Length: 35.000 cm

P&EE 1924 1-9 1

Room 2

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War and art in Iron Age Britain

Decorated bronze mirror

The decoration seen here is on the back of the mirror, while the front would originally have been highly polished to provide a reflection. The pattern is very complex: a clover-leaf pattern is symmetrically repeated on the left- and right-hand side of the mirror. The pattern may have been laid out using a compass.

Recent archaeologists have suggested that mirrors should be seen as symbols of female status and power, making as significant a statement for women as swords did for men. However, there is very little evidence to tell us which sex used mirrors, or if they were used exclusively by one sex or another.