Hove amber cup

Last updated

Photo of the cup by Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove Hove Amber Cup - Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove 26791.jpg
Photo of the cup by Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Hove amber cup, from original description in 1857 Howe Amber Cup 1857.png
Hove amber cup, from original description in 1857
Hove amber cup on display in the British Museum Stonehenge exhibition Hove amber cup.jpg
Hove amber cup on display in the British Museum Stonehenge exhibition

The Hove amber cup is a Bronze Age cup that was discovered in a great round barrow mound that was crudely excavated in 1856, in Hove, East Sussex, England, and is now in Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. [1] It was found during the construction of Palmeira Square. The barrow was of exceptional size and quality, suggesting a date in the mid-Bronze Age. The Hove amber cup is one of only two found in Britain; the other was in Dorset. However, the two are not of the same style of craftsmanship.

Contents

Dated to c. 1750-1550 BCE, [2] the amber cup was found in a Wessex culture grave in a coffin made from a treetrunk. Also in the coffin were a skeleton, a Camerton (Wessex culture) type dagger, a whetstone and a small axe. [3]

It has been associated with a small group of other "unstable" cups with round bottoms, made of precious materials and found in north-western Europe. Most are in gold, but also silver, amber and shale. The Ringlemere Cup and Rillaton Cup are the two British gold cups. The amber would have come from the Baltic region, and the group suggest early trade links between Britain and Europe. [4]

Construction

The cup is made from a single piece of amber, and this suggests trading links between this part of Britain and the Baltic regions where such amber was extracted. [5]

Original account

According to the original description by Barclay Philips,

In the earth with which the coffin was filled were numerous small fragments of carious bone, apparently charred, some of which were picked out; and about the centre, as if, said one of the men, they had rested on the breast of the body interred, were found the following curious relics: —

An Amber Cup, hemispherical in shape, rather deep in proportion to its width, with a "lip" or "nick," and ornamented merely with a band of fine lines running round the outside, about half an inch from the top. There is one handle, large enough for the insertion of a finger, ornamented with a fillet on each side of the surface, which is flat, similar to that on the cup itself. From the fact of the rim not being perfectly round, and the band before mentioned not passing over the space within the handle, and its being marked off with a line at each end, seemingly cut across, we may conjecture it to have been made and carved by hand. There are two small chips in the rim.

That on the left of the handle is fresh, and was caused by the man who found the cup accidentally striking it, as he told me, with his spade, when he first came upon it; that on the right is not so large, but is ancient, as is shown by its appearance. The cup is perfectly smooth inside and out, excepting where the earth in which it was buried still adheres to the surface; but since its exhumation the amber has cracked slightly in every part. On the cup being lifted by the handle, this broke into two pieces, having received a blow from the workman's spade, but fortunately the fragments fit very exactly, and I have therefore easily repaired it.

The following are the dimensions of the cup, which I have carefully measured, expressed in inches and decimal parts: —
External diameter, 3.5 inches; internal, 3.35.
Height, 2.5; depth, 2.4.
Internal diameter at and below band, 3'; width of lip, '125.
Distance of band from upper rim of lip, .5; width of band of six fillets, .3.
Width of handle at upper and lower end, 1.5 in centre,"6.
Thickness of handle, '2; depth of handle from upper surface of insertion between lip and fillet to surface below, 1'4.
Projection of handle from surface of cup to outer surface of handle, .85; average thickness of cup, .2.

According to these measurements I find, by calculation, that the capacity of the cup is a little more than half a pint. [6]

Notes

  1. Garrow, Duncan; Wilkin, Neil (June 2022). The World of Stonehenge. British Museum Press. p. 205. ISBN   9780714123493. OCLC   1297081545.
  2. Harding, A. F. (2000). European Societies in the Bronze Age. Cambridge University Press. p. 108. ISBN   978-0521367295.
  3. Needham et al., full catalogue entry at pp. 97-99
  4. "Festival of Archaeology 2020: The Amber Cup". Brighton & Hove Museums. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  5. Philips, Barclay (1857). "Discovery of a Tumulus at Hove, near Brighton, Containing an Amber Cup, &c". Sussex Archaeological Collections. IX: 119–125. doi: 10.5284/1085195 .

