Accession No

2017.74


Description

Mineralised textile fragment.


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

2017.74; MAA: MN0159; SF 609 [CAU Small Finds no.]; 2012T52 [Treasure no.]; CAM-A04EF7 [PAS no.]


Cultural Affliation


Material

Metal; Iron; Mineralised textile


Local Term


Measurements

26mm


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. From sample 10L.
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)
Mineralised textile fragment.
Event Date 11/1/2019
Author: Imogen Gunn (admin)


Context (Other)
This mineralised textile fragment does not have an entry in Evans et al.'s Grave Catalogue, nor does it appear in Penelope Walter Rogers' contributions regarding textiles. It is possible that it was taken from Sample 10L after the analysis took place.
Event Date 11/1/2019
Author: Imogen Gunn (admin)


FM:282458

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