Accession No
2017.72
Description
Small iron fragment. Corroded surface.
Place
Europe; British Isles; England; Cambridgeshire; Trumpington; Trumpington Meadows
Period
Anglo Saxon 7th century
Source
Grosvenor Britain & Ireland [donor]; British Museum Treasure Trove; Cambridge Archaeological Unit [excavator]
Department
Arch
Reference Numbers
2017.72; MAA: MN0159; <1864> [CAU Catalogue no.]; SF 626 [CAU Small Finds no.]; 2012T52 [Treasure no.]; CAM-A04EF7 [PAS no.]
Cultural Affliation
Material
Metal; Iron
Local Term
Measurements
8mm
Events
Context (Field collection)
In 2010-2011, the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) undertook excavations along Trumpington's riverside in advance of the construction of the Trumpington Meadows housing development by Grosvenor Britain & Ireland. During the excavations an Early Anglo-Saxon settlement was found and, within the settlement, four burials. The burials were clustered together in a row, although radiocarbon dates indicate that they all may have been buried at different points in the seventh century. On Saturday, 19 February 2011 Grave 1 was excavated, which revealed a rare bed burial. It contained the remains of a girl, aged between 14 and 18 years, who was buried with a gold and garnet cross, linked gold and garnet pins, a chatelaine, a comb and a knife. She had been dressed in fine linen tabbies and a bead-edged shawl and was laid on a wood-framed bed, with a wool blanket covering a mattress. This grave is almost certainly the last burial of the four.
Event Date 19/2/2011
Author: Imogen Gunn (admin)
Context (Field collection)
Excavated from Context 3069.3, Sample 3L.
Event Date 19/2/2011
Author: Imogen Gunn (admin)
Context (Auction / Sale)
The cross and pins, together with the associated burial, were declared Treasure under the terms of the Treasure Act 1996. In December 2017 the landowners, Grosvenor Britain & Ireland, waived their claim on the reward thereby donating the whole burial (2017.58-2017.74) to MAA.
Event Date 12/2017
Author: Imogen Gunn (admin)
Context (References)
Evans, C., Lucy, S. and Patten, R. (2018). 'Anglo-Saxon Burials and Settlement'. In Riversides: Neolithic Barrows, a Beaker Grave, Iron Age and Anglo-Saxon Burials and Settlement at Trumpington, Cambridge. Cambridge: McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.
Event Date 2018
Author: Imogen Gunn (admin)
Description (Physical description)
Small iron fragment. Corroded surface.
Event Date 10/1/2019
Author: Imogen Gunn (admin)
Context (Other)
This small iron fragment does not have an entry in Evans et al.'s Grave Catalogue and does not appear to be referenced in any of the other sections of the 'Anglo-Saxon Burials and Settlement' chapter. The object list that accompanied the Trumpington Cross from the British Museum Treasure Trove (see Object File) described this as '[two] very small round fragments - unidentified'; however only one fragment was seen and catalogued. It is not currently known what type of object this fragment belongs to.
Event Date 11/1/2019
Author: Imogen Gunn (admin)
FM:282456
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