Object: Jewellery (Bronze Age)
Period: Bronze Age to BRONZE AGE (-2500 to -800)
Material: Gold 
Found: Little Baddow, Chelmsford, Essex (Eastern)
Discovery method: Metal detector
Height: 21 mm
Weight: 15.09 g
Description: A rolled-up strip of gold of probable Chalcolithic or Bronze Age date (c. 2500-800 BC). The strip of gold is sub-rectangular in plan, and is rolled up (width ways), forming a tight roll which has been slightly squashed into an oval shape (when viewed from the side). Eleven folds can be counted from the middle. There is some soil still attached to and within these folds. The strip is very thin (less than a diameter). The strip is wider in the middle than near the end, where it tapers from c. 21 mm in the middle towards 15 mm at the end (the end hidden in the folds in the centre of the bundle is also narrower than the middle). It becomes even narrower towards the very end, but how narrow cannot be assessed as the tapering end has been folded over backwards twice so that the very end of the strip is hidden between the first fold. The outer surface of the strip that can be seen (the rest being hidden between the folds) is undecorated, and has a pitted, uneven and slightly creased surface. There are also several small probable post-depositional scratches on the outer surface of the roll. A small cut or break is visible on the edge of the strip in the second and eighth fold, but they do not appear to extend across the entire width of the strip.



Measurements: The rolled-up gold strip has a maximum height of 21 mm, a maximum width of 15 mm and a breadth of 12 mm. It weighs 15.09 g (including soil).



Metal content: Analysis of the gold at the British Museum demonstrated that the object was 95-96% gold and has a composition consistent with a Bronze Age date.



Discussion: This object would have been a long, narrow thin strip of gold tapering towards the ends. Unfortunately, due to its rolled-up condition, the ends in the strip described here cannot be seen, so any possible perforations, if present, are not visible. Unlike several other gold strips of Bronze Age date (e.g. WMID-FE3C28, NMGW-39F32D no. 1, KENT-D13625, BERK-BA8440, HAMP-36C41B, PAS-067AC5), this strip does not seem to have been decorated. Such plain gold strips without any archaeological context present problems for dating. They are relatively undiagnostic examples of Bronze Age goldwork in Southern England (c.2500-800 BC) and parallels are hard to find (cf. Murgia et al. 2014). However, there are a few similar objects. In France there is an example of a plain tapered strip of gold from the Saint-Babel hoard. It was rolled up in a very similar way as the strip discussed here (Eluère 1982, 114, pl. 137). However this strip or bracelet is a lot thicker and shorter than the strip discussed here. Another plain strip of gold with a tapered end and two small perforations was found in an Early Bronze Age Breton hoard, but unfortunately this piece is incomplete so its length cannot be assessed (Eluère 1982, 57 pl. 68). Another object in continental Europe which is similar to the strip described here is illustrated and described as a diadem by Perea (1991, 50); it comes from a Chalcolithic collective tomb at Cueva de los Murciélagos, Granada, in the south of Spain. However, the object is a lot wider in the middle than the strip described here. In Ireland a plain gold strip with rounded, tapered ends was found in Co Cavan (Taylor 1980, pl. 28 g,h & i), but this strip was decorated and only 285 mm long.



In the UK there also are a few parallels for this object. CORN-8EC344 for instance, is a plain gold strip with tapered, rounded ends that have been folded over. There are punch holes inside these folded terminals which may have held a nail. Another plain gold band (or 'ribbon') folded over on itself to create four layers was found in West Mersea Essex (ESS-9D1D4A) and this only had one perforated terminal. A similar possible Bronze Age plain gold band or 'ribbon' was found in Dorset (DOR-52C762). This band is broken at one end and the other tapers to an unperforated terminal. A plain gold strip from the Vale of Glamorgan (NMGW-09A1A5), with perforated and folded terminals, is dated from the Middle Bronze Age (c.1500-1300 BC) (Portable Antiquities and Treasure Annual Report 2008 273, no.24, 42). A hoard from Capel Isaf, Manordeilo, Carmarthenshire had two items that may be comparable; a gold securing strip with perforated folded terminals from a gold armlet or cuff, and incomplete crushed gold armlet formed of a plain strip with tapered terminals (Savory 1980, 125, 195, fig.47, nos. 1 and 4). This hoard is dated to the Middle Bronze Age c.1600-1400 BC (bid. 125).



However, the closest parallels for this rolled-up gold strip are two possible diadems or neck-chokers. The first of these was found near Winchester in Hampshire (HAMP-AEA895). This is a long, cigar shaped strip of sheet gold with tapered ends. Both ends have three small perforations set in a triangle. The transverse creases in this strip (which was unrolled) are consistent with it having been rolled up and crushed flat, in a very similar way as the object described here. This deliberate destructive treatment (folding, rolling, damaging) is fairly common in Bronze Age objects that are deposited as part of a hoard. The second 'diadem' comes from Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire (WAW-FF1E9A). It is broken into two pieces, but they appear to have formed a long slender sheet of gold with tapering ends. Both ends have three small perforations. Unlike the first example, the edge of this sheet is decorated with a border of fine pointille decoration and although the sheet was crumpled, it was not folded.



Based in the available parallels, the rolled-up gold strip can be assigned to the Bronze Age and deserves further research.
Notes: In terms of age and precious metal content, the object qualifies as Treasure under the stipulations of the Treasure Act 1996.
Subsequent action: Submitted for consideration as Treasure