The Shropshire bulla ("" is

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. It was also the administrative language in the former Western Roman Empire, Roman Provinces of Mauretania, Numidi ...

for "a round seal",

Classical Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a Literary language, literary standard language, standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It formed parallel to Vulgar Latin around 75 BC out of Old Latin ...

for "bubble, blob", plural bullae), also known as the Shropshire sun pendant, is a

Late Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

gold pendant found by a metal detectorist in 2018 in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, England. Made primarily of gold, it is the eighth bulla discovered to date in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and Ireland, and only the second in Britain. The

pendant A pendant is a loose-hanging piece of jewellery, generally attached by a small loop to a necklace, which may be known as a "pendant necklace". A pendant earring is an earring with a piece hanging down. Its name stems from the Latin word ...

, decorated with intricately carved geometric designs, is now in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

in London. According to 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 began in 1997 and now covers ...

, "The workmanship of the construction and decoration of the 'Shropshire Marches' bulla represents the highest skill and expertise seen within decorated metalwork of the period being almost un-paralleled within a British context." The findspot has been kept secret, called only the "Shropshire

Marches In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a state's "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diffe ...

", that is to say the west side of Shropshire, forming part of the

Welsh Marches The Welsh Marches () is an imprecisely defined area along the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods. The English term Welsh March (in Medieval Latin ''Marchia W ...

along the border with

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Description

The Shropshire bulla is a D-shaped hollow object created from pieces of gold sheet metal by a highly skilled craftsman. Named after

amulets An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word , which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects a pers ...

worn in Roman Europe, bullae were most likely worn as pendants. The Shropshire bulla is an example of "reversible fashion"; the front and back are alike in design, either side can be selected to be the presenting face. Bullae were probably highly prized adornments, worn as clothing accessories to display the wearer's high status and wealth. The Shropshire pendant is decorated with an intricately carved geometric design, embellished with tiny triangles consisting of evenly spaced diagonal lines. Analysis of the bulla reveals that the surface is composed of 79—81% gold, 14—16% silver with the remaining being copper. The dimensions of the object are: width, ; height, ; and weight, ;

History

In May 2018, the Shropshire Finds Liaison Officer, Peter Reavill, received a phone call from a metal detectorist who had made a spectacular find. The names of the landowner and metal detectorist, and the location, were not revealed, in order to protect the findspot and potential archaeological artefacts. In viewing photographs of the intricately carved gold pendant, Reavill's first thought was that the pendant was the missing Irwell bulla, which had been found in the

Manchester Ship Canal The Manchester Ship Canal is a inland waterway in the North West England, North West of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary at Eastham, Merseyside, Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it ...

in 1772. That bulla was eventually sold at auction in 1806 and has since disappeared. After further evaluation, Reavell concluded that the new find was not the missing bulla. Sun pendant

The Shropshire bulla is only the second bulla to be discovered in England and the eighth bulla found to date in Britain and Ireland. This artefact is the most south-westerly example of high-quality Late British Bronze Age gold metalwork production and deposition. The find indicates the existence of rich mineral deposits in this region of Britain. The pendant has been described by the British Museum as "one of the most significant pieces of Bronze Age gold metalwork" ever discovered in Britain. The British Museum acquired the bulla in 2020 for £250,000 with help from

Art Fund Art Fund (formerly the National Art Collections Fund) is an independent membership-based British charity, which raises funds to aid the acquisition of artworks for the nation. It gives grants and acts as a channel for many gifts and bequests, as ...

and the American Friends of the British Museum. In 2021 it was on display at the Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery, loaned as part of the British Museum's National Programmes. In December it moved to the British Museum to be displayed with other Bronze Age objects such as the Mold Gold Cape. In 2021, a short animated film inspired by the detectorist's discovery and artefact's history was commissioned by Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery, and produced and created by Samantha Moore.

References

{{reflist Bronze Age art Bronze Age England Gold objects Necklaces Bronze Age sites in Shropshire Treasure troves of Bronze Age Britain 2018 archaeological discoveries

Description

History

See also

References