Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T17:56:59.616Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Iron Age Mirror Burial at Pegsdon, Shillington, Bedfordshire: An Interim Account

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Gilbert Burleigh ,
Vincent Megaw ,
Helen Ashworth  and
Mansel Spratling
Gilbert Burleigh
Affiliation:
10 Cromwell Way, Pirton, Hitchin SG5 3RD, UK. E-mail: .
Vincent Megaw
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Flinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide 5001, Australia. E-mail: .
Helen Ashworth
Affiliation:
Heritage Network, II Furmston Court, Icknield Way, Letchworth SG6 1UJ, UK. E-mail: .
Mansel Spratling
Affiliation:
73 Coolidge Gardens, Cottenham, Cambridge CB24 8RQ, UK.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In November 2000 metal detectorists located a decorated copper-alloy mirror, a single silver Knotenfibel brooch and some pottery sherds at Pegsdon, Shillington, Bedfordshire. Subsequent excavation of the findspot uncovered a Late Iron Age cremation burial pit associated with further pot sherds and a single fragment of calcined bone. The opportunity is taken in this preliminary account to revisit both the occurrence in southern England of the brooch type and to discuss the mirror's decoration in relation to the variation of views as to the British mirror series as a whole, and in particular with regard to other recent mirror discoveries. The burial is discussed in its local context and the possible significance of the topography in relation to the site is highlighted.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 87 , September 2007 , pp. 109 - 140
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abdy, R A 2002. Romano-British Coin Hoards, Princes RisboroughGoogle Scholar
Almgren, O 1923. Studien über nordeuropäische Fibelformen der ersten nachchristlichen Jahrhunderte mil Berücksichtigung der provinzialrömischen und südrussichen Formen, Mannus-Bibliothek, 32, Würzburg (reprinted 1973, Bonn)Google Scholar
Ashworth, H 1990. North Hertfordshire Museums Pottery Fabric Series: late pre-Roman Iron Age, Romano-British and sub-Roman, LetchworthGoogle Scholar
Bradley, R J 2000. An Archaeology of Natural Places, LondonGoogle Scholar
Brown, A 1994. ‘A Romano-British shell-gritted pottery and tile manufacturing site at Harrold, Bedfordshire’, Bedfordshire Archaeol, 21, 19–107Google Scholar
Burleigh, G R 2005. ‘Romano-British remains on a site near Baldock, Hertfordshire’, CBA Mid-Anglia Newslett, Spring 2005, 6–10Google Scholar
Burleigh, G R and Fitzpatrick-Matthews, K forthcoming. Excavations at Baldock, Hertfordshire, 1978–1996, NorwichGoogle Scholar
Burleigh, G R and Jackson, R P J 2007. ‘The Senuna treasure and shrine at Ashwell, Herts’, in Continuity and Innovation in Religion in the Roman West (eds Hausler, R and King, A), 1–15, LondonGoogle Scholar
Cheesman, C 1994. ‘The coins’, in O'Connell and J Bird 1994, 31–92Google Scholar
Crummy, N 1992. ‘The Roman small finds from the Gilberd School site’, in Excavations at Culver Street, the Gilberd School, and other sites in Colchester 1971–85 (ed Crummy, P), Colchester Archaeol Rep 6, 206–50, ColchesterGoogle Scholar
Curteis, M and Burleigh, G R 2002. ‘Shillington A and B, Bedfordshire’, in Coin Hoards from Roman Britain, 9, 65–74Google Scholar
Farley, M 1983. ‘A mirror burial at Dorton, Buckinghamshire’, Proc Prehist Soc, 49, 269–302CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feugère, M 1978. ‘Les fibules gallo-romaines du Musée Denon à Chalon-sur-Saône’, Mémoires Soc Hist et d'Archéologie de Chalonsur-Saône, 47, 77–158Google Scholar
Fitzpatrick, A P 1996. ‘A first-century AD “Durotrigan” inhumation burial with a decorated Iron Age mirror from Portesham, Dorset’, Proc Dorset Nat Hist Archaeol Soc, 118, 51–70Google Scholar
Fitzpatrick, A P (ed) 2006. ‘Near Baldock, Hertfordshire’, in ‘Roman Britain in 2005’, Britannia, 37, 411–13Google Scholar
