Bronze Age Gold from Wales
Bronze Age gold bracelet, armlet or anklet
This is an incomplete, damaged thin strip of gold, which once formed an armlet or bracelet. It possesses hammered borders along each long edge, as seen on the other sheet bracelets in the hoard, but has crumpled and bent out of shape. The wide armlet band is plain and undecorated. The terminals are largely absent, but the strip tapers and narrows at each end. Two perforations, arranged roughly one above the other, are present at one end and it has been suggested these were used as part of the fastenings. The damage may have been caused during the recovery of the object from the ground.
The form of the bracelets in this hoard is very unusual, with no parallels known at the time of discovery. Since discovery, another comparable example is now known from the Maesmelan hoard, Powys. Comparisons have been drawn with Irish ribbed sheet bracelets, though the Capel Isaf form may represent an insular production. This is supported further by the high silver content of one of the bracelets, which may be more in keeping with Welsh gold sources, rather than Irish sources.
Project Title: Gold in Britain’s auriferous regions, 2450-800 BC: towards a coherent Research Framework and Strategy. Status: Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Network Grant funded project (2018-2019)
WA_SC 18.1
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Site Name: Capel Isaf House, Manordeilo
Notes: Hoard. Four gold armlets and one gold fragment were found in September 1975 near the town of Llandeilo while excavating a sewer trench. The objects were apparently “wrapped round each other” and were probably buried beneath a large glacial erratic slab. This slab may have acted as a marker in prehistory.
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