Grave 46? (BM 1891-6 24-140) Box is incomplete missing lid top and body base, c48mm in diameter x c53 mm in height, repousee decorated. Lid ring and body bell mouthed at one end, the overlapped joints are riveted, the body has a small U-shaped loop to which is attached two figure of 8 shaped, copper-alloy chain links. Lid ring has three double rows of dots around the periphery, the body has three equal spaced rows of double dots with two rows of chevrons meeting on the central line to form a dual pattern of linked cross saltires and diamonds. This pattern combination is also evident on the boxes from, Dover Painted House, Finglesham Grave 8, Harford Farm Grave 18, Hawnby, Tidworth, Lechlade Grave 18, Uncleby Grave 29 and Verulamium Grave 21. The box was said to be gilded when found and said to contain a bronze pin and spiral of thread. Grave 71? (BM 1891-6 24-M1) Box now fragmented and missing lid ring, top and body base; it has two slotted swivel catches attached opposite to one another on the body, these would have engaged with corresponding pin component on the lid ring enabling the box to be locked. Fitch records that underneath one of these catches he found "gilding in its most original purity and brightness". The body fragment examined has the same decor as the box in Grave 46. The box contained fabric, linen, and the remains of a leather purse. Fitch, S E 1864. Discovery of Saxon remains at Kempston. Associated Architectural Societies Report. 7, 266-269. Wyatt, J 1864. Further Discoveries of Saxon at Kempston Collectanea Antiqua VI 166-172. London. Kennett, D 1986. Recent work on the Anglo-Saxon Cemetery found at Kempston. CBA Group 9. South Midland Archaeology 16. Bedford 3-14.

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

KINGSTON DOWN - KENT Grave 96 coffin burial "burial under a small tumulus was opened 19th July 1771." This Type l box described as " ... a brass box like our common dredging boxes ...two and a quarter inch in height; two inches in diameter... and full of a dark-coloured substance " (Faussett 1856, 57-58). Both lid ring and body are bell mouthed at one end the lid top is convex and crimped to the body the body base is lost. Lid top is repousee decorated with six rows of dots and a centrally placed Latin cross. Body has seven lines of dots, the lid ring two. The Latin cross evident on the box is not shown on the excavator’s original sketch or in the excavation report? A Type lll box was recovered from Grave 222 at this site and detailed in Section 3. Faussett. B. 1856. Inventorium Sepulchrale An Account of Some Antiquities dug up at Gilton, Kingston, Sibertswold, Barfriston, Beaksborough, Chartam and Crundale in the County of Kent, from AD 1757 to AD 1773, C. R. Roach Smith (ed.) London.

ANTHONY GIBSON

LECHLADE - BUTLER'S FIELD - GLOUCESTERSHIRE Grave 14 c14-16 years of age In advance of a proposed development a previously unknown cemetery was excavated in 1985. The cemetery contained 219 inhumations in 199 graves and 29 cremations. 50mm diameter x 70mm height, repousee decorated. Body and lid ring are bell mouthed at one end with over- lapped joint secured by three rivets on the former and two on the latter. Both have a single eyelet, attached are two elongated S shaped chain links placed each side of a wire suspension ring holding the lid and body assemblies together. Lid ring and body both have three equal spaced double rows of dots around their periphery, additionally the body has two rows of chevrons meeting on the central line to form a dual pattern of linked cross saltires and diamonds. This pattern combination is evident on boxes from, Dover Painted House, Finglesham Grave 8, Hawnby, Harford Farm Grave 18, Kempston Graves 46 and 71, Tidworth, Uncleby Grave 29 and Verulamium Grave 21 boxes. Lid top and base are convex and have circular rows of dots around a central raised boss. Boyle. A. Jennings. D. Miles. D. and Palmer. S. 1998. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Butler's Field, Lechlade, Gloucestershire. Vol.1: Prehistoric and Roman Activity and Anglo-Saxon Grave Catalogue Valley Landscapes Monographs 10. Oxford University School of Archaeology Oxford.

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

MARINA DRIVE - DUNSTABLE - BEDFORDSHIRE Inhumation cemetery with 49 burials grouped around a Bronze Age burial mound and ditch excavated in 1957. Grave B3/B4 Double burial male and female. Box 50mm diameter x 52mm height, undecorated, said to be "silvered bronze". Lid top, body base missing. Lid assembly is attached to the base assembly by three figure of eight shaped chain links and a wire ring. The box contained a few threads of wool. Lid top from Grave E3 described as a re-used waist pendant could possibly be associated with this box? Grave E1/E2 Double burial children. Box 48mm diameter x 50mm height repousee decorated. The damaged lid top has a large central raised boss and three concentric lines of rings four dots in width, body base is missing. Lid ring has two lines of double dots around its periphery, body with two rows of four dots. Four elongated S shaped chain links and a wire ring attach the lid ring and body assemblies together. The box "was full of thread and a small roll of material". Matthews, C L, 1962 The Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Marina Drive Dunstable. Bedfordshire Archaeological Journal, 125-47 fig 4-8 Gibson. T. and Harris. P. 1994. Analysis of Anglo-Saxon Solder Deposited on a Copper-Alloy Disc from the Cemetery at Marina Drive, Bedfordshire. Bedfordshire Archeology. 21, 108-119.

ANTHONY GIBSON

PAINSTHORPE WOLD - YORKSHIRE Barrow 4, Grave 6a Secondary inhumations in a Bronze Age burial mound excavated 1876. A very small box undecorated, 40mm diameter x 42mm height. Over-lapped joints on lid ring and body. Lid top and body base missing. Inadequate sketch and description by excavator. Box was said to contain "remains of thread and iron needle." Mortimer. J. R. 1905. Forty Years' Researches in British and Saxon Burial Mounds of East Yorkshire, A Brown & Sons, London 113-117, Plate XXXV, fig 279.

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

POLHILL - DUNTON GREEN - KENT Figure 10 Historical references to the site were known from 1839. In 1967 excavations prior to road works were undertaken. Further excavations in 1984 revealed 50 additional graves in all 162 graves are recorded from this site. Grave 43 double burial. Box 40mm diameter x 47mm height, repousee decorated. The box is an excellent example of skillful metal-work and artistic application. It is unique in that the body has a raised undecorated stop ridge incorporated into its design. This enables the lid assembly to slide fit over the body assembly to a fixed point, this feature adds to the box’s proportions and ascetic features. The flat lid and body base share the same pattern, three rings of dots overlaid with a Latin cross. Both lid ring and body have overlapped joints each with a single eyelet. The lid ring and body have a single row of sinuous interlacing formed in double lines of very fine dots set between two parallel lines of dots. The Ascot-under-Wychwood, Ashmolean and Verulamium Grave 21 examples shares an artistic affinity with this box in that they are decorated with Salin Style ll interlacing. Box contained thread and a chain.

Philp. B. J. 1973. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Polhill Dunton Green. Excavations in West Kent 1960-1970. Kent Archaeological Rescue Group. Dover. Philp. B. J. 2002. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Polhill near Sevenoaks, Kent 19641986. Kent Archaeological Unit, Dover.

Figure 10 Polhill (Kent) Grave 43 Type I after Philp, B 2003, with raised stop ridge. Lid ring and body repousee decorated in curvaceous Salin Style II, lid top and body base with equal arm Latin cross.

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Figure 9 Polhill (Kent) Grave 43 Type l after Philp, 2003 with raised stop ridge, body decorated in curvaceous Salin Style ll, lid top and body base cruciform decorated.

ANTHONY GIBSON

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

STANDLAKE - OXFORDSHIRE Box discovered in an inhumation cemetery c1826 by workmen digging for gravel. Described as "a box of brass or bronze" and said to "resemble a pepper-box". On this description the box has been interpretated as a Type I and repousee decorated? Stone. S. 1856 -59. Account of certain (Supposed) British and Saxon remains recently discovered at Standlake, in the County of Oxford. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquities Series 1, 4, 92-100

TIDWORTH - WILTSHIRE Inhumation cemetery containing 55 burials uncovered prior to a military house building programme. Excavation details not available. Box 55mm diameter x 65mm height repousse decorated. Body over lapped joint. Lid top and body base appear crimped. Lid ring has two rows of repousse dots around the periphery set between is a single row of conjoined chevrons. The body has three rows of repousse dots, with two rows of chevrons offset to one another meeting on the centre line. This pattern is similar to the linked cross saltires and diamond pattern on the Dover Painted House, Harford Farm Grave 18, Hawnby, Finglesham Grave 8, Kempston Graves 46 and 71, Lechlade, Uncleby Grave 29 and Verulamium Grave 21. The lid top has a series of repousse individual rosette patterns within a single row of dots around the periphery. The lid top and body assemblies are held together with two ‘S’ shaped links attached is a figure of eight link and wire ring. (Details from photograph). Information from Wessex Archaeology Blog/Tidworth photograph. Full report unpublished. No response to a request to physically examine box.

UNCLEBY - YORKSHIRE Cemetery with 78 inhumations located in a Bronze Age burial mound and ditch. Excavated by Cannon William Greenwell in 1868, details from his notebook are inadequate and his plan incomplete. Treat allocation of boxes to specific graves with caution. This site is important as it contained five Type l boxes, the largest number from any one site. 44

ANTHONY GIBSON

Grave 1 Recorded as " 1 3/4 in. height and diameter 2 in. ", repousee decorated. Lid ring and body over lapped joints, with a single loop of wire attached to the lid ring, it is decorated with two rows of dots around the periphery. Flat lid top has a single row of dots around the circumference, radiating from which are four curved lines meeting on a centre circle, each of the four quadrants and the centre circle have a raised boss; effectively forming a quincunx. Flat base has three concentric circles terminating with a centrally placed Latin Cross. Body has four lines of repousee with a herring- bone pattern set between row two and three. Greenwell states that inside "was found a tinned bronze open-worked disc with a peg". The box had an iron chain attached and positioned at the skeletons right shoulder in a wooden box? (See Hurdlow and Finglesham Grave 18 where boxes were located in a similar position). The cross on the base is not mentioned in Greenwell's notes? Grave 3 Recorded as " 2 1/4 in high and 2 1/8 in. diameter, repousee decorated. Lid ring and body have over lapped joints each with an eyelet, two figure of eight shaped chain links are attached to the body. Body has five rows of dots around it's periphery. Lid top is decorated with three concentric of circles centered around a raised boss. Base has three concentric rows of dots around what appears to be an incomplete Latin Cross of dots. Grave 29 Recorded as " 1 3/4 in. high and 2 1/2 in. diameter ", repousee decorated. Lid ring decorated with two rows around the periphery. Body has three equal spaced lines of dots around the periphery with two rows of chevrons meeting on the central line to form a dual pattern of linked cross saltires to form a diamond pattern. This combination is evident on boxes from Dover Painted House, Finglesham Grave 8, Harford Farm Grave 18, Hawnby, Kempston Graves 46 and 71, Lechlade Grave 14, Tidworth and Verulamium Grave 21. Base decorated with three concentric rows, displayed inside the centre circle is a cruciform overlying a saltire, effectively forming an eight rayed starburst. Similar star-burst patterns are evident on the lid tops or body bases on boxes from Finglesham, Wolverton and the copper-alloy disc from Ilam. The box was said to contain " two types of thread ". Grave 30? and Grave 31? Greenwell records two boxes in Grave 31, it is possible that one box is from the adjacent Grave 30? No details other than a "bronze box in front of the waist" and "between the thigh and shin-bone another bronze box". Smith. R. (ed.) 1912. The Excavation by Cannon Greenwell in 1856 of an Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Uncleby. East Riding of Yorkshire. Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries 24, 146-158.

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UPDOWN - EASTRY - KENT Cemetery was located by aerial photography in 1973. A rescue excavation ahead of a pipe-line installation was completed in 1976, 36 graves were located. In 1989 in advance of the Eastry Bypass further excavations recorded 41 additional graves, and 13 graves from the 1973 excavation were re-opened. It is argued (Welch et al. 2008) that these burials represent only a part of a much larger cemetery, yet to be excavated. Grave 76:34 Grave size indicates a very small child or baby? Box 50mm diameter x 54mm height, repousee decorated. Lid ring and body have over- lapped joints, and both have a single U-shaped wire loop placed on their joints, additionally a single rivet on the body. They are bell mouthed at one end, the flat lid and body base are each secured by four rivets. Two linked, figure of eight chain placed each side of a wire ring hold the lid and body assemblies together. The decoration on the lid and base appears as a series of random dots with no discernible pattern. Lid ring has a single row around its periphery, the body four. The box contained textiles, silk, flax, and wool. Grave 89:45 16-24 years of age. Box c53mm diameter x 40mm height, repousee decorated. Recovered in a fragmented condition missing its body base. Lid ring and body have over- lapped joints, each secured by a single rivet and bell mouthed at one end. Lid ring is decorated with two rows of fine dots around the periphery the body assembly three. The damaged lid top has what appears to be four circular rows of dots around a raised boss. Two figure of eight chain links connected to a wire ring were recorded as accompanying the box. Philp. B. J. and Keller. P. 2002. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Eastry, near Dover. Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, Dover. Welch. M. Duhig. C. Rega. B. Crowfoot. E. Edwards. G. Morris. C. and Williams. G. 2008. Report on Excavations of the Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Updown, Eastry Kent. In S Crawford and H Hamerow (ed.) Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History 15. Oxford: Oxford University School of Archaeology.