Fitzpatrick, A P (ed) forthcoming. ‘Ashwell, Hertfordshire’, in ‘Roman Britain in 2006’, Britannia, 38Google Scholar
Fitzpatrick, A P and Megaw, J V S 1987. ‘Further finds from the Le Câtillon hoard’, Proc Prehist Soc, 53, 435–44CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foster, J 1980. The Iron Age Moulds from Gussage All Saints, Brit Mus Occas Pap 12, LondonGoogle Scholar
Fox, A and Pollard, S 1973. ‘A decorated bronze mirror from an Iron Age settlement at Holcombe, near Uplyme, Dorset’, Antiq J, 53 (1) 16–41CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, C 1949. ‘Celtic mirror handles in Britain, with special reference to the Colchester handle’, Archaeol Cambrensis, 103, 24–44Google Scholar
Fox, C 1958. Pattern and Purpose: a survey of early Celtic art in Britain, CardiffGoogle Scholar
Fox, C and Hull, M R 1948. ‘The incised ornament on the Celtic mirror from Colchester, Essex’, Antiq J, 28, 123–37CrossRefGoogle Scholar
France, N R and Gobel, B M 1985. The Romano-British Temple at Harlow, GloucesterGoogle Scholar
Frey, O-H with Megaw, J V S 1976. ‘Palmette and circle: early Celtic art in Britain and its continental background’, Proc Prehist Soc, 42, 47–65CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giles, M 2007. ‘Making metal and forging relations: ironworking in the British Iron Age’, Oxford J Archaeol, 26 (4), 395–413CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giles, M and Joy, J 2007. ‘Mirrors in the British Iron Age: performance, revelation and power’, in The Book of the Mirror: an interdisciplinary collection exploring the cultural story of the mirror (ed Anderson, M), 16–31, CambridgeGoogle Scholar
Giles, M forthcoming. ‘“Seeing red”: the aesthetics of martial objects in the Iron Age of East Yorkshire’, in Rethinking Celtic Art (eds Garrow, D, Gosden, C and Hill, J D), OxfordGoogle Scholar
Hill, J D 2002. ‘Shillington, Bedfordshire: Iron Age silver brooch, bronze mirror and pottery fragments (P&EE 79)’, in Treasure Annual Report 2000, 15–16, LondonGoogle Scholar
Hill, J D 2004. ‘Horncastle area, Lincolnshire: Iron Age silver brooch fragment’, Treasure Annual Report 2003, 45, LondonGoogle Scholar
Hill, J D 2006. ‘The mirror’, in Johns 2006, 32–6CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobbs, R 2003. Treasures: finding our past, LondonGoogle Scholar
Hull, M R and Hawkes, C F C 1987. Corpus of Ancient Brooches in Britain: pre-Roman bow brooches, BAR Brit Ser 168, OxfordCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobsthal, P F 1944. Early Celtic Art (reprinted with corrections, 1969), OxfordGoogle Scholar
Johns, C 2006. ‘An Iron Age sword and mirror cist burial from Bryher, Isles of Scilly’, Cornish Archaeol, 41–42, 1–79Google Scholar
Jope, E M 2000. Early Celtic Art in the British Isles, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Joy, J 2007. ‘Reflections on the Iron Age: biographies of Iron Age mirrors’, unpublished PhD thesis, University of SouthamptonGoogle Scholar
Krämer, W 1971. ‘Silberne Fibelpaare aus dem letzen vorchristlichen Jahrhundert’, Germania, 49, 111–32Google Scholar
Legendre, R M and Pléchaud, S 1985. ‘Une sépulture à outils du début de La Tène à La Chaussée-sur-Marne (Marne)’, Préhistoire et protohistoire en Champagne Ardenne, 9, 57–66Google Scholar
Lowery, P R and Savage, R D A 1976. ‘Celtic design with compasses as seen on the Holcombe mirror’, in Celtic Art in Ancient Europe: five protohistoric centuries/L'art Celtique en Europe protohistorique débuts, développements, styles, techniques: proceedings of the colloquy held in 1972 at the Oxford Maison Française (eds Duval, P-M and Hawkes, C F C), 219–26, LondonGoogle Scholar
Lowery, P R, Savage, R D A and Wilkins, R L 1971. ‘Scriber, graver, scorper, tracer: notes on experiments in bronzeworking technique’, Proc Prehist Soc, 37, 167–82CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowery, P R, Savage, R D A and Wilkins, R L 1976. ‘A technical study of the designs on the British mirror series’, Archaeologia, 105, 99–126CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Megaw, R and Megaw, V 2001. Celtic Art from its Beginnings to the Book of Kelts, 2nd edn, LondonGoogle Scholar
