The Ringlemere Gold Cup is a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

vessel found in the

Ringlemere barrow The Ringlemere barrow is an archaeological site near Sandwich in the English county of Kent most famous as being the find site of the Ringlemere gold cup. Because the metal detectorist reported finding the gold cup, professional archaeologists ...

near

Sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

in the English county of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

in 2001.

Description

The body of the cup was created by hammering a single piece of gold, with the handle cut from a flat strip of gold and attached by rivets. Although badly crushed by recent plough damage it can be seen to have been 14 cm high with corrugated sides. The cup resembles a late

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

(approximately 2300 BC) ceramic beaker with

Corded Ware The Corded Ware culture comprises a broad archaeological horizon of Europe between ca. 3000 BC – 2350 BC, thus from the late Neolithic, through the Chalcolithic, Copper Age, and ending in the early Bronze Age. Corded Ware culture en ...

decoration, but dates to a much later period. It is thought that the cup was not a

grave good Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods may be classed as a ...

, but a

votive offering A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...

independent of any inhumation, which was placed at the centre of the barrow in about 1700–1500 BC. No contemporary burials have been found at the site, although later

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

ones have since been found, along with a Saxon cemetery. Only seven similar gold "unstable handled cups" (unstable because round-bottomed) have been found in Europe, all dating to the period between 1700 and 1500 BC. The Ringlemere cup is most similar to the other British example, the Rillaton gold cup found in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

in 1837. The other examples are two from Germany, two from Switzerland, one now lost from

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

, and an unprovenanced, perhaps German, example. Two other silver cups and, from Britain, two

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In ...

and some shale cups all share the same basic shapes (see Hove amber cup). The finds in Britain are in the approximate

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

area, and on the continent near the Rhine or the Channel coast, suggesting that the vessels, though probably all made fairly locally to their find spots, related to a specific cross-channel trading zone. Ringlemere Cup detail

Discovery, purchase and display

The cup was discovered by

metal detector A metal detector is an instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and under water. The unit itself, consist of a control box, and an adjustable shaft, ...

ist Cliff Bradshaw on 4 November 2001. He reported the find to the local coroner's office, and through the

Portable Antiquities Scheme The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) is a voluntary programme run by the United Kingdom government to record the increasing numbers of small finds of archaeological interest found by members of the public. The scheme begun in 1997 and now covers ...

and the

Treasure Act 1996 The Treasure Act 1996 is a UK Act of Parliament, defining which objects are classified as treasure, legally obliging the finder to report their find. Provisions The Act is designed to deal with finds of treasure in England, Wales and Northern Ire ...

the cup was recorded and declared to be

treasure Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions le ...

in 2002. It was bought by the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

for £270,000 (then roughly US$520,000), with the money paid split between Bradshaw and the Smith family who own Ringlemere Farm. The money to secure the cup for the nation was raised through donations by the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

, the National Art Collections Fund and The British Museum Friends. After discovery of the cup, the site was excavated between 2002 and 2005 revealing a history starting with activity in the Mesolithic period, a number of

features and finds, a funerary complex of Early Bronze Age date (approximately 2300 BC), and an Anglo-Saxon cemetery.Needham et al., chapter 2 The cup was number 10 in the list of British archaeological finds selected by experts at the

for the 2003 BBC Television documentary '' Our Top Ten Treasures'' which included an interview with Bradshaw. From 14 May 2004 until 13 January 2006 the cup appeared in the Museum's "Buried Treasure" exhibition on

treasure trove A treasure trove is an amount of money or coin, gold, silver, plate, or bullion found hidden underground or in places such as cellars or attics, where the treasure seems old enough for it to be presumed that the true owner is dead and the hei ...

, both at the Museum itself and touring (to the National Museum & Gallery of Wales at Cardiff, Manchester Museum, the Hancock Museum at Newcastle, and the Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery). On its return to London, it was on temporary display in Room 2 of the British Museum, with the Rillaton cup, until 17 October 2006. From 17 October to 26 February 2007 it was on temporary display in

Dover Museum Dover Museum is a museum in Dover, Kent, in south-east England. History Founded in February 1836 by the town's mayor Edward Pett Thompson, it was initially housed in the old Guildhall and run by the Dover Philosophical Institute. The Town Co ...

, closer to its find-spot, and it is now back in the Prehistory galleries at the British Museum.

Notes

References

*Needham, Stuart; Parfitt, Keith; Varndell, Gillian (Eds
''The Ringlemere Cup: Precious Cups and the Beginning of the Channel Bronze Age''
2006, British Museum Research Publication 163, *

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20070205165651/http://www.culture.gov.uk/Reference_library/Press_notices/archive_2003/dcms117_2003.htm {{coord, 51.2647, N, 1.2865, E, source:wikidata, display=title Treasure troves of Bronze Age Britain Prehistoric objects in the British Museum Gold objects Drinkware Archaeological sites in Kent Treasure troves in England 2001 in England Metal detecting finds in England Bronze Age art 2001 archaeological discoveries Ancient art in metal

Description

Discovery, purchase and display

See also

Notes

References

External links