Description

Summary: 1 polished bone plaque (or wristguard ?) made of rib bone found with a secondary cremation in Bowl Barrow Wilsford G60, excavated by William Cunnington and attributed to this grave by Sir Richard Colt-Hoare.

Research results

A Bronze Age bone plate, found with a secondary cremation in Bowl Barrow Wilsford G60 when it was excavated by William Cunnington. Other grave goods from the burial include a small dagger, a pair of whetstones and a perforated antler macehead or hammer. The plate is made from a highly polished cattle rib, with carefully bevelled edges. It is one of four similar bone plates from rich burials in Wiltshire, and although lacking perforations it is thought to have been sewn onto clothes and perhaps served as arm ornaments, for they are too fragile to have served as functional wrist guards.

This object was examined as part of the research published in Ritual in Early Bronze Age Grave Goods; a six-year research project carried out by Professor John Hunter and Dr Anne Woodward and funded by the Leverhulme Trust. Aided by a large number of other specialists the pair undertood an exhuastive study examining over 1000 objects held in 13 museums across the country in order to provide an extensive overview of burial practices in the period and identify regional practices.