The Shropshire bulla ("" is

Medieval Latin Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...

for "a round seal",

Classical Latin Classical Latin is the form of Literary Latin recognized as a literary standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. It was used from 75 BC to the 3rd century AD, when it developed into Late Latin. In some later periods ...

for "bubble, blob", plural bullae) is a

Late 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 pri ...

gold pendant found by a

metal detectorist 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, ...

in 2018 in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

, England. Made primarily of gold, it is the eighth

bulla Bulla (Latin, 'bubble') may refer to: Science and medicine * Bulla (dermatology), a bulla * Bulla, a focal lung pneumatosis, an air pocket in the lung * Auditory bulla, a hollow bony structure on the skull enclosing the ear * Ethmoid bulla, pa ...

discovered to date in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

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 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 ...

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 begun in 1997 and now covers m ...

, "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 national "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diff ...

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

Welsh Marches The Welsh Marches ( cy, Y Mers) 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 ...

along the border with

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

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 amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects ...

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 of England linking Manchester to the Irish Sea. Starting at the Mersey Estuary at Eastham, near Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, it generally follows the original routes of the river ...

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. 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.

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