Description

Summary: 2 segmented faience beads (each six segments long), found with a primary cremation in disc barrow Wilsford G3, excavated by William Cunnington

Research results

A pair of Bronze Age segmented faience beads, found with a primary cremation in disc barrow Wilsford G3, excavated by William Cunnington. The burial, contained in a small circular pit, had been deposited with a small necklace of faience, amber and jet beads, with the contrast between bright reds, blues and black doubtlessly being quite striking.

Faience beads in Britain and Ireland were discussed by Sheridan and Shortland (2004) in their reassesment of the evidence as part of the National Museum of Scotland's faience project. This project obtained new radiocarbon dates for a number of burials containing faience beads across the country, pushing back the presumed date of the appearance of faience beads in Britain to c. 2,000 BC, with a currecny lasting to around 1,500BC. Their reanalysis of the composition and production of these beads has suggested that they were infact produced in Britain, rather than imported as was previously assumed, and may be linked to the tin trade of South-Western Britain.

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.