ANTHONY GIBSON

VERULAMIUM - KING HARRY LANE - HERTFORDSHIRE Inhumation cemetery with 39 graves excavated in 1966-1968. Located at the south-eastern end of an Iron Age cemetery and adjacent to an area of Roman cremations. Grave 11 Box c42mm diameter x c40mm height, repousee decorated; incomplete, body damaged, lid top and body base missing. A copper-alloy fragment 25mm length x 15mm in height part of the lid ring has an over lapped joint with three vertical punched holes two with rivets in position the other empty. This is decorated with two double rows of dots set between is a cross saltire. Body with over-lapped joint has four vertical punched hole three rivets in position and one empty. Body has four rows of dots around its periphery in the zone create between rows two and three are vertical rows of dots that make blocks, some are left empty three are decorated with cross saltires. This block like form of decoration is similar to that on the North Leigh Type ll box (Oxfordshire), Two copper-alloy figure of 8 shaped chain link and a rod 52mm in length with looped ends wound back around the shank is associated with the box, and may indicate, it was originally attached to the box.

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

VERULAMIUM - KING HARRY LANE - HERTFORDSHIRE Grave 21 c17-25 years of age Figure 11 Box c 56mm diameter x 42mm height, repousee decorated, lid top and body base damaged and incomplete. Lid ring and body are constructed with over-lapped joints and riveted, the lid ring with two rivets, the body with three, one now missing. Lid ring has two rows of double dots around the periphery set between is an interlinked pattern of curvaceous shaped chevrons and diamonds. Body has three equal spaced lines of double dotted lines around the periphery with two rows of patterns as above meeting on the central line. These patterns would appear to introduce a Salin Style ll element to the geometric chevron and diamond motifs on the Dover Painted House, Finglesham Grave 8, Harford Farm Grave 18, Hawnby, Kempston Graves 46 and 71, Lechlade Grave 14, Tidworth, Uncleby Grave 29 boxes. The Ascot-under Wychwood, Ashmolean, Polhill Grave 43 and Type ll examples from Burwell Village and North Leigh and boxes are also decorated with Salin Style II interlacing. Lid top and body base carry the same unique decorative pattern. A single circular row of dots, inside a quincunx the raised bosses enclosed in single circles of dots. These are overlaid with a cross formed by twin lines of dots each terminating in a crescent shape reversed C at the end of the arms of the cross and meeting on the central raised boss of a quincunx shapes. Lid ring and body have an eyelet attached and linked together with two S shaped chain links and two wire rings. The excavator suggests that the box was suspended from the waist by an "chain of iron" in figure of 8 links with "two bronze rings " 240mm in length. The box contained "two Roman coins and an iron pin (or needle?) with twisted thread around it".

Ager. B. 1989. The Anglo-Saxon cemetery. In I M Stead and V Rigby, Verulamium: the King Harry Lane Site, English Heritage Archaeological Report No 12. London: English Heritage, 219-239.

ANTHONY GIBSON

Figure 11 Verulamium (Hertfordshire) Grave 21 Type I after Ager 1989, artistically decorated suggestive of Salin Style II 49

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WESTFIELD FARM - ELY - CAMBRIDGESHIRE Grave 2 c15-17 years of age Small inhumation cemetery containing 15 burials excavated in 2006 in advance of a housing development. 53mm diameter x 57mm height, repousee decorated, lid ring missing, over- lapped body joint secured by four rivets, body bell mouthed at one end to accommodate the base by metal clenching. A hinge and catch are riveted to the body joint, the corresponding components (possibly fitted to the missing lid ring) are absent; above and below this hinge assembly is a wire loop both have an elongated ‘S’ shaped chain link attached. The hinged lid assembly is a feature it shares with Arncliffe, Finglesham Grave 8 and Wolverton 2168 Type 1 boxes. Body decorated with four dotted lines of repousee. Both lid and base are flat and fragmented, both are decorated with three concentric circles of repousee around the circumference. A re-assessment of the inner circle on the fragmented lid top and base indicates an equal armed Latin cross was originally part of the iconography. A series of small randomly placed dotted lines connect the two outer circles body base. This element of decoration is similar to Harford Farm Grave 18 Type l box. Lucy. S. Newman. R. Dodwell. N. Hills. C. Dekker. M. O'Connell. T, Riddler. I. and Walton Rogers. P.W. 2009. The burial of a princess? The latter seventh century at Westfield Farm, Antiquaries Journal, 89, 81-141.

WOLVERTON - BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Grave 2168 (Find number 95) Grave 2005 The remains of box recovered appears to be similar and the same size to that from Grave 2168 without the hinged lid and runes. Due to the fragile nature of the broken component parts and missing the box body, it was not possible to attempt a reconstruction. Figure 12 Site excavated in advance of a development in 2008.The cemetery contained eighty-three inhumations and two cremation burials. One of two Type l boxes from this cemetery the other from Grave 2005. Box recovered in a fragmented condition 40mm diameter x 60mm length, repousee decorated with runes incised on the body and unrecognizable symbols on the lid ring. It has a hinged lid assembly a feature shared with the Arncliffe, Finglesham Grave 8 and Westfield Farm Grave 2 Type1 boxes. Body and lid ring are bell mouthed at one end with over-lapped joints. The hinge is positioned on the lid ring by two vertically placed rivets, the corresponding component with four, two either side of the joint. 50

ANTHONY GIBSON

Both have dotted lines around their periphery the lid ring with two on the body with three. Additionally, between the second and third line on the body is a runic inscription BUG[I?]TN and unidentifiable symbols. Box has a convex lid top and body base decorated with an eight rayed starburst around a raised central boss. Similar star-burst decorations are evident on the lid top or body base of boxes from Finglesham Grave 8, Uncleby Grave 29 and the copper-alloy disc reused as a pendant from Ilam. Portable Antiquities Scheme. 2008. Bucks-337D73 Archaeology in Milton Keynes. (undated) Archaeological Services & Consultancy Service Limited. Milton Keynes. Hancock. A. J. Zeepvat. R. J 2018. Wulfhere's people. Buckingham Archaeology Society Monograph Series No 11.

Figure 12 Wolverton (Buckinghamshire) Grave 2168 after PAS BUC-337D72 with runes and a hinged lid. 51

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YATESBURY - CHERHILL - WILTSHIRE Double burial Secondary burials in pre-historic mound, discovered 4th August 1849 while lowering a barrow in aptly named Barrow Field. Described by its finder Mr. H. Shergold "There was a little box of metal 3" long; it had a lid at one end, and a chain fixed in the middle, and it had been fastened to the end where it opened; it was round". On this description the box has been interpretated as a Type l. Merewether. J. 1849. Diary of the examination of barrows and other earthworks in the neighborhood of Silbury Hill and Avebury in July and August 1849. in Memoirs illustrative of the history and antiquities of Wiltshire and the City of Salisbury, communicated to the annual general meeting of the Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland held at Salisbury 1851: 96-97. London.

ANTHONY GIBSON

Technical Details Type II

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

TECHNICAL DETAILS TYPE II

Figure 13 Type II North Leigh (Oxfordshire) with repousse body and incised lid decorations. Not to Scale 54

ANTHONY GIBSON

Although the eight boxes in this classification are notably different in appearance from one-another they have characteristics in common to enable them to be classified together. All share some features with Type l boxes in that they are manufactured from copper-alloy sheet metal between 0.75 mm and 1.00 mm in thickness the lid and base assemblies are constructed in the same manner. Additionally, all have a suspension flange projecting from one side of their body and hinged lid. Four, Burwell Grave 42, Burwell Village, Dover Bucklands Grave 107 and North Leigh have a rigid sheet metal suspension flange those from Cuxton Grave 306, Sibertswold Down Grave 60, Stand Low and St. Mary's Stadium Grave 4202 have a cast or wrought pivoting flange. Type ll boxes demonstrate the skill and design capabilities of the Anglo-Saxon metal craftsmen, evidenced by the complexity of individual components necessary to complete them. Each box represents many hours of work, the Burwell Grave 42 box may have taken days rather than hours to complete such is the artistic detail. The time consuming and unique appearance taken to manufacture every Type ll boxes demonstrates that the women who owned a box could possibly have had a significant social status within their community.

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Design and Manufacturing Techniques

ANTHONY GIBSON

The principal characteristics of the insular Type ll boxes is either a pivoting or rigid suspension flange projecting from one side of the body (Figure 14) and a hinged lid assembly; yet each is different in appearance, physical dimensions, and iconography. Their design appears to have been influenced by Frankish containers with suspension flanges and hinged lids. Eight boxes are recorded (Table 1), other than the North Leigh box (Leeds 1940, 21-30) all were found in a crushed, fragmented, and fragile condition. That from Burwell village recovered from plough soil is badly damaged and initially appeared to be missing component parts, later the lid top, body base and suspension flange were located separated from the box body, possibly an indication that the box had been taken apart prior to deposition? A Type l box from Wolverton Grave 2005 is recorded as possibly being deconstructed before burial. That all were designed before construction, is evidenced by careful measurement and metal shaping required to construct individual sub-components prior to final assembly, and repousse and die struck decorations. Made from copper-alloy sheet metal and manufactured in a similar manner to Type l using the same tools and construction methods. Further, boxes from Cuxton Grave 306, Sibertswold Grave 60 (Faussett 1856, 112, pl. Xlll, fig. 8), Stand Low (Bateman 1848,74) and the St. Mary's Grave 4202 (Birbeck et al 2005, 33, figs. 17-18) have a wrought or cast pivoting flange. Every Type ll box demonstrate an advanced standard of design, workmanship, and mechanical knowledge, especially those with a pivoting flange. The purpose of a movable flange enables a box to rotate one hundred and eighty degrees through its horizontal plane. This action relates to the physical use associated with the boxes, which, when suspended from a belt or chatelaine adjusts to body movements, they would have been more comfortable than the rigid flange models which were inflexible bumping on hips and upper thighs. It is difficult to understand or explain how the makers of the four boxes came to feature a pivoting flange? The location of the two Kentish sites 50 km apart may indicate the same maker or that they were made in the same workshop. With Stand Low to St. Mary's 290 km and Cuxton to St. Mary's 165 km apart it is difficult to argue the same scenario. It appears unlikely they were developed independently yet they employ similar manufacturing methods, this suggests knowledge transfer through cultural or trading contact between these dispersed areas. Whilst each suspension flange serves the same function, all are different in appearance to one another and those decorated display a unique pattern.

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

Type ll boxes with the exception of the St. Mary's, Burwell Grave 42 and the lid top assembly from Burwell Village they are decorated in repousee punch dots. Although the Dover Bucklands Grave 107 (Evison 1987, 106-108, fig. 48) (Plate 2) body is undecorated both lid top and body base carry a quincunx formed by large bosses. The Burwell Village base assembly is decorated with incised Style ll iconography, furthermore the folded flange (Figure15) displays what appears to be a fish or sea creature. The Burwell Grave 42 box (Lethbridge 1928, fig. A) (Figure 16) the most highly decorated of all Types of boxes demonstrates a remarkable combination of metal craftsmanship and artistic detail, and hardened wood die punches were used to reproduce the figural fight scenes on the lid top and body base and the somewhat clumsy predatory bird heads on the flange. Gibson (2015, 156-157) argued that the scenes depicting a battle between a warrior and a dragon are the earliest narrative of the Beowulf poem. Cuxton Grave 306 box (Figure 17) is an exceptional artefact. Displaying leaf like crosses on lid top and body base, a saltire in repousse on its body on the flange is an explicit incised Christian gospel scene. North Leigh box (Figure 18,19), displayed at the Ashmolean Museum is in a remarkable condition. Like the Cuxton Grave 306 box it displays two forms of iconography, body with a block like pattern in repousse, its lid top incised with a expanded terminal cross and crudely styled interlacing under each cross arms. The now lost Stand Low box (Plate 3) is distinguished by its hinged suspension flange wrought or cast in the shape of a serpents or snakes head a very impressive example off workmanship and artistic skill. Unlike Type l, Type ll boxes can be seen as prestigious and ostentatious objects, expressed in every aspect of design, complexity of manufacture and individual iconography. Unlike Type l boxes none are evident in sub adult or children's graves. Five of the seven extant Type ll boxes (St. Mary's Stadium undecorated) carry cruciform symbol(s). The incised fish or serpent on the Burwell village flange shares an affinity with what is considered to be a gold arm from a Christian cross included in the Staffordshire hoard (Fern, Dickinson and Webster 2019, fig 2.78,102-103). This when combined with the explicit Christian graffito on the Cuxton Grave box 306 supports the view that Type ll boxes were specifically manufactured as Christian objects, functioning as accessories in worship and ceremony. They should not be identified as female secular household items.

