<< Our Photo Pages >> Iron Age Sword and Mirror Burial
Submitted by Thorgrim on Sunday, 12 September 2004 Page Views: 5867
Iron Age and Later Prehistory
In the spring of 1999, Farmer Paul Jenkin's tractor wheel sank into a soft patch on his tiny potato farm. When he went to investigate, he found that one wheel had sunk into a deep stone lined hole. Mindful of the many prehistoric burials on the hillside above his farm, he called in the local archaeologists and they soon uncovered a stone lined cist. The grave has been dated to the first half of the 1st century BC. The body had left only an indentation in the soil and so there was no tissue or sufficient bone remaining for DNA analysis. However, the grave goods were corroded but spectacular.
The iron sword has its guard and grip of horn and is still in its bronze scabbard which has two bronze rings on each side of a suspension loop. There was also a sheepskin cape, shield fittings, a brooch and a spiral ring. The presence of the mirror in what seems to be a warrior's grave is the startling feature. Made of copper alloy, it was found close to the skull indentation with its handle uppermost. There are faint traces of decoration including what appears to be the Sun Disc motif. This suggests that the mirror had ritual significance. The combination of sword and mirror suggests a high status individual who was not an ordinary warrior. It has been suggested that he (or possibly she) had the mirror as a weapon to be used in the Otherworld.
I was fortunate to see the sword and mirror in the local museum at Hugh Town on St Mary's and also was able to visit Hillside Farm on Bryher.
For further information see: Iron Age Burial with Sword and Mirror from Bryher by Charles Johns. Isles of Scilly Museum Publication
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