Ancient Bowl, 1400 Years Old, Unearthed in British Excavations

Manawatu Times, Volume LVI, Issue 5618, 6 April 1931, Page 10

Ancient Bowl, 1400 Years Old, Unearthed in British Excavations

LONDON. Judged to be some 1400 years old, an enamel bronze bowl was dug up recently during excavations by the Hampshire Archaeological Society near Winchester. The site where- the bowl was found is known as Oliver’s Battery and consists of about two acres of ancient Saxon or Roman earthworks, from which Oliver Cromwell’s guns are said to have shelled the city of Winchester, and, incidentally, done much damage to the stained glass windows of the cathedral. At a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries held in London the bowl was shown-and Mr W. J. Andrew, who has been in charge of the excavations, told of its finding two feet below the ground surface of the “vallum” or mound formed by the digging of the ditch of Ihe fortification. A small iron spearhead and a knife also were found. The vessel was of thin bronze, almost a foot in diameter and five inches deep, strengthened by a recess moulding under the rim. Round the bowl were three enamelled escutcheons, one of which had fallen while the others remained attached by swan’s-bill loops. Other enamelled ornaments inside and beneath the howl were also loose. Discussing the use to which these bowls were put Mr Andrew said that possibly they were filled with a clear liquid to show tho beautiful coloured enamel and hung in the halls as treasures or ornaments. This conjecture was corroborated in the poem “Beowulf” composed about 700 A.D. by an English ecclesiastic brought up in the Winchester district.

The bowls in this poem were described as “enriched and many coloured,” “chased with a serpent pattern.”