tour 6 of 6
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.