bracelet
- Museum number
- 1850,0601.5
- Description
-
Gold bracelet formed of globular beads on a gold chain of double figure-of-eight links, with a wheel-shaped ornament. There are 15 of the hollow gold beads. The 8-spoked wheel closely matches the clasps of the necklaces 1850,0601.3 and 4, especially that of the former, but it is simply a decorative, amuletic feature here, not a fastener. The bracelet was designed to slip on over the hand, so does not require a clasp. The wheel is formed of plain and beaded wire, and has a gold boss at the centre, set in a small circle of beaded wire, and globules at the ends of the spokes. On the 5th link from one end a tiny silver ring is attached to one of the gold links.
- Production date
- 1stC-2ndC
- Dimensions
-
Diameter: 6 millimetres (diameter of individual gold beads)
-
Diameter: 19 millimetres (diameter of wheel ornament)
-
Diameter: 70 millimetres
-
Weight: 16.15 grammes
- Curator's comments
- The history of this hoard is obscure. We know that it was found around 1811, but not where it was found. The hoard was said to have included about 280 coins, but all but one of these, and probably other objects, were dispersed before The British Museum was able to acquire what was left of the treasure in 1850. The surviving coin is a denarius of Antoninus Pius (reigned AD 138-161) issued in AD 139.
The treasure was probably a votive deposit at a shrine of the Mother-goddesses near the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall.
- Location
- On display (G49/dc11)
- Exhibition history
-
Exhibited:
2013 23 May - 15 Sep, Wallsend, Segedunum Roman Fort, Spotlight: The Backworth Hoard
1993 17 Jun-26 Sep, Cologne, Romisches-Germanisches Museum, Goldschmuck der Romischen Frau
- Acquisition date
- 1850
- Acquisition notes
- Found in 1811 or 1812, exact findspot unknown.
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1850,0601.5