Figure 14 Suspension Flange Type II [a] Standlow [b] Dover Docklands Grave 107 [c] Sibertswold Grave 60 [d] North Leigh [e] Burwell Grave 42 [f] Cuxton Grave 306 [g] Saint Mary’s Stadium Grave 4202 58

ANTHONY GIBSON

[a]

[b] [c]

[e]

[d]

[f ]

[g]

5 centimetres

Figure 14 59

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BURWELL VILLAGE - CAMBRIDGESHIRE/SUFFOLK PAS SF-686A1F Suffolk County Council Archaeology Service. Figure 15 The most recent find, a much-damaged incomplete copper-alloy Type ll; c52mm diameter x 55mm in height recovered from a field located on the Suffolk/ Cambridgeshire County border. The box yet to be fully illustrated has an incised Style ll zoomorphic decoration around its body, this appears similar to that on the Type l box from Ascot-under-Wychwood Oxfordshire (Blair and Hills,2020), additionally a single scratch cruciform shape is evident among the decorative motifs. The once circular metal fragments from the lid top and body base were located a distance away from the box body. Each has identical incised decorations a single groove around their periphery with two further concentric grooves forming three circular zones, two are decorated with double strand sinuous non-animal interlacing, the area between the loops appear to be cross hatched, these zones terminates on a undecorated centre circle. The interlaced art appears irregular and constricted, it lacks the flowing style usually associated with this type of decoration. This could imply the maker was unfamiliar with this type of artistic composition? A feature of these fragments is the accurately formed shallow incised rings. So precise, to initially suggest these were lathe turned. A more likely explanation is that they were formed by the use of a low technical method still in use today to produce circles and arcs a 'fixed centre pin devise'. This is a narrow flat piece of wood or metal with a row of holes spaced centrally along its length. A fixed centre pin is located in the end hole, a sharp scriber is placed in a hole corresponding to the circle diameter required and rotated around inscribing the metal. The incised rectangular flange radiused at one end found detached from the box body, when unfolded is c W 30mm x c L 70mm, made from two pieces of 0.07 mm sheet metal riveted together, and originally attached by six rivets to the box body. When recovered the radiused D -shaped end was so tightly folded back on itself in alignment to conclude that this action was carried out by human intervention.

centimetres

ANTHONY GIBSON

Figure 15 Burwell Village incomplete Type ll decorative flange 61

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This leaves two alternatives, either it was folded still attached to the box on deposition, plough action then detached it from the box. A more likely explanation is that the box for whatever reason was taken apart prior to burial (if there is a burial), the flange together with the lid top and body base were then deposited separately. The flange with a single rivet still in place, is decorated on both sides with twin outline rectangular borders of repousse inside this against a hatched background is what can be described as the head of an open mouthed fish. The iconography on the flange shows an outline resemblance to two artefacts from the Staffordshire Hoard. Firstly, the great gold cross (Fern, Dickinson, and Webster, 2019 catalogue number 539). On each transverse arm are two entwined zoomorphic serpents (ibid figures 2.74, 3.42, 5.12). Their head shapes display a remarkable likeness to those on the box flange. The other, the gold or gold sheeted "inscribed strip" with a Latin biblical inscription on both sides, termed by Fern as a "Certain Christian object" (ibid 205, figure 2.78 catalogue number 540). Located at one end of the strip is a cast gold D-shaped gem setting flanked by intertwined serpents. The other end has a straight edge, incised on both sides is the head of a fish which other than a cross emerging from its mouth can be compared to those on the Burwell Village flange and the great cross. The head shape on all three artefacts are so alike to conclude they were not separate individual inspiration, this could indicate that their construction had been authorised either by a controlling high-status elite, contact between workshop(s) or familiarity between metal working artisans? This is supported in that they are not only complementary, but also originally from the same region. A further example from the Anglian Region of a creature with "open jaws" referred to by the excavator as "a dragon" (Lethbridge 1927, 88), is evident in the Beowulf poem fight scene (Gibson forthcoming) on the lid top and body base of a Type ll relic box found in Grave 42 at the Burwell (Cambridgeshire) cemetery is an indication the maker had a close association with those noted above. The dating evidence on the two objects from the hoard is c610-c650 (Fern, Dickinson and Webster, 2019, table 6.1) indicates they are within the time frame as that from Burwell and other relic boxes c630-c690 (Bayliss and Hines, 2013 table 7.1). The physical presence of a cross on a battlefield and a relic box within a community suggests both were visual sacred objects representing the abstract faith of the Christian religion. They are irrevocably, linked together, in ecclesiastical function, iconographical art and time, further all are considered to have originated from East Anglia.

ANTHONY GIBSON

Christian Fish Symbols? The interpretation above that the Burwell Village decorative flange and the comparison made to the figures on the Staffordshire Hoard inscribed strip (540) could be considered contentious. as a "fish" Other term them either as "beasts" (Fern, Dickinson and Webster 2019, 102) or "fish creatures" (ibid, fig. 285). The fish has long been symbolically associated with the Christian religion. As an iconic representative they are frequently mentioned in both the Old and New Testament (e g. Jonah 1:17, Luke 9: 3-17). Fern et al illustrate a carved stone step from Poitiers France (ibid, fig 2.85) showing two fish, one with a cross in its mouth. A further example can be seen on a stone decorative funerary panel from Luxor Egypt (Dectot,2013 MNC 1418,10) now at the Louvre Museum Lens. Carved in relief is an open mouth fish with an adjacent an expanded terminal cross. Closer to home, an example from Cuxton Kent Grave 306 (Figure 20), a Type lll copper-alloy box reused as a Christian reliquary, possibly of Byzantine origin (Blackmore et al, 2006,17-19). Among other crudely incised Christian symbols is a biblical scene of Golgotha. The box displays three pictorial representations of the sacred hill with three Latin crosses on top, the centre cross is taller than the others, within this hill interior the scene is repeated. From the side of one hill a fish emerges with a Latin cross protruding from its open mouth. Finally, included in the Staffordshire Hoard is a small openmouthed fish shaped cloisonné garnet mount (Catalogue number 513), this could have been attached to a Christian object? These examples represent an allegorical connection to the Christian faith, possibly evoking the Greek rebus for fish.

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

BURWELL - CAMBRIDGESHIRE Grave 42 Figure 16 Inhumation cemetery discovered in 1884 when labourers digging for lime found human remains and grave goods. Site excavated 1925-1929, 125 burials are recorded 92 adults,33 children. A Type l box from Grave 121 is recorded in Section l. This, the most highly decorated of all recorded boxes found in a worn, repaired, and fragile condition. Gibson (2015 and forthcoming) argued the reliquary was originally made as a Type l box and at a later stage altered to a Type ll by the addition of the flange that overlies the body decorations and a hinged lid. This could imply that the lid top and body base are a later feature, even so, this would not alter the date of deposition. Lethbridge (1927, 88) considered the scene depicted on the lid top and body base could represent either Beowulf or Siguard the legendary dragon slayers. It is an exceptional, important and overlooked example of Anglo-Saxon metal work and artistic application. The outstanding feature of the relic box relates to the impressive Salin Style ll zoomorphic decorations on the lid ring, body and flange and the quite remarkable figurative arrangement displayed on the lid top and body base. Metal dies were used to stamp zoomorphic decorations on both lid ring and body, individual carved bone or fire hardened wooden punches used to reproduce the heroic dragon fight on the lid top and body base and opposing birds' heads on either side of the flange. The lid ring has three rectangular bead bordered panels each with interlaced looped, back biting, spotted reptilian creatures. The body also has three bead die impressed bordered panels each showing an interlaced scaly back-biting, sinuous opened mouth serpent or worm-like creature with elongated curved jaws and coiled back feet. These can be compared to those on the seventh century silver-gilt sword pommel from Crundale Down (Kent) (Speake 1981, fig 14f ), (Webster, 2012, fig.44). In contrast on each side of the flange are crude versions of opposing predatory birds' heads shown in profile. The importance of the reliquary to Anglo-Saxon archaeology and to the composition of the poem Beowulf lies in the theatrical encounter on the lid top and body base. These are unique in Anglo-Saxon artistic improvisation, not because they demonstrate precision workmanship, but for what is depicted in a naive decorative style. Each is stamped with an unusual equal-armed waisted cross positioned around a central rosette. Inside each quarter is, or what was intended to be a narrative representing a warrior; a heroic figure armed with a seax or sword, slaying a prostrate creature which can be described as a dragon. During the process of embossing the raised non-metallic punch deteriorated. As a result, only one scene on each component was complete, the others are debased and jumbled, nevertheless they can be recognised as being struck from the now fragmenting punch. 64

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Figure 16 Burwell (Cambridgeshire) Grave 42 Type II after Lethbridge, T 1931, most highly decorated of all boxes.

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

The reliquary is a remarkable combination of sheet metal craftsmanship and artistic creativity. This is demonstrated in every aspect of design and construction, from the complexity of individual components to the skill required to carve the punches used to produce the iconographical scenes on the reliquary. Notwithstanding that the artwork portrayed indicates a non-Christian genesis, the warrior fight scene can be viewed as a paradox and the imagery, Christian imagery (Gibson, 2015, 156). If an explanation is required, why both Christian and pagan themes are evident on the Burwell reliquary, an example linking Germanic legend to Webster (2012, 96) remarks that the story makes "Christianity more attractive and biblical events through Anglo-Saxon decorative art can be seen on the early eighth century Franks Casket. accessible to the heathen population. Hence once again we see the past used to inform an understanding of the present". The Burwell reliquary could be seen as Christian reliquary, a visual declaration of its owners religious beliefs and practices. Further all decorated extant Type ll reliquaries are cruciform decorated, all have a hinged lids to secure brandea thus replicating the continental spherical Christian amulet boxes. This will be discussed later.

Lethbridge, T C, 1928 The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Burwell Cambridge (Part ll). Proceedings of the Cambridgeshire Antiquarian Society, XXVll: 116-123 Lethbridge, T C, 1931 Recent Excavations in Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. Cambridge Antiquarian Society Quarto Publication New Series lll Gibson, A, 2015 Anglo-Saxon 'work boxes' and the Burwell Grave 42 box, Christian or Pagan. Proceedings Cambridgeshire Antiquarian Society Volume C1V, 149-160 Gibson, Tony, 2020 The Dating of Beowulf Archaeological Evidence of the Dragon Fight? htpp://www.academia.edu

ANTHONY GIBSON

Figure 16a Type II lid top and body base showing Beowulf Dragon Flight? 67

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CUXTON - KENT Grave 306 c17-25 years of age Figure 17 The site was excavated in advance of the construction of the HS1 Channel Tunnel Rail link in 1998. Thirty-six graves and the skeletal remains of thirty-five individuals are recorded. Grave 306 contained two boxes a Type ll described here, the other a Type lll is detailed in Section 3. The importance of this burial lies in the explicit biblical event incised on both boxes. These are early examples of Christian iconography evidenced on an Anglo-Saxon sheet metal artefact. They demonstrate a direct archaeological association to the Christian Gospels, and to the woman buried with them she should be considered as a devotee of the Christian religion. Recovered in a crushed and fragmented condition, originally 46mm diameter x 60mm height, repousee decorated with incised imagery added at a later stage. Convex lid top and body base have four concentric rings centered around a boss and a crudely punch-dot representation of a leaf-like cross centered. The lid ring has two possibly three rows of dots around the periphery, the body four with a number of randomly placed angled and vertical lines of dots connecting the rows. A cross saltire on the body is positioned adjacent to where the hinged flange was located. The pivoting cast flange found detached from the body consists of three zones: on either side of a centre zones are what appear to be representations of two outward looking animal’s heads underneath each is what could be considered to be lightly scratched church steeples topped with a flag? Separated from the central zone by cross hatching and positioned centrally is a large faintly incised Latin cross, the shaft intersects a hill or mound, inside the mound on either side are two smaller crosses. These overtly Christian symbols can only refer to the crosses erected at Calvary. This box should be recognised as a Christian reliquary. The inscribed scenes have been applied by, or for, the owner after the box was manufactured, they are crude lack fluency and skill levels associated with other areas of the box. Blackmore. L. Mackinder. T. and Powers. N. 2006. Iron Age Settlement and an Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Cuxton, Kent Vol. 2: The Grave Catalogue. J McKinley (Ed) London: CTRL Integrated Site Report Series. Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture.

F ic il

ANTHONY GIBSON

Figure 17 Cuxton (Kent) Grave 306 Type ll after Blackmore et al . Incised iconography on hill very faintly scratched on original, exaggerated for Figure 17 illustration Cuxton (Kent) Grave 306 Type ll after Blackmore et al . Incised iconography on hill very faintly scratched on original, exaggerated for illustration 69

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

DOVER BUCKLAND - KENT Grave 107 Plate 2 Inhumation cemetery was discovered during the construction of housing development. A rescue excavation commenced in September 1951 and continued until July 1953. Under difficult site and weather conditions graves were disturbed, destroyed, others were looted. The final excavation report was published in 1987 the Grave Catalogue records 161 graves.

Plate 2 Dover Bucklands Type II after Evison 1987

ANTHONY GIBSON

The Dover Buckland box was recovered in a miss-shaped and worn condition. At the time of burial, the lid assembly had been sealed closed by rivets. It shows evidence of having been repaired on a number of occasions during its lifetime by having small copper-alloy patches riveted to worn areas on the base, flange and hinge bracket. Both lid and body assemblies are constructed in the same manner, a single sheet of metal was formed around 360 degrees then further extended to form a double thickness flange terminating in a radiused shape held together by rivets with a suspension loop attached by two rivets and a wire ring. A small, shaped metal component, is locate between the plates on the flange to strengthen the hinge. The box is opened by an upwards pivoting motion based on a single pin acting as a fulcrum located through the flange. Among the unique design features incorporated into the box are three circular wire bands soldered on to the external structure. The two positioned at the top edge of the hinged top assembly and the bottom edge of the base assembly act as attachment points for small circular wire rings attached to the flat lid top and body base. These would have been clipped over the wire and back through the lid and body assemblies effectively holding individual components together, only one clip is now evident. The third wire band is place centrally around the base of the hinged lid assembly and serves both to strengthen and balance the artistic presentation of the container. Unlike other Type ll boxes the Bucklands box is devoid of body decoration, the lid top and body base have identical quincunx expressed by five raised bosses. Box contained a damaged knob-headed bronze pin. Evison. V. I. 1987. Dover the Bucklands Anglo-Saxon Cemetery. HBMCE Report 3, London.