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hove</span> Seaside resort in East Sussex, England

Hove is a seaside resort in East Sussex, England. Alongside Brighton, it is one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brighton and Hove</span> City and unitary authority in England

Brighton and Hove is a unitary authority with city status in East Sussex, England. There are multiple villages alongside the seaside resorts of Brighton and Hove in the district. It is administered by Brighton and Hove City Council, which is currently under Labour majority control.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plane (tool)</span> Tool for working with wood

A hand plane is a tool for shaping wood using muscle power to force the cutting blade over the wood surface. Some rotary power planers are motorized power tools used for the same types of larger tasks, but are unsuitable for fine-scale planing, where a miniature hand plane is used.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ardagh Hoard</span> Hoard of metalwork in Ireland

The Ardagh Hoard, best known for the Ardagh Chalice, is a hoard of metalwork from the 8th and 9th centuries. Found in 1868 by two young local boys, Jim Quin and Paddy Flanagan, it is now on display in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin. It consists of the chalice, a much plainer stemmed cup in copper-alloy, and four brooches — three elaborate pseudo-penannular ones, and one a true pennanular brooch of the thistle type; this is the latest object in the hoard, and suggests it may have been deposited around 900 AD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ringlemere barrow</span> Archaeological site in England

The Ringlemere barrow is an archaeological site near Sandwich in the English county of Kent most famous as being the find site of the Ringlemere gold cup.

<i>Kylix</i> Ancient Greek or Etruscan drinking cup

In the pottery of ancient Greece, a kylix is the most common type of cup in the period, usually associated with the drinking of wine. The cup often consists of a rounded base and a thin stem under a basin. The cup is accompanied by two handles on opposite sides.

Rillaton Barrow is a Bronze Age round barrow in Cornwall, UK. The site is on the eastern flank of Bodmin Moor in the parish of Linkinhorne about four miles (6 km) north of Liskeard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yetholm-type shield</span> Type of Bronze Age shield

The Yetholm-type shield is a distinctive type of shield dating from 1300-800 BC. The known shields come from Britain and Ireland, excepting one from Denmark. Their modern name comes from Yetholm in southern Scotland where a peat bog yielded three examples. Twenty-two examples are known, although some of these are fragmentary, and a further seven or eight are known from written sources but are lost today. The shields vary significantly in size, but are otherwise similar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pelynt</span> Village in Cornwall, England

Pelynt is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth and four miles (6.5 km) west-northwest of Looe. Pelynt had a population of around 1,124 at the 2001 census which increased to 1,296 at the 2011 census. In addition, an electoral ward with the same name exists but extends towards Widegates avoiding Looe at all times. The population in 2011 for this ward was 4,453.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steyning Town F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Steyning Town Community Football Club is a football club based in Steyning, West Sussex, England. The club is an FA Charter Standard community club, affiliated to the Sussex County Football Association. The club are currently members of the Isthmian League South East Division and play at the Shooting Field.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Village of the Illinois</span> Archaeological site in Illinois, United States

The Grand Village of the Illinois, also called Old Kaskaskia Village, is a site significant for being the best documented historic Native American village in the Illinois River valley. It was a large agricultural and trading village of Native Americans of the Illinois confederacy, located on the north bank of the Illinois River near the present town of Utica, Illinois. French explorers Louis Joliet and Father Jacques Marquette came across it in 1673. The Kaskaskia, a tribe of the Illiniwek people lived in the village. It grew rapidly after a French mission and fur trading post were established there in 1675, to a population of about 6,000 people in about 460 houses. Around 1691 the Kaskaskia and other Illiniwek moved further south, abandoning the site due to pressure from an Iroquois invasion from the northeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ringlemere Cup</span> Bronze age vessel

