Description

Summary: 1 large shale button found with an internment under a large Sarsen stone, from Winterbourne Monkton, Wiltshire, excavated by Eyles, 1856.

Research results

A large conical Bronze Age jet button, found by the antiquarian Eyles in 1856, when he excavated a burial underneath a large saren stone in Winterbourne Monkton. Other grave goods included a jet belt ring and a second, smaller button. Jet buttons are found widely across Britain and Ireland and most are associated with Beaker period graves, although a small number, mainly in wessex, are sometimes found with slightly later graves.

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.