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

NORTH LEIGH - OXFORDSHIRE Figures 13, 18, 19 The design and construction of the North Leigh reliquary (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Accession Number 1929. 399c) demonstrates the technical ability of its maker who with four basic tools (Shears, hammer, punch and scriber) manufactured an exceptional example of seventh century Anglo-Saxon metal work. That it was designed before construction is evidenced by careful measurement and metal shaping required to construct individual sub-components prior to final assembly and the repousee decoration on the reliquary body. Despite the skill used by the maker in other areas of manufacture, it is difficult to understand why no attempt was made to use a straight edge to cut out the metal blanks or to mark out guideline for the iconographical body pattern? With four rectangular 0.5-0.7mm thick copper-alloy sheet metal blanks, a short length of copper-alloy wire and a metal ring a high quality decorative hinged lid circular container was produced. The lid ring and body were cut to size then formed around a core, possibly tree branch to make circular tubes with a double thickness rectangular projection to one side. That on the lid ring was utalised to produce a curved rear projecting pivot tag. The body blank repousee decorated in the flat, then the shaped to make the abstract trefoil suspension flange, secured by a rivet. The now circular body was bell-mouthed at the top to form a narrow ledge around the circumference. This method of construction allowed the lid top to be clamped to the body by metal crimping. The process again reflects the skill and knowledge of the maker, who by increasing the diameter of lid top enough to overhang the ledge enabled the metal to be folded back to the underside and secure the lid top without the need of solder or rivets. Other reliquaries including Ascot-under-Wychwood, Oxfordshire (PAS, OXON-1A54A6), Dover Painted House, Kent (Philip,1989), Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire (Humphries et al, 1923) use the same technique. It is unclear how the base was originally fitted to the body assembly, currently the base appears to be secured by bending the metal inward around the tubular body in an attempt to hold it in position. If this method is original (which the author doubts) it is very unsatisfactory as the base appears to be unsupported and a loose fit. Surprising so, as other sheet metal working techniques used to make the box indicate a high degree of skill? A possible explanation, to consider, when the reliquary was first uncovered (Leeds, 1940,21-40, pl. Vl) the base was found separated from the box and this was an attempt to relocate the base? An iron ring passed through the lid ring pivot tag and the top notch of the suspension flange holds the assemblies together and acts as a pivot point to open and close the box. A centrally located hole bored through both lid ring and body, would have enabled a small peg to lock the box in the closed position. This method of securing the box and its contents is evident on the Type ll reliquary from Grave 107 Bucklands Dover Kent (Evison, 1987) Plate 3. 72

ANTHONY GIBSON

Figure 18 North Leigh (Oxfordshire) TypeII lid top with incised decorations, body block type repousse similar to that on a Type I box from Verulamium Grave 21 73

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

Both circular lid ring and body base are undecorated. The iconography on the body consists two parallel tiers or courses of rectangular dotted panels of-set to one another, these give the impression of an ashlar built wall. A Type l relic box recovered from Grave 10 at King Harry Lane site Verulamium (Stead and Rigby 1989) has a similar pattern, so alike to suggest a possible connection between the communities or the maker? The rigid notched trefoil shaped suspension flange is a unique feature, sometime, possibly after manufacture a cross saltire had been scratched on one side. Iconography on the North Leigh lid top is characteristic of the relic box, an engraved expanded terminal cross, within the space between each cross arm are poorly replicated Salin Style ll interlacing. The very precise shape of the cross could indicate that this was scribed around an actual physical cross as the reproduction is of a high standard. By contrasts, the four naive engraved interlaced areas are missed shaped and poorly applied, they appear out of context to the quality of the box. Possibly applied at a later date? In addition to the explicit symbolic Christian cross engraved on the lid top, and the advanced mechanical method of fitting the lid top may imply that this is not the original and for some unexplainable reason had been replaced after manufacture. Leeds, E T, 1940 Two Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries at in North Oxfordshire. Oxoniensia 5, 21-40

Figure 19 North Leigh (Oxfordshire) TypeII proposed manufacturing sequence. 1. Size and cut sheet metal blanks. 2. Repousse decorate. 3. Shape blanks around a core former possibly a tree branch? 4-5. Drill holes apply rivets, shape trefoil and lid ring notch. 6. Incise lid top possibly around a physical cross 7-8. Material clench lid top to lid ring. Body base to body. 9. Fit pivot ring

ANTHONY GIBSON

Lid ring

Body

Top

Bottom

5 cm

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

SAINT MARY'S STADIUM - SOUTHAMPTON HAMPSHIRE Grave 4202 Mixed inhumation and cremation burial ground located prior to development of St. Mary's Stadium 1998-2000 Southampton. Site consisted of twenty-three inhumation and eighteen cremations. 60mm diameter x 40mm height plain and undecorated found in a fragmented condition missing large areas of lid, body base and body. The box has a cast or wrought D shaped flange (Fig. 15g) attached to the box by an integral vertical hinge and rod arrangement enabling the box to swing and adjust to body movements, a feature shared with Type ll boxes from Cuxton Grave 306, Sibertswold Grave 222 and Stand Low. A single ovoid leaf hinge is attached by two rivets to the lid ring and body enabling the lid assembly to open. In this respect it is similar to the Sibertswold box which has an additional locking hinge. Lid top and body are both bell-mouthed, fragments of lid top and body base are convex. The box may have contained a silver disc found adjacent to the box. Birbeck. V. (ed.) et al. 2005. The Origins of Mid-Saxon Southampton: Excavation at the Friends Provident St. Mary's Stadium 1998-2000. Wessex Archaeology Report 20. Salisbury, Wessex Archaeology.

ANTHONY GIBSON

SIBERTSWOLD - KENT Grave 60 Single primary burial under a large tumulus opened 17th July 1772. Recorded as being "two inches in height" (Faussett 1856,112) repousee decorated. Superior in design and a very well constructed box with a lockable lid assembly and a hinged flange a feature shared with the Type ll boxes from Cuxton Grave 306, Stand Low and St. Mary's Grave 4202. The plain undecorated two-part swivel flange (hinged part now lost) combines a purpose designed splayed bracket attached to the body with an integral vertical pivot rod around which the box moved and adjusted. Another unique feature that indicates the quality of the box are the identical dual purpose and interrelating locking leaf hinges attached on opposite sides of the box. Each hinge/locking devise consists of two sub-triangular shaped brackets, one fitted to the lid ring the other to the body, both have a rolled hinge arrangement, together with a loop headed hinge pin attached to a single link chain secured by rings to the body of the box. When a single pin is placed its corresponding hinge, the lid can swing open, conversely when both pins are located the box is locked in the closed position. Body decorated with two rows of interlinked geometric step shaped patterns. Lid top and base are bell mouthed and have a single circle of dots around the periphery, set inside is an equal armed cross with furcated ends. The flat lid top and body base are each fitted to lid ring and body by four rivets. An unusual feature of the lid top and body base decorations is that the Greek cross with bifurcated ends is absent from both Faussett's original sketch (ibid, pl. Xlll.11) and also the illustration in Inventorium Sepulchrale. The hinged action on this and other boxes above when fitted to a chatelaine or belt enables the boxes to flex with the body movement making them more comfortable when worn. This relic box is an exceptional example of design and workmanship. The box contained wool, silk, and organic beads " like the seeds of a plant which we call Marvel of Peru " (Mirabilis jalapa).

Faussett. B. 1856. Inventorium Sepulchrale: An Account of some Antiquities dug up at Gilton, Kingsdown, Sibertswold Barfriston, Chartam and Crundale., in the County of Kent, from AD 1727 to AD 1773. C R Roach- Smith (ed.) London. 77

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

STAND LOW - DERBYSHIRE Plate 3 Secondary burial in a Bronze-Age barrow, opened 19th June 1845. Recovered in a decayed and fragmented condition. Repousee decorated, missing most of the body, lid ring, lid top and body base, what remained of the box is now lost. The only information we have is Llewellyn Jewitt's painting Relics of a Primeval Life in England 1850 (Sheffield City Museum) and Bateman’s excavation report. What can be observed from the painting is that the box represented an impressive example of Anglo-Saxon craftsmanship and metal work, expressed in the hinged suspension flange cast or wrought in the shape of Salin Style ll snake or serpent’s head. Bateman records the hinge "is perfect...". Bateman. T. 1848. Vestiges of the Antiquities of Derbyshire. London: John Russell Smith.

ANTHONY GIBSON

Plate 3 Standlow Reconstruction Type ll after a watercolour painting by L. Jewitt 79

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

Technical Details Type III

ANTHONY GIBSON

TECHNICAL DETAILS TYPE III This section contains details of five boxes, they have a narrow tube like appearance and are all smaller in diameter than Type l and Type ll and with the exception of the Prittlewell longer in length. The Cuxton Grave 306 boxes have slightly tapered inverted cone body and like the Harford Farm Grave 18 example has an internal fitting plug top. That recorded from Little Wilbraham has a similar inverted cone appearance, as the lid top and body base are separate from the body it is difficult to assess how these were fitted. Those from Kingston Down Grave 222 and Prittlewell are constructed in a similar straight sided manner to Type l boxes to suggest an Anglo-Saxon origin.

Figure 20 Cuxton (Kent) Grave 306, TYPE lll after Blackmore. L. et al 2006, with incised secondary Gospel scenes.

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

There are five boxes in this classification. Uniquely the Prittlewell (Blackmore et al 2019, 156-159, 374-375) box is from a male burial. Cuxton Grave 306 (Blackmore et al 2006, 17-18, fig. 25), Harford Farm Grave 18 (Penn 2000, 18-19, fig. 87) Kingston Down Grave 222 (Faussett 1856, pl. Xlll fig. 7) and Little Wilbraham (Neville 1852, pl.15) although sharing some common features all are different in appearance from one another. They are produced from copper-alloy sheet metal and employ the same manufacturing techniques as Types l and ll, all have a tubular appearance. The construction of the Cuxton example demonstrate superior design and technical details to suggest it originated from the Eastern Mediterranean (Blackmore et al 2006, 35). The inverted cone like shape of the body and the use of a lathe to turn the four grooves demonstrates the proficiently of its maker. Harford Farm Grave 18 box with an all over ring and dot artistic display has three vertical support wire rods soldered onto the body, their purpose not only strengthen the box but act as attachments loops to locate and fit suspension chains. Both the Cuxton and Harford Farm boxes have the added refinement of a plug lid top. This type of internal fitting makes for a very secure method of sealing and closing the boxes, and could indicate that they may have been used to hold a liquid? By comparison the Kingston Down and Prittlewell boxes are uncomplicated, and similar in construction to Type l boxes, so alike, to suggest an Anglo -Saxon origin. The secondary incised biblical scene on the Cuxton box leaves no room for doubt, that it had been utalised as a Christian accessory, an artefact of devotion. At this time, it is not possible to determine an original secular purpose for Type lll boxes. However, the inverted cone shape design of the boxes from Cuxton and Little Wilbraham does suggest that they could possibly have been used to contain a liquid?

ANTHONY GIBSON

CUXTON - KENT Grave 306 Figure 20 Site description see Section 2. This is a Type lll box recovered with a Type ll in the same grave. Box has an inverted conical appearance 25mm diameter at base, 18mm diameter at top x 67mm in height. Body but jointed and soldered with a single rivet located at the bottom of the joint. Three chains each comprising four figures of eight shaped links are attached to the body by eyelets terminating on a wire ring a further chain of three links is secured by a loop to the circular plug lid top. Body decoration consists of four zones delineated by horizontal grooved lines. The precise layout of these lines indicate they were applied after the cone structure was formed and machined on a lathe. This is evidenced by a machined cut to the single rivet head located on the joint in the lower groove. Inside zone two are two hatched oblique triangular shapes each with a cross at their apex, and a mound with a Latin cross positioned centrally, either side are two smaller crosses. This scene is repeated on the inside of the mound. On the outside mound edge, a fish with a cross protruding from its open mouth can be observed. Together, the cross and fish could be interpretated as sacred rebus imagery. These indisputable Christians symbols can like the Type ll box from this grave only refer to the crosses erected at Calvary. Like the other box in this grave, it should be considered a Christian reliquary. Gibson (2015: 10) argues that the box should be seen as a re-use of a secular artefact. These crude faintly scratched scenes were applied by or for the owner after the box was manufactured, they lack the precision and skill levels associated with other areas of the box. It should be noted that the Type lll box from Harford Farm and Kingston Down Grave 222 have a three-point suspension. MacKinder. T. 2006. Iron Age Settlement and an Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Cuxton, Kent Vol. 1: The site report. J McKinley(ed.): CTRL. integrated Site Report Series. Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture. Blackmore. L. MacKinder. T. and Powers. N. 2006. Iron Age Settlement and an Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Cuxton, Kent Vol. 2; The grave catalogue. J McKinley (ed.): CTRL Integrated Site Report Series. Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture Gibson. A. 2015. Anglo-Saxon 'workboxes' and the Burwell Grave 42 Box, Christian or Pagan? Cambridge Antiquarian Society. ClV : 149-160 Cambridge

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

HARFORD FARM - NORFOLK Grave 18 Figure 21 Type lll box was found with a Type l in the same grave. Made from copper alloy 0.45/0.55 sheet metal the box has a narrow tubular appearance c16mm in diameter x c85mm in height, butt jointed. Attached to the exterior of box and originally fitted along the full length (some parts now detached) are three equal- spaced 3mm wire rods, each rod has a projecting shaped suspension loop formed 7mm from the tube top, presumably to act as chain locations. A plug top with an attachment loop and figure of eight shaped chain links identified as a suspension complex were found close by. The box is unusually decorated with ring and dot motifs. It should be noted that the Type lll box from Cuxton Grave 306 and Kingston Down Grave 222 have three-point chain suspension arrangements possibly associated with its function? Site details Section 1. Penn. K. 2000. Excavations on the Norwich Southern Bypass. Part 2. The AngloSaxon Cemetery at Harford Farm, Caister St. Edmunds Norfolk, Anglian Archaeology 92, Norfolk Museum Service, Gressenhall.

