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 ...
cup that was discovered in a great round barrow mound that was crudely excavated in 1856, in
Hove
Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th c ...
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, and is now in
Hove Museum and Art Gallery
Hove Museum and Art Gallery is a municipally-owned museum in the town of Hove, which is part of the larger city of Brighton and Hove in the South East of England. The museum is part of "Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton and Hove", and admission ...
. It was found during the construction of
Palmeira Square
Palmeira Square () is a mid-19th-century residential development in Hove, part of the English city and seaside resort of Brighton and Hove. At the southern end it adjoins Adelaide Crescent, another architectural set-piece which leads down to the ...
. The barrow was of exceptional size and quality, suggesting a date in the mid-Bronze Age. The Hove amber cup is one of only two found in Britain; the other was in
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
. However, the two are not of the same style of craftsmanship.
Dated to c. 1750-1550 BCE, the amber cup was found in a
Wessex culture
The Wessex culture is the predominant prehistoric culture of central and southern Britain during the early Bronze Age, originally defined by the British archaeologist Stuart Piggott in 1938.whetstone and a small axe.
It has been associated with a small group of other "unstable" cups with round bottoms, made of precious materials and found in north-western Europe. Most are in gold, but also silver, amber and shale. The
Ringlemere Cup
The Ringlemere Gold Cup is a Bronze Age vessel found in the Ringlemere barrow near Sandwich in the English county of Kent in 2001.
Description
The body of the cup was created by hammering a single piece of gold, with the handle cut from a flat ...
and Rillaton Cup are the two British gold cups. The amber would have come from the Baltic region, and the group suggest early trade links between Britain and Europe.
Construction
The cup is made from a single piece of amber, and this suggests trading links between this part of Britain and the Baltic regions where such amber was extracted.
Original account
According to the original description by Barclay Philips,
Notes
References
*"BMRP" ''The Ringlemere Cup: Precious Cups and the Beginning of the Channel Bronze Age'' - available online Editors: Stuart Needham, Keith Parfitt and Gillian Varndell; Contributors: Aaron Birchenough, Chris Butler, Caroline Cartwright, Stuart Needham, Susan La Niece, Keith Parfitt, Gillian Varndell, British Museum Research Publication 163,
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