Megaw, R and Megaw, V 2005. Early Celtic Art in Britain and Ireland, 2nd edn, Princes RisboroughGoogle Scholar
Northover, J P 1995. ‘The technology of metal-working: bronze and gold’, in The Celtic World (ed Green, M J), 285–309, LondonGoogle Scholar
Northover, J P and Salter, C J 1990. ‘Decorative metallurgy of the Celts’, Materials Characterization, 25 (1), 109–23CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Connell, M G and Bird, J 1994. ‘The Roman temple at Wanborough, excavations 1985–1986’, Surrey Archaeol Collect, 82, 1–169Google Scholar
Parfitt, K 1998. ‘A Late Iron Age burial from Chilham Castle, near Canterbury, Kent’, Proc Prehist Soc, 64, 343–51CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rees, A and Rees, B 1961. Celtic Heritage: ancient tradition in Ireland and Wales, LondonGoogle Scholar
Renger, J et al. 2006. ‘Measures’, in Brill's New Pauly: encyclopaedia of the ancient world (eds Cancik, H and Schneider, H), VIII, 531–5, Leiden and BostonGoogle Scholar
Rook, T, Lowery, P R, Savage, R D A and Wilkins, R L 1982. ‘An Iron Age bronze mirror from Aston, Hertfordshire’, Antiq J, 62 (1), 18–34CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schubert, F 1992. ‘Metrologische Untersuchungen zu einem keltischen Langenmass’, Germania, 70, 293–305Google Scholar
Sealey, P R 2006. ‘Two new decorated Iron Age mirror finds from Essex’, in A Victory Celebration: papers on the archaeology of Colchester and Late Iron Age Roman Britain presented to Philip Crummy (ed Ottaway, P), 11–19, ColchesterGoogle Scholar
Spratling, M G 1970. ‘The late pre-Roman Iron Age bronze mirror from Old Warden’, Bedfordshire Archaeol J, 5, 9–16Google Scholar
Spratling, M G 1972. ‘Southern British decorated bronzes of the late pre-Roman Iron Age’, unpublished PhD thesis, University College London, Institute of ArchaeologyGoogle Scholar
Spratling, M G 1976. ‘Tores in Celtic Europe 500–1 BC’, in Jewellery through 7000 Years (ed Tait, H), 90–9, LondonGoogle Scholar
Spratling, M G 1979. ‘The debris of metal working’, in Gussage All Saints: an Iron Age settlement in Dorset (ed Wainwright, G J), Department Environment Archaeol Rep 10, 125–49, LondonGoogle Scholar
Spratling, M G forthcoming. ‘On the aesthetics of the ancient Britons’, in Rethinking Celtic Art (eds Garrow, D, Gosden, C and Hill, J D), OxfordGoogle Scholar
Stead, I M 1985. The Battersea Shield, LondonGoogle Scholar
Stead, I M 1986. ‘The earliest burials of the Aylesford Culture’, in Problems in Economic and Social Archaeology (eds Sieveking, G de G, Longworth, I H and Wilson, K E), 401–16, LondonGoogle Scholar
Stead, I M 1996. Celtic Art in Britain before the Roman Conquest, 2nd edn, LondonGoogle Scholar
Stead, I M and Rigby, V 1986. Baldock: the excavation of a Roman and pre-Roman settlement, 1968–1972, Britannia Monogr Ser 7, LondonGoogle Scholar
Stead, I M and Rigby, V 1989. Verulamium: the King Harry Lane site, Engl Heritage Archaeol Rep 12, LondonGoogle Scholar
Stevick, R D 2004. ‘The ancestry of “coherent geometry” in insular designing’, J Royal Soc Antiq Ireland, 134, 5–32Google Scholar
Thompson, I 1982. Grog-Tempered ‘Belgic’ Pottery of South-Eastern England, BAR Brit Ser 108, OxfordCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorpe, R and Wells, J 2003. Land North of Pegsdon Common Farm, Shillington, Bedfordshire, BedfordGoogle Scholar
Verger, S 1994. ‘Les tombes à char de la Tène ancienne en Champagne et les rites funéraires aristocratiques en Gaul de l'est au Ve siècle avant J-C’, unpublished thesis for the Doctoral de l'Université, University of BourgogneGoogle Scholar
Werner, J 1977. ‘Spät-latèneschwerter nordischer Herkunft’, in Symposium: Ausklang der Latène-Zivilisation und Anfänge der germanischen Besiedlung im mitteleren Donaugebiet (ed Chropovsky, B), 367–401, BratislavaGoogle Scholar