ANTHONY GIBSON

Figure 21 Harford Farm (Norfolk) Grave 18 Type lll after Penn, K 2000 Not to Scale 85

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

KINGSTON DOWN - KENT Grave 222 coffin burial Primary burial under a mound opened on 12th August 1771. Type lll box has a slightly inverted conical appearance and in shape, similar to the Cuxton Grave 306 box. The box 20mm diameter at base, 18mm diameter at top x 70mm in height. Undecorated, damage to body. Body base missing butt jointed with U loop fitted to body. Flat lid top has a single U loop placed centrally through which a single figure of 8 shaped chain link and one half of a link are attached to a circular wire ring, this has three figure 8 chain links and two half links. Possibly indicating a three-point suspension. A Type 1 box was recovered from Grave 96 at this site and is detailed in Section 1. B. Faussett 1856. Inventorium Sepulchrale. An Account of Some Antiquities dug up at Gilton, Kingston, Sibertswold, Barfriston, Beaksborough, Chartam and Crundale in the County of Kent, from AD1757 to AD 1773, C.R. Roach Smith (ed.) London.

LITTLE WILBRAHAM - CAMBRIDGESHIRE Context uncertain, said to have been found in a cemetery in 1851. Made from copper-alloy, like Type III box from Cuxton Grave 306 it has inverted cone appearance 34mm in diameter at the base, 22mm diameter at the top and 70mm in height, but jointed and possibly soldered. The body is simply decorated with bands of incised lines at each end. Attached to the box is an undecorated base and lid top with a centrally placed suspension eyelet and a figure of eight chain links. Neville. R. C 1852 Saxon obsequies and ornaments and weapons discovered by the H R C Neville near Little Wilbraham, Cambridgeshire, during the autumn of 1851. London

ANTHONY GIBSON

PRITTLEWELL - ESSEX The Princely burial The only box of any Type recovered from a male grave; the excavation report is an exemplary example of archaeological investigation, post excavation conservation and recording. Described as a cylindrical container (Blackmore et al 2019, 156159), this and other artefacts were located inside what remained of a maple-wood box. Due to the collapse of the grave chamber roof, it was largely destroyed. This Type lll example was recovered in a fragment condition beneath what remained of the box lid then re-assembled as an illustration (ibid. fig.286) Made from copperalloy c0.05mm in thickness and recorded as 25mm in diameter x 45mm in length straight sided and tubular in appearance, probably but jointed with a soldered seam. A circular lid top with a central pierced hole used to locate a suspension eyelet together with a lid top ring were also recovered. The construction and shape of the container is similar to that from Kingston Down Grave 222 but shorter in length and decorated. Blackmore describes the iconography below. "The decoration on the body extends right up to the seam, suggesting that it was incised while the sheet was still flat. It is clearest at the upper end, part of which survives to a depth of 25mm, and comprises a band of chevrons set below a plain band. Less survives of the lower body and the decoration is less easy to interpret, it appears to comprise a band of chevrons over a basal band of oblique lines. A further patch of oblique lines in the central zone suggests that there may originally have been three rows of chevrons. The top of the lid is decorated with incised radial lines..." The use of a chevron pattern is an example of the continuation of earlier pagan signs or symbols evidenced on pottery dateable to the 5th and 6th century (Fig.23, b3). Blackmore, considered this example to be a copy from a Byzantine original. Blackmore. L. Blair. I. Hirst. S. and Scull. C. 2019. The Prittlewell princely burial. Excavations at Priory Crescent, Southend-on-Sea Essex 2003. Museum of London Archaeology Monogram 73. London.

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

Fragments and Component Parts This section contains details of components and copper-alloy fragments recognised and recorded as box parts. It is not possible to allocated them to a specific Type of box.

Figure 22 Marina Drive (Bedfordshire) Grave E3 lid top or body base, solder on underside reused as a pendant.

ANTHONY GIBSON

Barrington A [Edix Hill] * Cambridgeshire. Flat copper-alloy circular disc, 58mm diameter a lid top or body base, repousee decorated with three rows of dots around the circumference. Barrington B [Hooper’s Field?] * Cambridgeshire. Flat copper-alloy disc, 69mm diameter a lid top, repousee decorated with three concentric rows of dots around an incised centre. These raised dots follow externally applied guide marking out lines. A Body base plain 73mm in diameter, with a raised lip and three pieced holes indicate it was attached to the body by rivets. Both possibly from the same box? Bourne End Buckinghamshire. SMR 0117702004 Copper-alloy strips B3 and B4 from a box body, repousee decorated with six rows of dots. Buckinghamshire County Museum. From an unpublished notebook by Francis Colmer (1873-1967). Haslingfield * Cambridgeshire. Three copper-alloy undecorated lid rings, over-lapped joints, two x 42mm diameter, one x 40mm in two fragments. One copper-alloy undecorated convex lid top or body base 42mm in diameter. * Fox. C. 1923. The Archaeology of the Cambridge Region. Cambridge. Hambleton Moor female burial Yorkshire. PRN MCA 3633. A copper-alloy fragment from a lid ring, c40mm x 32mm x 45mm in height. Bell mouthed repousee decorated with two parallel rows of dots between are three dotted chevrons. Attached is a split eyelet with two figures of 8 chain links a wire ring and one other figure of 8 link. The fragment and a copper-alloy chain with thirteen similar links is mounted on a card marked. FROM GRAVE ON HAMBLETON MOOR. N. R. YORKS. PURCHASED 1882 FRAGMENTS OF BRONZE BOX, AND CHAIN FOR SUSPENSION Possibly part of the box from Hawnby. British Museum collection. London.

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

MARINA DRIVE - BEDFORDSHIRE Grave E3 female child 8 years old Flat copper-alloy circular disc, 49mm diameter, solder located on the underside edges. A lid top or body base, repousee decorated with single line of dots around circumference with four lines placed at right angles meeting on a circle enclosing a boss. It has a pierced hole, it's position in the grave indicates it had been re-used as a waist pendant. Possibly from Grave B3/B4 in the same cemetery. Gibson. T. and Harris. P. 1994. Analysis of Anglo-Saxon Solder Deposited on a Copper-Alloy Disc from the Cemetery at Marina Drive Bedfordshire. Bedfordshire Archaeology. 21. 108-119

ANTHONY GIBSON

The following metal fragments and box components have been recorded by Portable Antiquity Scheme Caerwent Monmouthshire. PAS WAW-FF3CCA7 Lid ring or body fragment decorated with repousee dots arranged in and two lines with a chevron V and inverted chevron between lines. Design similar to Lechlade Grave 14 and Hawnby boxes. Ilam Staffordshire. PAS WMIDS-DC4EA4 Copper-alloy circular flat lid top or body base, 39mm diameter, repousee decorated with an eight lined starburst around a central boss. It has a pierced hole indicating it had a possible reuse as a pendant. Similar star-burst patterns are evident on Finglesham Grave 8, Uncleby Grave 29 and Wolverton Grave 2168 boxes. Kirton in Lindsey Lincolnshire. PAS LIN-E32932 Circular copper-alloy lid top or body base 43mm diameter. Undecorated, complete with a copper-alloy split eyelet centrally positioned. Stroud Gloucestershire. PAS GLO-DA7D75 Copper-alloy lid ring or body fragment, repousee decorated as a right angle or possible square with a single chevron dotted V located within the arrangement. Wolfhamcote Warwickshire. PAS WAW-DA3434 Copper-alloy lid ring or body fragment, 33mm length x 42mm width, repousee decorated two conjoined chevrons in two parallel rows forming a cross saltire or diamond pattern XXX.

EARLY ANGLO-SAXON CHRISTIAN RELIQUARIES

Secular Art or Sacred Symbols? BOX TYPE I COMPONENTS AND METAL FRAGMENTS OF BOXES

Decorative Features Of the forty-one Types 1 boxes, Stanlake, Uncleby Graves 30 and 31 (Smith 1912, 151) and Yatesbury (Merewether 1851, 87-102) are no longer extant and their full decorative details unrecorded. Those from Painsthorpe Wold Barrow 4 Grave 6a and Marina Drive Grave B3/B4 are undecorated; Aldborough, Ascotunder-Wychwood and Hurdlow have incised motifs. The outstanding feature on the remaining are the repousse decorated display schemes incorporated into their manufacture. This demonstrate that individual signs, symbols and decorations were not spontaneous artistic inspirations conceived during or after the construction of the boxes but were predetermined, applied to individual components prior to final assembly. Interpretation of the decorative schemes of Type l boxes are complex and divides opinion, they are viewed either as artistic displays on secular artefacts or they represent Christian symbolism; if the latter is correct the boxes would have religious significance. Since the publication of Faussett's Inventorium Sepulchrale in which editor Roach Smith in a footnote (Faussett 1856, 58) relating to the Kingston Down Grave 96 box opined " The box itself appears to have been intended for pins, needles and such small implements used for female attire". This statement would initially appear to have some support. Walton Rogers (2007, 40-41) termed the Harford Farm Type lll box a "needle case". Further the incomplete box found in SFB N4 at Dover Painted House with 189 loom weights and three spindle-whorls could be considered to have a similar association. Excavators and researchers (e g. Mathews, 1962, Philp 1973, Bayliss and Hines, 2015) term them, often with caveats, 'work or thread boxes' on account that some (Table 3) contained textile, pins and thread that could be associated with sewing repair kits. Others (e g. Ager 1989, Hawkes and Grainger 2006, Welch et al 2008, French 2011, Hills 2011) argue that the boxes should be seen as amulet boxes or Christian reliquaries and their contents viewed as brandea. In most cases the patterns, signs and symbols on boxes are defined by conclusions expressed above.

ANTHONY GIBSON

Body and lid ring When decorated the sheet metal used to manufacture the body and lid ring of boxes are distinctive feature on the boxes. Patterns created fall into various design styles. Ten boxes, Dover Painted House, Finglesham Grave 8 (Hawkes and Grainger, 2006, 38-39), Harford Farm Grave 18 (Penn 2000, 18, fig. 88), Hawnby (Denny 1859-1868, 488-502) (Plate 1), Kempston Graves 46 and 71 (Fitch 1864, 269-299), Lechlade Grave14 (Boyle et al 2011, 58, fig. 5.42), Tidworth (Wessex Archaeology, blog 2016), Uncleby Grave 29 (Smith 1912, 151), Verulamium Grave 21 and the metal fragment from Wolfhamcote display twin parallel linear dotted lines of conjoined chevrons meeting on a centre line(s) to form a conjoined chevron, cross saltires and a diamond shaped pattern (Figure 23a). Hawnby and Wolverton Grave 2005 have a single conjoined chevron zone forming a zigzag pattern on the lid ring, when lid is fitted to the box assembly decorated with an identical arrangement the design becomes like those above. The fragments from Hambleton Moor displays a single row of conjoined chevrons, Caerwent two, Stroud one. Both patterns are evident on pottery dateable to the 5th and 6th centuries. In single linear zones of conjoined chevrons (Myres 1977, Vol. 2) (e g. Girton 229, Lackford 929, Sancton 2330, Snape 2420) on twin linear zones meeting on a centre line or lines (e g. Bagginton 2454, Caister-By-Norwich 1649, Elkington 632, Chamberlains Barn 390). Hills (1977, 1981) illustrates both forms of linear chevron motifs on pottery and urns from Spong Hill. Single linear chevron zones (e g. 1776, 1867, 2175, 1867), twin rows (ibid motif SG 4, fig. 104) (e g. 1730, 2067, 2242, 2610). Three boxes display incised patterning, Ascot-under-Wychwood box has a complex incised Salin Style ll zoomorphic motif, the Aldborough body is undecorated, although the base appears to show an unfinished scratched cross, Hurdlow has a series of random scratched geometric shapes applied to the body. Ashmolean Museum, Polhill Grave 43 and Verulamium Grave 21 have repousse applied sinuous decoration which replicates features from Salin Style ll. The remaining decorated boxes are patterned with repetitive repousse geometric schemes expressed in dotted horizontal, vertical, and diagonal lines, chevrons, crosses, saltires, circles and raised bosses. Four boxes Bidford-on-Avon, Grave 100 (Humphreys et al, 1923), Castledyke Grave 183 (Drinkall and Foreman 1998, 90, fig. 104), Garton Green ll (Mortimer 1905, 246-247) and Uncleby Grave 1 have individual geometric arrangements. The box from Cransley (Baker 1881-1883, 85-95), is recorded as "being slightly ornamented with crosses". 93

