KENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY  -- RESEARCH   Studying and sharing Kent's past      Homepage

Archaeologia Cantiana -  Vol. 69  1955  page 22

THE JUTISH CEMETERY AT LYMINGE    By Alan Warhurst, B.A., A.M.A.
   Finds. An iron knife at the left arm.
   An iron purse-mount (Fig. 4, No. 2) at the left arm. The purse-mount is incomplete but its size has been restored on the basis that the corroded remains of the base of a small iron buckle indicate the centre of the mount (cf. The purse-mount from grave 22) . The purse contained
a worked flint (Fig. 10, No. 3).
   An iron buckle (Fig. 9, No. 5)
   GRAVE 31. A man; 5 ft. 7 in.; 40-45 years of age; supine full length, arms straight, head pillowed; skeleton in good condition; the skull had fallen backwards off the lower jaw; 110 deg., 2 ft. 9 in. deep.
   Finds. An iron spearhead (Fig. 4, No. 7) at the right hand side of the skull. No ferrule was found.
   An iron knife at the left arm.
   A bronze buckle (Fig. 9, No. 6) at the right waist, tongue pointing right.
   A bronze brooch (Fig. 6, No. 1) of unusual form at the right waist. Each arm of the brooch is inlaid with bronze plate punched with ring and dot decoration.
   An iron shield-boss (Fig. 4, No. 5) at the left arm (Pl. IVa). This shield-boss was intact when found but subsequently fractured in attempted cleaning. An iron shield-grip (Fig. 4, No. 8) and four circular iron plates (one illustrated Fig. 4, No. 9) were found with the boss. The shield had been inserted vertically into the grave and the 

centre of the shield-boss was 10 in. above the bottom of the grave. The shield-boss has six rivets around its flange, two of which attached the boss to the grip; the remainder secured the boss to the wood with the aid of octagonal bronze washers (one illustrated Fig. 4, No, 9a).
These rivets show a clearance of 1/4 in. wide to accommodate the wood. The grip, a much bent bar, 3/8 in. wide expanding to 1 1/8 in. at its centre, is 19 in. long (18 in. from rivet to rivet) and shows a distinct curvature. Its ends are lozenge-shaped and the wooden shield was clamped between each end and one of the circular iron plates by iron rivets.
Two similar plates, of decorative value only, were situated slightly anti-clockwise of the functional plates and were secured to the wood of the shield by iron rivets and octagonal bronze washers (cf. Fig. 4, No. 9a). The rivets on all these iron plates are off-set from the centre. The grip was connected to the functional plates along the shortest "radius" and the distance between the extremities of the plates was, therefore 21 ½ in. This distance indicates a minimum diameter for the shield1.
   1. In assessing the diameter of the shield it must be remembered that , if only for reasons of appearance, the iron plates would not have been situated right on the edge of the shield. It is also possible that the present bent condition of the grip may have been partly due to the fact that it and the shield were originally curved.

Page 22  (This page prepared for the Website by Christine Pantrey)               

Previous page   Back to Page and Plate listings    Next page

Back the Contents page   Back to Arch. Cant. List   Back to Publications On-line  Back to Research Page  Back to Homepage

This site is hosted by nVeracity      Kent Archaeological Society is a registered charity number 223382
© Kent Archaeological Society 2003     

This website is constructed by enthusiastic amateurs. Any errors noticed by other researchers will be to gratefully received so
 that we can amend our pages to give an accurate record as possible. Please send details too research@kentarchaeology.org.uk