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Finder
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County
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Date Recorded
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Peter Twinn
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GLOUCESTERSHIRE
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Fri January 13, 2006
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Recorded By
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Views
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Validated by
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Peter Twinn
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1644
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Rod Blunt
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Material
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Size (mm)
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Date
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Copper alloy
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Beam 68 x 7 x 9 max.
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Circa 9th - 11th century AD
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Description:
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A late Anglo-Saxon folding balance, comprising a beam and two arms. The arms are broken, but the missing part of one of them was subsequently found by the recorder, and is shown as image 2 above. The following description is based on the composite information provided by the two finds.
The beam has a rectangular cross-section, 9mm x 7mm at the centre, and tapers gradually down towards each end. At its centre are two transverse drilled holes: one, on the vertical axis, has the remains of a copper-alloy pin, the other, on the horizontal axis, has the remains of an iron pin. The arms fit within vertical slots at either end of the beam, and pivot on copper-alloy pins. The shape of the slots and arms is such that the latter can be folded in line with the beam when not in use. The arms have a polyhedral moulding at their centre and a smaller one immediately above the terminal loop - from which the pan would have been suspended. Extensive ring-and-dot decoration is present on both the beam and arms.
The overall length of the assembly, when complete and with the arms folded in line with the beam, would have been approximately 200mm.
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Keywords:
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Early medieval folding balance scales with ring dot decoration
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Object Type:
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Balance
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Object Classification:
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Folding
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Object Sub-classification:
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Object Description:
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Incomplete and broken
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Object Inscription:
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Period:
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Anglo-Saxon
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Date Range:
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Circa 9th - 11th century AD
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Primary Material:
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Copper alloy
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Additional Material:
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Method of Manufacture:
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Cast
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Surface Treatment:
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Condition:
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Good
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Weight (grams):
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Size (mm):
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Beam 68 x 7 x 9 max.
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References:
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Comments:
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Record created by:
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Peter Twinn
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Record creation date:
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13 January 2006
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Findspot:
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South Gloucestershire
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County:
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GLOUCESTERSHIRE
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Recorded elsewhere:
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PAS
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Finder:
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Peter Twinn
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Metal Detector Used:
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Minelab Sov. Elite
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Record validated by:
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Rod Blunt
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;)
;)
;)
Registered: August 2005