New research into the Venus of Willendorf has shed more light on the fascinating prehistoric figurine’s construction and its possible origins. The c.30,000-year-old statue is exactly 11cm tall and depicts a stylised, faceless adult female, with exaggerated sexual features and an elaborate headdress or hairstyle. A number of other Palaeolithic…
What is it? This 6th-century ivory comb, which may have been used by its owner to style his hair and beard, was found in a grave in Germany, in an early medieval toiletry bag that also contained a small pair of scissors for personal grooming. The ivory comb is approximately…
This small lion figurine, which probably dates to c.AD 1300-1500, was found last year by a metal-detectorist on cultivated land near St Teath in Cornwall. The 6.8cm-high animal, which is made from copper-alloy and weighs 173g, was most likely cast as a decorative element originally attached to one of the…
This copper-alloy Roman vessel mount, produced sometime between AD 43 and AD 410, was found last year by a metal-detectorist on farmland near St Ives, Cornwall. The c.4.5cm-tall mount, most likely for a tripod, may once have supported some kind of vessel or tabletop in conjunction with two other mounts,…
The plate was found in 2021 at the Devitsa V cemetery in the Ostrogozhsky District of the Voronezh region, Russia.…
Seal matrices are inscribed, flat-bottomed metal items used to make impressions on wax to create ‘seals’ – marks of authentication commonly appended to medieval documents. They are made, typically, of lead or copper-alloy and, more rarely, of precious metal. This example, dating to the early 13th century, is made of…
This coin, found near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, is one of a series of high denomination gold coins issued during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603). Elizabethan coins are among the objects most frequently reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS). Gold half-pound coins like this one, however, are exceptionally rare: to-date,…
What is it? This cage cup, or vas diatretum, dates to the 4th century AD. The intricate, colourless glass bowl is 12.6cm tall and 15cm in diameter and has a flared rim. A Latin inscription in the central part of the vessel reads ‘vivas feliciter’ (‘live in bliss’) in large…
Coins of Harold II Godwinson (r. 1066), killed at the Battle of Hastings, are not common – the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme has recorded only 28 such single finds in 24 years. Even rarer are those minted in Harold’s name from Hastings. This coin comes from a hoard found…
Carrying on the ornithological theme from last issue’s ‘Finds Tray’, which profiled an early medieval brooch featuring a bird, this Roman lock component was cheerfully cast in the shape of a duck. The copper-alloy object was found last autumn near Basingstoke in Hampshire, and it is thought to date to…
What is it? This 51,000-year-old engraved toe bone is one of the oldest works of art ever found. The bone, which is the second phalanx of a giant deer, is 56.8mm long, 38.9mm wide, and 30.9mm thick, and weighs 36.1g. The front of the bone is carved with five overlapping…
David Porter on Military History's doomed inventions.…
Crafted from copper-alloy, this early medieval disc brooch features a bird holding a branch (outlined above by Peter Reavill, Finds Liaison Officer for Shropshire and Hereford). The item is thought to date to between c.AD 800 and c.AD 1000, and it was found on farmland this past summer by a…
The painted sculpture depicting a seated woman was found inside a burial chamber with other rich grave goods.…
Snakes are rarely depicted in rock art in northern Europe, and are known to have had symbolic significance in the later world views of the Finno-Ugric and Sámi peoples…
Probably dating to the 2nd-3rd centuries AD, the holder is formed into a zoomorphic creature.…
This is a 7th-century gesture figurine of a man, made of copper alloy. It was found by a metal-detectorist last December in the parish of Kintbury, West Berkshire.…
The image shown here represents a fire altar with a triple-pointed crown in the flames as a central motif, surrounded by plant scrolls containing stylised leopards and tigers.…
This ring is a significant discovery because it represents the earliest gold object from a clear and well-dated context discovered in this region so far.…
This is a burnt silver seal matrix, dating to the 13th or 14th century, which was found last August by a metal-detectorist near King’s Lynn, Norfolk. Despite the damage, clearly seen in the centre of the matrix is a reused oval Roman intaglio – an unusual addition. It is not…