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This intricately decorated early medieval harness pendant dates to AD 475-570, and was found in Quarley, Hampshire, on 13 July. It is made of copper-alloy, which has been cast and then gilded to achieve a gold finish.
Pendants such as these were attached to harnesses using a separate hinged mount, and were often highly stylised, with designs reflecting the rider’s allegiance or social status. The decoration on this example is known as Salin’s Style I, a popular Anglo-Saxon motif which features anthropomorphic and zoomorphic imagery.
The crescent shape of the plate has a central anthropomorphic mask, which is made up of a triangular nose, round eyes, a small circular mouth, and a curling beard which splits below. Two curls on either side of the mask connect it to flanking bird heads, which have curved beaks, one of which has been lost due to an old break, and brows crested with curled tendrils. An arched border above the mask consists of punched dot borders, and the reverse of the pendant is flat and undecorated. The double-lugged suspension hoop would have been used to attach the pendant to a horse’s harness.
The stylised decoration of this pendant has been interpreted as a possible representation of the Norse god Woden (Odin) with his two ravens (Huginn and Muninn), who would fly through the world to bring information to the god. The heads could also be interpreted as Odin’s two wolves (Geri and Freki), or as eagles.
Examples of pendants with similar designs have been found in Dorset (search for DOR-110E95 on the Portable Antiquities Scheme’s database), York (YORYM-D3F6A6), Lincolnshire (NLM-F2F7C2), and Suffolk (SF-2B80FC).
For more information about this fragment, see https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/1174286 or search for SUR-7B6EBA on the PAS database.
The Portable Antiquities Scheme is an initiative to encourage the recording of archaeological objects found by members of the public in England and Wales. For more information on the Scheme, and to browse its database of over 1.5 million finds, visit https://finds.org.uk.
Text: Rebecca Preedy / Image: Surrey County Council