The Ringlemere Gold Cup is a Bronze Age vessel found in the Ringlemere barrow near Sandwich in the English county of Kent in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ancient Chinese coinage</span> Coin production and deployment of ancient China

Ancient Chinese coinage includes some of the earliest known coins. These coins, used as early as the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BCE), took the form of imitations of the cowrie shells that were used in ceremonial exchanges. The same period also saw the introduction of the first metal coins; however, they were not initially round, instead being either knife shaped or spade shaped. Round metal coins with a round, and then later square hole in the center were first introduced around 350 BCE. The beginning of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE), the first dynasty to unify China, saw the introduction of a standardised coinage for the whole Empire. Subsequent dynasties produced variations on these round coins throughout the imperial period. At first the distribution of the coinage was limited to use around the capital city district, but by the beginning of the Han dynasty, coins were widely used for such things as paying taxes, salaries and fines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bronze Age Britain</span> Period of British history from c. 2500 until c. 800 BC

Bronze Age Britain is an era of British history that spanned from c. 2500–2000 BC until c. 800 BC. Lasting for approximately 1,700 years, it was preceded by the era of Neolithic Britain and was in turn followed by the period of Iron Age Britain. Being categorised as the Bronze Age, it was marked by the use of copper and then bronze by the prehistoric Britons, who used such metals to fashion tools. Great Britain in the Bronze Age also saw the widespread adoption of agriculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bush Barrow</span> Archaeological site in England

Bush Barrow is a site of the early British Bronze Age Wessex culture, at the western end of the Normanton Down Barrows cemetery in Wiltshire, England. It is among the most important sites of the Stonehenge complex, having produced some of the most spectacular grave goods in Britain. It was excavated in 1808 by William Cunnington for Sir Richard Colt Hoare. The finds, including worked gold objects, are displayed at Wiltshire Museum in Devizes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brighton Museum & Art Gallery</span>

Brighton Museum & Art Gallery is a municipally-owned public museum and art gallery in the city of Brighton and Hove in the South East of England. It is part of Brighton & Hove Museums. It costs £9 for a yearly pass, discounted to £6.75 for Brighton and Hove residents and students at local universities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gold working in the Bronze Age British Isles</span>

Gold working in the Bronze Age British Isles refers to the use of gold to produce ornaments and other prestige items in the British Isles during the Bronze Age, between c. 2500 and c. 800 BCE in Britain, and up to about 550 BCE in Ireland. In this period, communities in Britain and Ireland first learned how to work metal, leading to the widespread creation of not only gold but also copper and bronze items as well. Gold artefacts in particular were prestige items used to designate the high status of those individuals who wore, or were buried with them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juntunen site</span> Archaeological site in Michigan, United States

The Juntunen site, also known as 20MK1, is a stratified prehistoric Late Woodland fishing village located on the western tip of Bois Blanc Island. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doffing cylinder</span>

A doffing cylinder, also called doffing roller or commonly just doffer is a component used in textile mills to remove fiber from the main cylinder of a card, on which the fibers have been straightened and aligned. The main cylinder of the card will have one or two doffers that comb and remove the fiber. The doffer is set with pins that hold the fiber, which is then removed by a comb or knife and fed into the next stage of production. Doffers are also used in cotton pickers and other machinery that handle fiber.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palmeira Square</span> 19th century residences in Hove, England

Palmeira Square is a mid-19th-century residential development in Hove, part of the English city and seaside resort of Brighton and Hove. At the southern end it adjoins Adelaide Crescent, another architectural set-piece which leads down to the seafront; large terraced houses occupy its west and east sides, separated by a public garden; and at the north end is one of Hove's main road junctions. This is also called Palmeira Square, and its north side is lined with late 19th-century terraced mansions. Commercial buildings and a church also stand on the main road, which is served by Brighton & Hove bus routes 1, 1A, N1, 2, 5, 5A, 5B, N5, 6, 25, 46, 49, 60, 71, 71A and 96.

References

50°49′33″N0°09′49″W / 50.8258°N 0.1636°W / 50.8258; -0.1636