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Twelve boxes, Arncliffe, Burwell Grave 121 (Lethbridge 1927, 116-125), Castledyke Graves l and ll (Drinkall and Foreman 1998, fig.121), Didcot Grave 12 (Boyle et al 1995, 216-217), Kingston Down Grave 96, Marina Drive Grave E1/E2 (Mathews 1962, 31), Uncleby Grave 3, Updown Graves 76:34 and 89:45 (Welch et al 2008, 24-25, fig. 48, 64), Westfield Farm Grave 2 (Lucy et al 2009) and Wolverton Grave 2168 (PAS Bucks-337D73) display an uncomplicated design of linear rows of dots around their periphery. This feature replicates in repousse the indented line and dotted schemes to be seen on large numbers of earlier pottery. The conjoined chevron, cross saltire and diamond pattern on the body of ten boxes and fragment from Wolfhamcote, and the chevrons marked on three metal fragments, together with the twelve boxes (above) are distinctive and widespread earlier Anglo-Saxon motifs. The pattern is not confined as a decorative element on Type l boxes. It is part of a design on a piece of leather recorded from a "girdle or strap" at Beakesbourne Grave 30 (Faussett 1856, fig.1, 152), a similar crudely applied repousse design has been applied to the silver back under-plate of the Finglesham Grave 95 buckle (Hawkes and Grainger 2006) (Figure 23d). In a later now unambiguous Christian context, the pattern is illustrated adjacent to Saint Mathews portrait in 'The Book of Kells' (de Hamel 2016, 116). In respect of Type 1 body decorations the conjoined chevron, cross saltire and diamond pattern should not be considered as artistic inspiration of the seventh century. This decoration represents not only a continuation of an existing art-style but a visible physical symbol that alludes to the beliefs, customs of pagan Anglo-Saxon people. Of the thirty-two repousse decorated Type l boxes and the fragment from Wolfhamcote eleven share this motif. It is possible that by the seventh century the pattern had been adopted as a Christian symbol and connects spiritually and culturally with the past and acted as a talisman to balance the appearance of the cross as a Christian icon?

Figure 23 [a] Illustration of design concept cross saltire and diamond pattern [b] Pottery examples after Myres, J 1977 Bagginton (Warwickshire), Chamberlain's Barn (Bedfordshire), Chevron example Sancton (Yorkshire).[c] Dover Painted House body decoration . [d] Finglesham (Kent) Grave 95 Buckle back plate after Hawke and Grainger 2006. [b] Pottery examples after Myres, J 1977. [b1] Bagginton (Warwickshire), [b2] Chamberlains Barn (Bedfordshire), [b3] Chevron example Sancton (Yorkshire). [c] Dover Painted House body decorated after Philip. B 2003, [d] Finglesham (Kent) Grave 95 buckkle back plate after Hawke, S and Grainger, H 2006. 94

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LID TOP, BODY BASE AND THEIR REUSE AS PENDANTS AT ILAM AND MARINA DRIVE Of the forty-one Type l boxes details of the lid tops and body bases, four are unknown; two are undecorated. Others, Bidford Grave 100, Didcot Grave 12, Kempston Graves 46 and 71, Marina Drive Grave B3/B4, Verulamium Grave 10 (Ager 1989, 232, fig.79.2) are incomplete missing lid tops and/or body bases. Aldborough appears to have an unfinished cruciform pattern scratched on the base. Of the remaining twenty-nine and the two copper-alloy components reused as pendants from Ilam and Marina Drive twenty (Table 3) display cruciform motifs either on their lid top or body base (Figure 24), of these eleven have them on both, four lid top only, five body base only. Fruitiger (1991, 49) defines the cross as "the signs of signs" such is its versatility and use across the broad spectrum of art, religion, science, and mathematics. The cross has a long history as a decorative symbol and widely used in pre-history and Roman periods. During the six and seventh century the cross became an icon of the new faith, Christianity, and were visually displayed by clergy and converts to proclaim their religious beliefs and practices. The cross sign on boxes has and will continue to be the subject of debate. Faussett (1856, 39) "The crosses mentioned ... plainly show the owner was a Christian", Ager (1989, 222) ". . . that these designs are Christian in intent or at least are a sign of Christian influence ", Philp (2003, 197) " . . . often bore overtly Christian symbolism", Welch (2008, 37) " . . . a deliberate Christian motif " and Hills (2011, 18) " . . . are not accidental inclusions in a geometrical pattern ". The design of the cruciform symbols on the lid tops and body bases of Type l boxes and two components can be placed into three recognisable arrangements. Arncliffe, Cransley, Dover Painted House, Garton Green ll, Kingston Down Grave 96, Polhill Grave 43, Uncleby Graves 1 and 3, Updown Grave 76:34 and Westfield together with the re-used lid top or body base possibly from Marina Drive Grave E3 have well defined cross motifs expressed in small closely spaced dots. These replicate in repousse those detailed in manuscripts, coinage and jewellery and considered to have a Christian association and reflect the views expressed above. Three boxes, Finglesham Grave 8, Uncleby Grave 29, and Wolverton Grave 2168 and the lid top or body base from Ilam reused as a pendant display an eightrayed star/sun burst motif. A similar design is stamped on pottery from Spong Hill, and identified by Hills (1981, fig. 128) as Class llla, from Mucking (Hirst & Clark 2009, fig. 130), Stamp A5a. This stamp is referred to as a 'rosette' or 'marigold' and recognised by Myres (1977, Vol. 2); it is a feature on cups, bowls, beakers, and urns (e g. Girton 179, Heworth 85, Howletts 452, Saltburn 132). Notwithstanding the pagan history of the rayed star/sun burst Gannon (below) argued that by the mid seventh century the use of this symbol had a Christian association.

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Figure 23 Examples of cruciform decorations [a] Polhill Grave 23, [b] Kingston Down Grave 96, [c] Marina Drive Grave E3, [d] Uncleby Grave 1, [e] Sibertswold Grave 60, [f] Ashmolean Museum, [g] Garton Green ll Barrow 6 Grave 4a, [h] Uncleby Grave 29.

Figure 24 Type I and TypeII cruciform decorated lid tops [a] Polhill Grave 43. [b] Kingston Down Grave 96 [c] Marina Drive Grave E3 [d] Uncleby Grave 1 [e] Sibertswold (Kent) Grave 60 [f] Ashmolean Museum Oxford unprovenced [g] Garton Green II Barrow 4 Grave 6a [h] Uncleby Grave 29 97

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Boxes from Ashmolean, Castledyke Graves l, ll and 183, Hawnby and Verulamium Grave 21 display decorative schemes that revolve around a quincunx. This arrangement takes the form of four raised bosses spaced to shape a square or rectangle with another placed centrally to form a cross. The quincunx has no diversity of appearance, when additional artistic themes are added (e g. Verulamium Grave 21) they are secondary and integrate around the cruciform shapes formed by the five raised bosses. This is a very ancient symbol that embraces pagan and Christian worlds. The earliest use of the quincunx known to the author is to be seen on the heads of rhomboid headed copper-alloy dress pins of the Northern Carpathian Middle Bronze Age, this cultural period is dated c1450-1250 BC. There is evidence to suggest that the quincunx acted as a protective or mystical pre-Christian devise and is a focus on copper-alloy doors of 8th Century BC Villanovan hut urns and on shields and armour of the same period (Chamay 1993, fig. 9, 48 and 50). It can be seen, possibly as a cult signifier on the clothing of the 7th century BC cast bronze figurine in orante (Plate 4) from Imst Austria (pers. corr. Dr Zemmer-Plank). As a decorative style it is incorporated in the designs on an early 6th century BC bronze enameled openwork disc from Cuperly, Marne (Megaw & Megaw 1989, fig. 60) and a bronze flask from Durrnberg bei Hallien (ibid, pl. 129). Further evidence and examples of the resilience of this symbol can be seen on artefacts from Roman Gaul, Britain and Scandinavia; Belt Buckle (Leeds 1933, pl. V), Rings (Kendrick 1938, fig. 12a) and late 5th century cruciform brooches (Hines 1984, fig. 1.1 and 2.10b). The signs most common pagan early medieval usage is demonstrated on the insular copper-alloy disc brooches dateable to late 5th century (Dickinson 1979, 39-54). Further examples now representing Christian iconography can be seen on a silver scutiform pendant from Chamberlains Barn (Hyslop 1963, fig. 17), the jewel formation on the Staffordshire Hoard processional cross (Fern, Dickinson and Webster 2019, fig. 2.74), Fuller Brooch (Webster,2012, fig.115) and the Ormside Bowl (Fern and Speake 2014. fig. 93). The most impressive aspect of the quincunx either as a cult, religious or ornamental design is evident on the lid top and body base of the box from Hawnby, this replicates the central design on a repousse decorated bronze diadem (Plate 5) from Vergina Greece dated to Greek Iron Age 1100-800BC (Andronikos 1964). The principal design on the diadem and box is identical to those on gold, composite and plated disc brooches (e.g. Kingston Down Grave 205, Milton North Fields (Avent 1975, Class 4.2 and 4.3) and on a gold filigree and jewelled disc pendant from Lechlade Butlers Field Grave 95/1 (Boyle et al 2011, fig.5.74).

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Plate 4 7th century BC Bronze Figurine 8cm height Imst Austria 99

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Plate 5 Late Iron Age Bronze Diadem centre piece from Vergina Greece

TYPE I CONCLUSION The evidence is overwhelming that many patterns, symbols, and decorations on Type I boxes have their genesis in earlier pagan cultures. It is impossible to ascertain whether they were ever intended to act as abstract ornamentation or had some symbolic significance. By the middle of the seventh century a Christian God and his religion were asserting authority and in a largely illiterate and pagan society the people were undergoing a fundamental challenge to their beliefs and practices. These identifiable pagan decorations, now in a Christian context would have been a reassuring link with the past and acting as an apotropaic devise protecting both box and contents. It is possible that some of the earlier cruciform decoration styles had by the mid seventh century been adopted to suit Christian iconography. The Dover Painted House body decoration is an example of conjoined chevron, cross saltire diamond shaped pattern combined with a Christian cross on both lid and base. This cross, like others (above), replicates the cruciform iconography on contemporary coinage, jewellery and manuscripts considered to be Christian and implies that the box had a Christian significance. The conjoined chevron, diamond shaped arrangement on the underside of the Finglesham Grave 95 buckle (Figure 23d) suggests that a re-appraisal of the buckle should be undertaken. For it could be viewed as having religious dualism with both pagan and Christian association. The initial appearance of the buckle demonstrates implicit pagan imagery, by contrast the hidden back plate has a crude punch dot pattern of conjoined chevron, cross saltire and diamonds similar to those on the boxes (above). This poorly applied, haphazard pattern indicates it is not original, it lacks artistic detail and precision workmanship evident in all other areas of the buckle. This hidden decoration possibly Christian was intended for personal and private contemplation. 100

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The interpretation of the repousse decoration and motifs on the lid tops and body bases is complicated and ambiguous. Six boxes are missing either their lid tops or body bases, six are missing both, details on three are unknown, it is possible that some may have been cruciform decorated, like those reused as pendants from Ilam and Marina Drive? Notwithstanding this observation, twenty-five boxes the two pendants (above) and the Wolfhamcote fragment are cruciform decorated these indicate a Christian connection. The rayed sun/starburst motif on three boxes, and the pendant from Ilam is evident on Anglo-Saxon coinage. Gannon (2003, 165-166, fig. 5.11) terms a similar motif with pelleted ends a "marigold" with a cross on the obverse found on tremissis, and argues it became ". . . simply as a variation on a cross". Further evidence of the motifs transfer as a Christian symbol is its use in manuscripts (e g. The Vespian Psalter, The Book of Kells). Notwithstanding the reference to the pagan background associated with the decorations on boxes there is now enough evidence to support an argument that the ten boxes and the Wolfhamcote fragment all with the conjoined motifs of chevron, diamond pattern had by the mid-seventh century been adopted to represent Christian symbols. This is supported in that five of these (Table 3) also display a conventional cross. Further, the re-use of components as pendants and the fragment from Wolfhamcote indicates that incomplete and unrecorded boxes could also have been cruciform decorated and are under-represented in Table 3.

