cauldron
- Museum number
- 1859,0122.13
- Description
-
Large copper-alloy cauldron. The substantial part of one side is missing but otherwise the metal is in good condition. The top has been reinforced at the top by conservators with a flat strip bridging the broken area at the rim. The hemispherical bowl comprises of a single sheet and has a flattish base. Opposite the missing section is a triangular arrangement of rivet holes indicating where the handle was attached.
- Production date
- 600 BC - 400 BC
- Dimensions
-
Circumference: 1850 millimetres (approx. max at rim)
- Curator's comments
- Jody Joy (2014) notes:
"The cauldron from the River Thames listed as ‘London’ has been traditionally assigned typologically to Hallstatt D (Hawkes & Smith 1957, 191-194, Fig. 11). Labelled as ‘Type Hundersingen-Narce’ by Gerloff (2010, 371-2) and interpreted as a possible import (Hawkes & Smith 1957, Fig. 12), it comprises a large, globular-shaped bowl manufactured from a single piece of copper-alloy. The cauldron has an infolding rim. Three rivet holes are visible on this rim indicating a point of handle attachment. Although the handles are now missing, a similar profile and arrangement of rim and handle attachment is seen on examples dating to Hallstatt D from the Continent (Bataille 2008, Fig. 18). A sheet fragment with in-turned rim from Luxulyan, Cornwall could also be an example of a cauldron of this type (Gerloff 2010, 371-372, No. 7)."
See: Joy, J. P. (2014). ‘Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble’: Iron Age and Early Roman Cauldrons of Britain and Ireland. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 80 327-362.
References:
Gerloff, S. 2010. Atlantic cauldrons and buckets of the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages in Western Europe: with a review of comparable vessels from Central Europe and Italy. Mainz: Prähistorische Bronzefunde Abteilung II, Band 18.
Bataille, G. 2008. Les Celtes: des mobiliers aux cultes. Dijon: Èditions Univeritaires de Dijon.
Hawkes, C.F.C. and Smith, M.A. 1957. On some buckets and cauldrons of the bronze and early Iron Ages. Antiquaries Journal 37, 131-198.
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1859
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1859,0122.13