Description

Summary: 6 space plates of amber bored for stringing, with numerous round beads strung between them, which probably formed part of two collars for the neck (some, possibly two are missing), most found with a secondary (?) cremation in bowl barrow Upton Lovell G2e, excavated by William Cunnington

Research results

A group of seven Early Bronze Age amber spacer plates or bead fragments, from a necklace found with a probable secondary cremation in the Bowl Barrow Upton Lovell G2e ('The Golden Barrow'), by William Cunnington in 1803 and 1807. This group includes six spacers and a single sub-triangular terminal which had been found with 'over 1000' amber beads, probably originally strung between them. The spacers are decorated in the 'basic pattern', with relatively shallow V-perforations separated by long, parallel through perforations; a detailed examination of these allowed Verkooijen to infer the presence of two separate sets within the necklace group. Combined with the absence of a second terminal and the ancient damage apparent on several plates it may be that some may have been reused from older necklaces. Verkooijen's examination also called into question restoration work carried out in the late 20th century, where six fragments have been attached to create three apparently more complete plates. In only one case does this seem to have been correctly done, and two of the attached fragments do not fit whilst the third attached pair incorperates one plate from a separate barrow at Oakley Down G8, in Dorset. Interestingly, the two fragments are actually a relatively close match, however there is no archaeological reason to link the two.

This necklace is discussed by Dr Ken Wardle as part of a wider re-assesment of links between Early Bronze Age 'Wessex' culture grave series in Southern England and the Mycenaean graves of Greece. They suggest that distinctive amber spacer-plate necklaces such as these, which are found in both regions, were probably produced at the source of the amber in the Baltic and then transported as part of wide ranging networks of contact and exchange. They also suggest that more recent radiocarbon dating evidence demonstrates that there may have been some overlap between the two grave series, when the consensus since the late 1960s has been that there was a gap of at least several centuries.

This necklace was examined by Kate Verkooijen as part of her PhD thesis (2014). This extensive study examined a huge number of Bronze age amber necklaces from across Britain and the European mainland, as well as obtaining X-ray images where possible and attempting to produce a replica with a variety of different drill bits in order to clarify the exact detail of decoration and better understand production techniques.

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.