200px, The Clandon Barrow gold lozenge
Clandon Barrow is a very large bowl
barrow dating from the
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 ...
, which overlooks the village of
Martinstown, near
Dorchester 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 (unitary authority), Dors ...
, and which lies on the same ridge as
Maiden Castle, near to the
Mount Pleasant henge. It was excavated by Edward Cunnington in 1882.
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
objects were found including a cup and the Clandon Lozenge. The lozenge has recently been studied along with a similar artifact from
Bush Barrow
Bush Barrow is a site of the early British Bronze Age Wessex culture (c. 2000 BC), at the western end of the Normanton Down Barrows cemetery. It is among the most important sites of the Stonehenge complex, having produced some of the most spect ...
(near Stonehenge).
[Johnson, Anthony, ''Solving Stonehenge: The New Key to an Ancient Enigma''. (Thames & Hudson, 2008) ] It has now been clearly demonstrated that both the form and decorative elements of these lozenges were based on geometric designs. The Clandon example was created with decagon based geometry, the Bush Barrow example was based on a hexagon.
References
Geography of Dorset
Barrows in the United Kingdom
Archaeological sites in Dorset
External Links
Image of the Clandon Barrow finds
{{Dorset-geo-stub