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BOX TYPE II

Decorative Features With the exception of the undecorated St. Mary's Grave 4202 box and the lost Stand Low box the other six display individual artistic schemes, symbols and cruciform decorations. The North Leigh box in addition to its unusual visual appearance is distinguished by the composite nature of the decor. The lid top is engraved with an equal armed cross with expanded terminals, similar to cruciform pendants from Ixworth, Walton and the composite garnet brooch from Boss Hall Grave 93. In addition, a cross saltire scratched on one side of the flange a further indication of the religious nature of the box decorations The unusual repousee 'block' body decoration is similar to that on the Verulamium Grave 10 Type l box to suggest contact between the communities. Although the body on the Dover Bucklands Grave 107 box (Plate 2) is undecorated it has a balanced appearance with three bands of wire around the periphery, two serve as a manufacturing feature to locate and fit lid top and body base the third positioned centrally to give the box additional strength and aesthetic appeal. Both lid top and body base carry a quincunx expressed by five raised bosses. Elsewhere the author opined that the Sibertswold Grave 60 example (Faussett 1856, pl. XIIl, 8) with pivoting flange (part now lost) and unique locking and hinge arrangement can be identified as a work of manufacturing ingenuity and precision. The body decor with two rows of repetitive punch dot step patterns said by Werner to be characteristic of Frankish metal objects of the seventh century (Meaney 1981,186). Both lid and base display a Greek cross with the arms terminating in angular forked ends Figure (24e). It is noticeable that the pattern is incomplete on Faussett's original sketch. Despite now presumed lost we have a brief description of the Standlow example (Plate 3) by Thomas Bateman (1821-1861) and a water colour painting Relics of a Primeval Life by Llewellyn Jewitt (1816-1886). Recovered in a very poor condition only details of the pivoting flange, lid hinge and a small area of the repousee decorated body are recorded. The wrought or cast suspension hinged flange in the shape of a snake or serpents head demonstrates artistic ability and technical knowledge and indicates the maker was familiar with Salin Style ll.

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Bateman was so impressed with the workmanship of the lid hinge to comment it "would not disgrace a Birmingham artisan of the day". Recently (information from Faye Minter) a badly damaged Type ll box incised with Style ll body decoration and a Christian motif on the flange has been found by field walking in the Burwell village locality. The significance of the unique box from Cuxton Grave 306 cannot be overstated, found fragmented and reconstructed as an illustration with great skill. The body, repousse decorated has a cross saltire position adjacent to where the flange was originally attached, indicates that this symbol was pre-conceived. The importance of the box lies in the faintly incised gospel event applied to the flange and box after the box was constructed. These graffito scenes and the repousse leaf like cross with hidden crosses displayed on the body base, together with further religious scenes on the Type lll box from the same grave indicates beyond doubt the female in Grave 306 was a devotee of the Christian religion, both boxes attest to her faith. The Burwell Grave 42 box the most highly decorated of all types of boxes. The author argued (Gibson 2015) that this could have been converted from a Type l into its present form. The use of metal dies to impress the Salin Style ll lid ring and body decorations is an indication that permission and loan of the dies came from a higher authority, this is further reinforced by the Salin Style ll predatory birds’ heads displayed either side of the flange. The lid top scene with an unusual waisted cross is quite unique in seventh century art displaying what could possibly represent the earliest portrayal of the dragon fight from the Beowulf poem? The artist who carved the wooden or bone dies to decorate the lid top would have been aware or made aware of the poem’s Christian significance.

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TYPE II CONCLUSION All Type ll boxes were individually designed, artistically unique and visually attractive. The use of pivoting cast or wrought flange and leaf hinge indicates a degree of mechanical knowledge available only to the most skilled and talented metal workers of the period. This suggests their owners may have had a socially prominent position within their community? These features, when considered together with the cruciform symbols displayed on five extant Type ll boxes, the imagery on the Burwell Village box demonstrates a Christian association. When combined with the explicit biblical scene on the Cuxton box and the possibility that the overtly pagan iconography on the Burwell Grave 42 box may allude to a biblical event there is now convincing evidence that Type ll boxes had a Christian function and that their owners were Christian.

BOX TYPE III

Decorative Features Of the five Types lll boxes, four Cuxton Grave 306, Harford Farm Grave 18, Little Wilbraham and Prittlewell boxes were decorated. That from Cuxton Grave 306 has four zones of incised lines around its periphery equally spaced over the body. The box is further distinguished by crudely incised Christian symbols applied by/ or for its owner after manufacture. This an indication that the importance and use of the box revolved around the secondary applied scenes. Like the Type ll from the same grave it had a function connected to the Christian religion. Hartford Farm has a simple artistic ring and dot design over the body, Little Wilbraham by a series of parallel incised lines located at the top and bottom of the body. A reconstruction of the Prittlewell example (Blackmore 2019, 374-376, fig.286) suggests that its decoration consisted of incised oblique and conjoined chevrons.

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TYPE III CONCLUSION The term conclusion in respect of Type lll boxes is in itself something of a misnomer. The Little Wilbraham and Cuxton Grave 306 examples are well designed and manufactured to a high standard, evidenced by sheet metal forming to small diameters, conical shaping and the use of lathe grooving apparent on the Cuxton example. That from Harford Farm Grave 18 with three equi-spaced exterior supporting metal ribs on the body combined with an appealing ring and dot decoration again demonstrates skilled metal work and artistic application, this, and examples from Cuxton and Little Wilbraham could be considered to be East Mediterranean imports? By contrast the boxes from Kingston Down Grave 222 and Prittlewell are simplistic in design and uncomplicated, so much so, as to suggest they are an insular development. The theatrical staged ' Princely ' burial at Prittlewell together with the grave assemblage including a Type lll box clearly represents symbols of elitism, power, and wealth. However, the contents of a highly decorated wooden chest deposited with the burial appears personal and modest. The graffito incised silver spoon found adjacent to the Type lll box is considered "... to be an eating utensil... and not for liturgical use" (Blackmore et al 2019, 164) and would appear unconnected to the box. Until additional evidence is available Type lll boxes should be considered as having an unknown secular function; unless, like the Cuxton box there is evidence that can link them to Christianity.

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What are they?

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Since their earliest discovery all types of boxes have been considered unusual and enigmatic artefact. Of the boxes examined by the author most display evidence of use indicated by smooth and polished external metal surfaces, others (e g. Aldborough, Bucklands Dover Grave 107, Dover Painted House, Kempston Grave 71) have been repaired. Wear and repair are not always good indicators of age, they can also reflect use, as a consequence we cannot accurately determine when boxes were made or how long they were in use prior to deposition (see dating evidence). Their function has long been the subject of guesswork and academic research, yet a fundamental question remains unanswered 'What are They?' In 1771 Rev. Bryan Faussett on finding a box at Kingston Down Grave 96 remarked (Faussett 1856, 58), it was "very much like our common dredging box" and "designed to hold perfume". Stephen Stone (1856-1859, 93) writing of the lost Stanlake box said it resembled a "pepper pot". Wyatt (1864, 168) was told by his labourers that the Kempston Grave 71 box was a "tobacco box with tobacco in it". Later reports have also failed to reach a consensus to their purpose. Hawkes (1973, 197) was astonished that they functioned mostly as container for sewing kits, " but as such seems to be the case". In a re-appraisal (Campbell 1982, 89) her opinion changed, and she expressed the view that "the so-called thread-boxes, cylindrical bronze capsules which may in fact have been Christian reliquaries". Meaney, in an attempt to explain their purpose (1981,181-189) presented a number of possible functions, work, thread or relic boxes, amulet capsules, first-aid boxes or containers symbolically to reflect and identify the role of women in Anglo-Saxon society. Crowfoot (1987, 51) with some qualification approached the boxes as reliquaries with the small fragments of cloth and threads demonstrating a " last mingling of pagan with Christian beliefs". Gibson (2015, 10) on design, technical and physical examination of twenty-six boxes argued that the long-held theory that they are 'work boxes' (vide Bayliss and Hines, 2013, fig. 5.217) or 'needle cases' (Walton Rogers, 2007, fig. 2.32) in the accepted sense of sewing repair boxes or containers to hold needles is unsustainable. The method used to open and close Type l boxes (Gibson and Harris 1994, fig. 2) is by sliding the lid assembly over the body, the box is then held in the closed position by metal friction between the internal diameter of the lid and the external diameter of the body. Of the boxes physically examined only the Aldborough example exhibit any degree of wear indicated by metal serrations on the body assembly as a consequence of constant use in opening and closing. Four Type l boxes Arncliffe, Finglesham Grave 8, Westfield Grave 2 and Wolverton Grave 2168 have the added refinement of a hinged lid to secure and protect their contents.

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Hills seminal papers (2011, 14-19 and 2016, 51-61) argued that so called 'work or thread boxes' should be considered Christian relic boxes and when textiles, thread, pins, and organic material are found inside boxes they should be considered brandea. French (2011, 1-11) approached the boxes and contents from a biblical (Mark 5: 2534) and female prospective and reached the same conclusion. Of the fifty complete or near complete boxes, 20 (Table 3) have been recorded as containing contents regarded as brandea. The most compelling evidence that these containers should be recognised as Christian reliquaries relates to a total of forty boxes, thirty-one Type l, five Type ll boxes the two box components reused as pendants Ilam and Marina Drive and a metal fragment from Wolfhamcote all displaying some form of cruciform decoration(s). Further, included among the iconography on the important Burwell Type ll Village box is what could be considered an iconic symbol of Christianity, the ichthys image. This represents a high proportion of decorated boxes, that demonstrates an affinity to the Christian religion. Further, this number could be understated as incomplete boxes, missing lid tops and body bases may have had cruciform symbol(s) included in their iconography. This number argues that boxes can be seen as not only having an association with the Christian faith but possibly participation by their female owners in ritual and worship. Boxes with cruciform and other symbols were a visible declaration of their owners’ Christian religious beliefs and practices and would have be recognised as such. Iconographical features that require an explanation relate to the chevron and the conjoined chevron cross saltire diamond patterns used on pottery from earlier pagan context, the former evidenced on metal fragments from Caerwent, Hambleton Moor, Stroud and Wolverton Grave 2005 box; the latter displayed on ten boxes Finglesham Grave 8, Dover Painted House, Harford Farm Grave 18, Hawnby, Kempston Graves 46 and 71, Lechlade Grave 14, Tidworth, Uncleby Grave 29 and Verulamium Grave 21 and the metal fragment from Wolfhamcote. The use of these decorative schemes and motifs indicates a continuation of pagan iconography and demonstrates a spiritual connection with the past; possibly an apotropaic devise linking pagan rites and customs to the new religion. It is conceivable that some of the females buried with boxes were whom Markus (1990, 33) termed "semi-or paganised Christians", who, uncertain of the new faith needed reassurance and the physical presence expressed in both pagan and Christian symbols on boxes.

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The Type l boxes were included in the grave assemblages of young female children (Appendix A), Didcot Grave 12, aged 3-5 years (Boyle et al 1995, 216), Marina Drive Grave E1 /E2, aged 8 years (Mathews 1962, 31, fig. 4), Marina Drive Grave E3, aged 8 years (ibid. 32, fig. 3) these were well furnished. By comparison the grave of a very young child or baby at Updown Eastry Grave 76:34 (Welch et al 2008, fig. 23) contained only a knife and box. This could indicate the importance of the box, perhaps belonging to the infant's mother and buried with her child not a symbolic gesture, but a final gift intended to act as a 'passport' into a Christian afterlife? That they were intended for display is demonstrated not only by their decorations but gilding evident on boxes from Marina Drive Grave B3 /B4 and Kempston Grave 46 and Grave 71. In some communities’ boxes do not appear to be unusual or scarce objects, thirteen cemeteries (Table 1) include more than one box or box components. Five were recovered from seventy-one graves in a Bronze Age barrow and ring ditch reused as an early medieval cemetery at Uncleby. The excavator, Cannon Greenwell (1820-1918) failed or was unable to determine the sex of some burials, as a consequence it is not possible to express a ratio of boxes to female burials, however they would appear to have been a common artefact among the small community buried there. Geake (1997, 58) considered that boxes may have been worn as part of the chatelaine complex, this is supported by their position in relation to some skeletal remains. However, the nature of boxes in that they are fragile, and their lids are inherently insecure makes it unlikely they were not worn on an everyday basic. It is possible they were worn only on special (holy?) days and festive occasions. Hills (2016, 55) makes a compelling argument that they were displayed in a special place of importance "perhaps a private shrine". At some burials they were placed in bags or purses (e g. Bidford-on-Avon Grave 100, Burwell Grave 121, Harford Farm Grave 18), or inside a wooden box or chest (e g. Lechlade Grave 14, Prittlewell, Sibertswold Grave 60, Uncleby Grave 1). Not a deliberate action to hide them from view at the time of burial, but an indication they were personal and intimate possession, artefacts of importance, placed there, as in life, for safe keeping. Of the eight Type ll boxes Stand Low now lost, St. Mary's undecorated, six have religious significance, defined by Christian iconography. Additionally, that from Cuxton Grave 306 has an incontrovertible biblical scene of the crucifixion site, Golgotha, this is convincing evidence of its use as a reliquary. Further, Gibson (2015, 8-9) argued that the myth or legend portrayed on the lid top and base of the Burwell Grave 42 box could be perceived as a biblical event Revelation (Mark 12: 4-17) expressed in a pagan setting and should viewed as a paradox and the imagery, Christian imagery? Additional indicators relating to Christian beliefs can be seen on the North Leigh box with an expanded terminal cross incised on the replacement lid top. Gibson (1993, 51), (Figures 15,16) demonstrated that the box could have been altered to give the box a Christian identity, a saltire had also been scratched on to the flange. 109

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The Bucklands Grave 107 with a quincunx on lid top and body base further strengthens an argument that these boxes are Christian artefacts and had a function within that religion. The cross with forked terminals on the Sibertswold box is similar to the cross on step design on contempory coinage (Gannon 2009, fig. 5.3) and jewellery (ibid. fig. 5); this appears to imitate in geometric form the expanded terminal cross. It is possible to speculate that the individually designed and higher skill level expressed in every Type ll boxes may indicate that the women buried with them had a special religious status within their community? Type lll boxes continue to be an enigma, the reason they have been included in this publication relates to the Cuxton Grave 306 box. Like the Type ll box from the same burial it has secondary faintly incised scene that records a biblical event, evidence that both boxes have a definite Christian connection and functioned as devotional objects. The boxes from Harford Farm, Little Wilbraham and Prittlewell are devoid of Christian iconography that from Kingston Down Grave 222 undecorated. It is possible that the superior neck closing stoppers on the Cuxton and Harford Farm boxes may have acted as ampoule to hold oil or water? A feature common to the boxes which may relate to their function is they have a chain fixing arrangement, to what if any purpose is unknown? The box from the Prittlewell the only box of any type from a male burial, placed inside a wooden box with other mundane artefacts with the exception of a silver spoon only adds to the difficulty in how to define Type lll boxes? They were not originally intended to be used as relic boxes, they are secular artefacts, their purpose remains elusive.

