page_title: Taplow Barrow
section_title: Artefacts
hierarchical_section_title: Taplow Barrow / Grave goods / Artefacts
caption_attribution_description: English: Pair of large drinking horns, found at Taplow, 6th century. British Museum description: "Pair of drinking horns, Anglo-Saxon, late 6th century AD. From the princely burial at Taplow, Buckinghamshire. Made from Aurochs horns with silver-gilt mounts [...] The horns are mounted with bird-headed terminals and panels of silver-gilt foils at the mouth. The lip is protected by a silver-gilt rim binding held by four clips in the form of a Style I human face with high brow and rounded cheeks. Beneath the rim-binding are rectangular foils decorated with a garnet-centred rosette flanked by Style I creatures. The creatures have 'helmeted' heads and raised hands and are similar to those in the triangular mounts below. Each terminal is ornamented with a cast Style II bird head with a simple curling beak and rounded head." Literature: J. Stevens, 'On the remains found in an Anglo-Saxon tumulus at Taplow, Buckinghamshire', Journal of the British Archa-2, 40 (1884), pp. 61-71, plates 1, 11-12 R.L.S. Bruce-Mitford, The Sutton Hoo ship burial-1, vol. 3 (London, The British Museum Press, 1983)
context_page_description: The Taplow Barrow is an early medieval burial mound in Taplow Court, an estate in the south-eastern English county of Buckinghamshire. Constructed in the seventh century, when the region was part of an Anglo-Saxon kingdom, it contained the remains of a deceased individual and their grave goods, now mostly in the British Museum. It is often referred to in archaeology as the Taplow burial.
  The Taplow burial was made in what archaeologists call the "conversion period", during which the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were undergoing Christianisation. This period saw the erection of "Final Phase" burials: a select number of inhumations featuring lavish grave goods far richer than the graves of the preceding "migration period". The majority of these Final Phase burials were spatially separate from the new churchyard burials, although the Taplow Burial—which was likely placed next to an early church—is one of the few known exceptions. Located atop a hill, the area around it was previously an Iron Age hillfort and offers widespread views of the local landscape.
  Interred beneath the mound was a single individual—interpreted by archaeologists as a local chieftain—buried with a range of grave goods.
context_section_description: Among the grave goods, now in the British Museum, were 19 vessels for feasting and drinking, at least three weapon sets, a lyre, a gaming board, and rich textiles, the whole ensemble "recognisably a version of the standard Germanic princely kit".  Many of the objects seem to be of Kentish origin. The several gold braids in the burial may have been a symbol of royalty, and the largest horns and the belt buckle were apparently already old when buried, suggesting the treasure of a "Kentish princely family".
  The exact location of these items in the grave was not determined with any accuracy, with excavators attributing this to the collapse of the mound into the burial chamber. Stevens nevertheless offered suggestions as to where the items had been placed based on what he and others observed during the excavation. Evidence for rotten wood was found, leading to the suggestion that a wooden plank had been placed atop the body.
  An iron sword measuring 30 inches in length and 2 1/2 inches wide. The excavators believed that traces of the scabbard could be seen in the grave. This was found to the left hand side of the body.
  Two iron shield bosses, each 5 inches wide and 3 1/2 inches in height. These were located near the head of the grave, to the right of the body.
  An iron link and iron ring.
  Three iron spearheads. One was of the angon type and measured 26 inches in length. The other two were smaller. These were on the right hand side of the body.
  An iron knife or small seax.
  An iron cauldron or tub lined with bronze, that was two foot in diameter. It had been crushed. This was located crushed alongside one of the two buckets against the thighs.
  Two buckets made from timber staves with bronze fittings. One was crushed alongside the cauldron at the thighs; the other was found on the left-hand side of the body, near to the head.
  A twelve-sided bronze bowl with two handles. This had also been crushed. This was on the left hand side of the body.
  Four green glass drinking cups. These had been broken. Three of these were found inside the tub; the fourth was at the foot of the grave.
  Two large drinking horns with gilded silver mounts around their rims. The mounts had been crushed. These were found inside the tub.
  Four smaller horns or cups with mounts; these were found in a fragmentary state. One was on the left hand side of the body, and the other at the foot of the burial.
  Shreds of gold, found spread over an area of about two yards and believed to have been from some fabric.
  A gold buckle decorated with garnets, measuring 4 inches in length. The excavators thought that this had been placed about three feet east of the femur.
  Two pairs of metal clasps, possibly gold, which were suggested as having been attached to a girdle. These were believed to have been placed toward the left hand side of the body.
  A crescent-shaped metal ornament about 6 inches in length. This was found at the foot of the grave.
  Several bone draughtsmen. These were found at the foot of the grave.
  All at the British Museum, with several displayed in Room 41: 
  Pair of drinking horns
  Gold belt buckle (illustrated above)
  Four glass claw beakers
  Set of gaming pieces
  Williams suggested that the choice of grave goods placed within the mound alluded to "an aristocratic lifestyle in this world and the next". Taplow remained what archaeologist Leslie Webster called "the most prestigiously furnished Anglo-Saxon burial" known until the discovery of the ship burial beneath Sutton Hoo Mound 1. In 2010, Brookes and Harrington stated that the Taplow burial remained "second only to Sutton Hoo in wealth and display".
caption: Pair of drinking horns, made from aurochs horns with silver-gilt mounts.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot SD1000", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2008:06:22 17:28:06", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "196", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5108", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4874", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/25", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "800", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:06:22 17:28:06", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:06:22 17:28:06", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "149/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "29/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3072", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2304", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "3072", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "2304", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "3334", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "40960/3", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "2304000/169", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}