Description

Summary: 3 beads made from sectioning a fossil encrinite stem (or sea lily) found in a primary deposit (no inhumation) in (confluent) bowl barrow Winterbourne Stoke G64a (i), excavated by William Cunnington

Research results

A group of 3 fossil encrinite beads, found in a primary deposit in bowl barrow Winterbourne Stoke G64a, excavated by William Cunnington in the early 19th century. They were found in the smaller of two cists in the barrow, alongside a 48 fired clay beads (17 of which survive) together probably forming a simple necklace. Fired clay beads are actually extremely unusual, and they may have been attempting to imitate disc beads of jet or shale.

A separate cist within the barrow to that containing these grave goods contained a sheep inhumation. Wilkin (2011) discusses this grave group alongside a number of other Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age graves in Wiltshire, Dorset, and Oxfordshire, in order to explore the significance of the inclusion of animal remains in graves of this period for human-animal relationships. They suggest that whilst these are not frequent inclusions, only appearing in 15% of graves, they are disproportionately non-meat bearing elements such as skulls, horns, and antlers and may have had symbolic connotations. He suggests that animal remains linked practical and cosmological concerns; for example: the quality of a year’s antler harvest may have impacted communities’ ability to construct a monument, tying social identities to natural cycles. The inclusion of domestic cattle and wild deer in the same graves may have had significance in terms of how the dichotomy of hunting and farming was viewed by contemporary communities, whilst the animal remains themselves may have referenced the inherent characteristic of the animals themselves and assisted in the evocation of spirits or powers, or have had symbolic potential.

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.