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Discussion "What are they?" Dating evidence relating to the deposition of boxes to the second half of the seventh century possibly early eighth is secure. The boxes appeared and disappeared within a c50 - 70-year period, less if Bayliss and Hines (2013, xii) are correct that regular burials with grave goods ceased two decades or more before the end of the seventh century. This time span coincided with the consolidation of the Christian religion and an increase in conversion by the ruling elite (ibid 548-554), (Yorke 2003, 242-269). Boxes were widely distributed across Anglo-Saxon England; however, it is may be no coincidence that two important centres of Christianity had large concentrations the Kingdoms of Kent with twelve, Northumbria eleven. Further a very high percentage carry that most recognisable Christian identifier, the cross. Reused components were respected, evidenced by the cruciform decorated pendants from Ilam and Marina Drive Grave E3. That the continuing use of familiar pagan symbols is an indication these were not abstract, random decorative displays; for in communities well versed in pagan customs and practices they act as a cultural conduit linking the past to the new Christian religion. It is possible that by the mid seventh century these had been adopted and incorporated into Christian iconography. Types l and ll boxes have in the past been generally referred to as secular artefacts work, thread or needle boxes, these terms are incorrect. This becomes apparent on close physical inspection of boxes. The thin sheet metal tubular shape of Type l boxes easily distorts, if they were ever used as household secular artefacts, striations on the metal resulting from the slide fit method of constant opening and closing the boxes would have been apparent. Other than the Aldborough box these are absent on those examined by the author. That so many display iconic Christian symbols, undermines attempts to argue for a non-Christian use. In respect of the five cruciform decorated Type ll boxes four (Burwell Grave 42, Cuxton, Dover Bucklands and Sibertswold) carry a cross on both lid top and body base, that from North Leigh lid top only. Further support is evidenced on the box from Cuxton with the indisputable biblical scenes portrayed, and hidden crosses serves only strengthens the argument that they had a Christian function. There is now sufficient evidence that Types l and ll boxes even those found without cruciform decoration were made for a specific purpose associated with the Christian religion. They should now be considered as Christian reliquaries and described and referenced as such, thus validating Hills conclusions. At this time uniquely, Cuxton Grave 306 Type lll example only demonstrates the box's secondary use, as a reliquary and the biblical decoration a declaration of its owner’s religious beliefs. Finally, the importance of all relic boxes other than their Christian identity lies not only in their function but in the different and sometimes unusual iconography, for these represent early examples of Anglo-Saxon folk art expressed on copper-alloy metal artefacts.

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CONCLUSION The author has proposed above that the containers were used in Christian worship, and they functioned as Christian reliquaries. A strange phoneme and possibly an unusual ceremonial type practice appears to have been applied to reliquaries prior to burial and eventual closure of the grave. Early in this study It became apparent that many boxes were consigned to the grave in a deliberately broken or deconstructed condition prior to back filling and the final closing of the grave cut. Seventeen Type l relic boxes are recorded as missing either lid top or body base, some both. In addition to metal components and fragments an undamaged complete lid top assembly Type l was recovered from the fire debris at the SFB at Dover Painted House (Kent), although from its condition it does not appear to have been included in the original fire. In 1997 a further complete lid assembly was recovered by metal detection from Ascot-under-Wychwood (Oxfordshire) and a uniquely a deconstructed Type ll found by field walking undertaken at the Burwell Village (Suffolk) site. All three, appear to be little used high-status artefacts manufactured and decorated with great skill. The early development of the Christianisation of AS Kingdoms is usually assumed to be driven by the ruling class and powerful elite who were responsible for the initial drive to eradicate heathen practices from the Anglo-Saxon people. They are encouraged and influenced by Christian communities in Gaul and Byzantine with "the most of all external influences obvious was Rome" (Mayre-Harding 1972). By the mid seventh century with an increase in the establishment of monastic and female religious institutions, assisted by missionary zeal, additional clergy, aided by an effective and active bureaucracy it would appear that individuals within the population were providing the principal momentum of acceptance of conversion. One more God in a pantheon of gods would have little effect on day-to-day life for a largely illiterate and uneducated population.

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WHY If the argument above is accepted that these containers are Christian Reliquaries, there is a need to examine possible theories for why they should be subjected to cultural erasure at this time? The interfaces between cultures and historic events are never straight forward, that between pagan and Christian religion is no different, daily life would continue unchanged, people would have been fluid moving between both before eventually accepting institutional and social control by converting to Christianity. Some may well have considered themselves semi paganised Christians, and an awareness that that the only difference between a pagan and a Christian Anglo-Saxon is an individual’s religious beliefs. Wamers (1995) lists a number of objects considered to be relics in an early Christian context, including "earth, stones, textiles, beads, medicine plants, seeds and animal bones." all, are found in Anglo-Saxon reliquaries. This list is unhelpful as any object can be viewed as a relic even one that has not been sanctified. Any individual or a community can constitute what is or not a relic, for each decision is based on personal belief and faith. All on that list can also be identified as what can be considered “good luck charms" a heathen practice unrelated to Christian relics? Relics as symbols and political power, have long played an important part in Christian worship reaching its zenith between the fourteenth and sixteenth century. At this time there is a need to examine how the early Christian worshippers and Church viewed the importance of relics. The author has proposed that these boxes originally functioned as portable containers to hold securely what were considered to be Christian relics and as such part of liturgical assemblage used by the clergy and population. A supplicant, through prayers and the power of relics, evokes Divine Intervention through a Christian God, saint or martyr to resolve an issue or request. If granted this action created and strengthened still further the connection between the populace and the church. By contrast a "good luck charm or Lucky charm " in a seventh century context relied on the supernatural probably an unknown supreme- being a pagan god or deity to answer requests? Unfortunately, many excavation reports do not list the contents of the relic boxes only grave contents. An exception is Harford Farm (Norwich) Grave 18. Here the excavator lifted the reliquary in a soil block and its contents extracted under laboratory conditions it contained nine objects including two copper alloy dress hooks. Two broken silver zoomorphic terminal and plaited chain from two pin suite. Two silver pins all contained within a leather purse. The broken pin suites suggest that these may relate to antique jewellery and possibly a non-reliquary possession. Other’s excavation reports record contents that appear to have a non-Christian connection (eg. a pair of iron shears and a cowrie shell (Butlers Field Grave 14), iron keys (Verulamium Grave 10), purse mount, (Marina Drive Grave E1/E2) Roman pottery (Barton-on-Humber Grave l) and various pottery shards at Yatesbury. 113

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It is possible that towards the end of the seventh century the use of the relic boxes could no longer be seen solely functioning as a religious object, they were also used to hold other artefacts perhaps even some with a pagan connection. One of the unintended consequences of enacting new secular and religious laws is a need increase bureaucratic control to ensure compliance. As an example, we know the Synod of Whitby (663-664) regulated the date of Easter this resulted in a schism between the Irish Church and missions located in Northumbria. As a consequence, the English church now appeared based firmly on Roman theology, this could indicate tighter control on what is acceptable to the English Church hierarchy in respect of worship and prayer. What I intend to argue is that by the using reliquaries to hold items that may have been pagan or practical artefacts the boxes were now considered polluted and as such dangerous. Furthermore, the established hierarchy may have held the view that the worship through relics were closely related to Greek- Roman pagan "hero worship" (Freeman,2011,9), as such they no longer had a role in Christian worship and were subjected to a use-taboo and break-up before finally being committed to the grave. The burial of the broken boxes as part of the grave assemblage continued, possibly outside the demands and control of the clergy as the community followed long established beliefs, customs and ritual even if they were viewed as a pagan. Whether the evidence provided above is enough to satisfy a highly critical and divided corpus of academic researchers and archaeologists remains to be seen.

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APPENDICES A: CHILDREN’S INHUMATION GRAVE ASSEMBLAGES Didcot Berkshire Grave 12 Female age c3-5 years. Necklace of six glass beads, knife blade, iron buckle, silver ring, fragment iron possible pin or toilet implement, iron and copper chain links. Possible iron nail, fragment of Roman pottery handle, copper-alloy box. Marina Drive Bedfordshire Grave E2 Female age 12 years. Iron knife. Necklace consisting of four amethysts, two glass beads, one amber bead, one fish bone. Hung from it were three pendants, two fish bones, a beaver tooth, silver wire ring. Bone ring silvered bronze short, long brooch, five-sided facetted crystal object. Another small iron knife, stone spindle whorl, polished milky quartz pebble. Four fragments of Roman glass, a mass of iron with embossed bronze mount, iron spike and the remains of two purses. Copper-alloy box. Marina Drive Bedfordshire Grave E3 Female age 8 years. Necklace consisting of fifteen beads of amethyst, amber, glass, fish bones and paste, secured by a silver clasp (number of individual beads not given in excavation report). Cylindrical silver box or locket, a silver wire earring with bead, pottery spindle whorl. Cowrie shell, iron knife and remains of a purse. Copper-alloy lid top or body base from box reused as a waist pendant. Updown Eastry Kent Grave 76:34 Burial of a very small child or baby. Knife, copper-alloy box.

Boyle, A, Dodd, A, Miles, D and Mudd, A, 1995 Two Oxfordshire Anglo-Saxon Cemeteries Beringsfield and Didcot. Thames Valley Landscape Monograph No.8 Oxfordshire Archaeological Unit. Oxford Gibson T and Harris P, 1994 Analysis of Anglo-Saxon Solder Deposited on a Copper-Alloy Disc from the Cemetery at Marina Drive Bedfordshire. Bedfordshire Archaeological Journal, 21 108-119 Mathews, C L, 1962 The Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Marina Drive Dunstable. Bedfordshire Archaeological Journal, 1 125-147 Fig. 4-8 Philp, B, Keller, P, 2002 The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery at Eastry, near Dover. Kent Archaeological Unit, Dover

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My thanks go to Vicki Herring who often from a rough sketch, scribbling and worn photocopies illustrated Figures 7,14,19,23 and 24. Peter Gray master copper-smith, friend and mentor, who using only hand tools explained and demonstrated the versatility and skill of Anglo-Saxon craftsmen and women who designed and made copper-alloy artefacts. John Blair and Catherine Hills and Anna Gannon for their continuing interest and support. Faye Minter, Riccardo Caravello and Donna Wreathal from Suffolk County Council Archaeological Department allowed me unlimited access to the yet unpublished Burwell Village relic box. Finally, I am indebted to the curators and staff of the museums visited over the past 35 years, who allowed me to examine these now fragile relic boxes, without their assistance this publication would not have been possible. Illustrations Figure 6 Leeds City Museum, Leeds, Yorkshire Figure 7 Oxfordshire Museum Services, Stanlake, Oxfordshire Figure 8 Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Figure 9,10 Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, Dover Figure 11 English Heritage, Swindon, Wiltshire Figure 12 Archaeological Services & Consultancy Services Milton Keynes. PAS London Figures 15,16 Proceedings of The Cambridge Antiquarian Society, Cambridge Figures 17,20 HS1 Ltd. CTRL Report 92, London Figure 21 Anglia Museum Services, Gressenhall, Norfolk. Photographs Plate 2 Plate 4 Plate 5

English Heritage, Swindon Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck, Austria Professor Manolis Andronikos, Athens Greece

Copyright During the past two years every effort has been made to contact the copyright holders of the illustrations and photographs used in this publication. Some have acknowledged and agreed, others have not responded. Should any copyright holder require additional acknowledgement, other than that those above, please contact the author so that amendments can be made in future editions.

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Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Early Anglo-Saxon Christian Reliquaries

Articles inside

Bibliography

Acknowledgements

Conclusion

Secular Art or Sacred Symbols ?

Appendix A

What are They ?

Fragments, component parts and Corpus

Technical Details Type lll

Abstract

Corpus Type l

Technical details design and manufacturing techniques Type ll

Distribution Map

Archaeological and Scientific dating evidence

List of Figures Tables, and Plates

Technical details design and manufacturing techniques Type l