Rights Holder: Royal Institution of Cornwall
CC License:
Our images can be used under a CC BY attribution licence (unless stated otherwise).
Unique ID: CORN-1009D8
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Awaiting validation
Cast lead spindle whorl, circular in plan and plano-convex in profile and section, with a central circular hole, 7mm in diameter. The base of the whorl has been decorated with oblique lines that radiate inwards towards the central aperture. The upper surface of the whorl is decorated with raised pellets, chevrons and some lines but the surface is pitted and corroded so the detail is not clear. These weights, usually thought to be spindle whorls, are common finds in other regions of the country, but not in Cornwall, and were in use over a long time during the Medieval and early Post-Medieval periods. The cut-off biconical shape is more typical of them, unlike this example, as is the raised decoration, with variations using lines, chevrons and pellets more common than those with incuse decoration like the example still in place on a spindle in the Leicester Austin Friars excavation report, reproduced in the Portable Antiquities Scheme Finds Recording Guide as illustration 34.
Griffiths, Philpott and Egan (2007) illustrate two similar plano-convex whorls from Meols on page 175, Plate 33, Nos.2175 & 2189, but not illustrated, No.2179 is the closest plano-convex whorl in weight at 24.6g.
Medieval - Post-Medieval (c.15th-16th centuries)
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Broad period: MEDIEVAL
Subperiod from: Late
Period from: MEDIEVAL
Subperiod to: Early
Period to: POST MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 1400
Date to: Circa AD 1600
Quantity: 1
Thickness: 8 mm
Weight: 24.35 g
Diameter: 25 mm
Date(s) of discovery: Wednesday 1st July 2009 - Friday 31st July 2009
This information is restricted for your access level.
Primary material: Lead
Manufacture method: Cast
Decoration method: Impressed
Decoration style: Linear
Completeness: Complete
4 Figure: SW9475
Four figure Latitude: 50.538403
Four figure longitude: -4.908508
1:25K map: SW9475
1:10K map: SW95SW
Grid reference source: From finder
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 100 metre square.
Author | Publication Year | Title | Publication Place | Publisher | Pages | Reference | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Geake, H. | 2001 | Finds Recording Guide Version 1.1 | Fig.34 | ||||
Griffiths, D., Philpott. R. and Egan, G. | 2007 | Meols: The Archaeology of the North West Wirral Coast | Oxford | Oxford University School of Archaeology | 175, Plate 33, | Nos.2175, 2179 & 2189 |