Lincolnshire Portable Antiquities Scheme

01/08/2025

This week's is a medieval copper alloy champlevé enamel and gilded buckle plate, dating to c. AD 1200 - 1300. The front is decorated with a central plain cross with rounded lobes, set against a circular field filled with red enamel. The cross itself displays a darker brownish-red enamel. This circular field is enclosed within a square frame also filled with red enamel, separated from the central motif by a circular area of greenish-blue patina, however, this is probably due to wear and does not indicate a border. A cabled or zig-zag border runs around the outer perimeter of the plate. Traces of gilding are visible along the outer border and around the intact circular hole.

The decoration is known as Limoges style enamel. The enamelling workshops of Limoges were making figurines, crosiers and caskets from at least AD 1150, and by 1200, buckles were being produced.
PAS no. LIN-8F68A2

01/08/2025

Another opportunity to gain paid experience in small finds and heritage in The Portable Antiquities Scheme:

Jobs and careers with Oxfordshire County Council - About UsThis is an exciting time to join the Oxfordshire Museum Service as we continue to develop service structure, and enhance access to our collections and services. Our collection totals 112,000 objects from the palaeolithic era to contemporary....

28/07/2025

Interested in learning to animate? There's a fantastic opportunity for free history based animation workshops in Boston!

Come along to Blackfriars Theatre and Arts Centre on Spain Lane, PE21 6HP every Wednesday, 10:00-12:00, email [email protected] to book!

25/07/2025

Save the date! Come and see us at Caistor Arts and Heritage Centre on Wednesday 30th July, 10 - 12 pm. Bring your finds!

25/07/2025

This week's is a Roman copper alloy military horse harness pendant, dating to c. AD 43 - 410. The pendant is leaf shaped with a broken suspension loop, now reduced to a semi-circular form. At the outer edge near the loop are moulded, curved shoulders. These may represent stylised zoomorphic heads, characterised by a curved brow and angled snout. Parallels can be drawn with objects described as ‘apron pendants’, particularly from Wiesbaden, Germany, identified as a leaf-shaped pendant featuring a suspension loop.

PAS no. LIN-BE0377

04/07/2025

This week's is an early medieval Anglo-Scandinavian stirrup mount, dating to c. AD 1000 - 1100. The mount depicts a fully modelled face with a scalloped edge and a right angled fl**ge. The face has circular eyes with drilled pupils, a lozenge forehead with oblique grooves for brows, which narrows before widening into the accentuated nose. A mouth, chin or beard is perhaps represented by a faint semi-circle under the nose.

The type has a predominantly East Anglian distribution. This is the first example of its kind found in Lincolnshire recorded by the PAS and is therefore listed as a Find of Note.
PAS no. LIN-C868AE.

04/07/2025

Take a look at this blog post from Mae - a student who spent her placement with Lincs PAS, as she tells us about a mysterious bone point found in Lincolnshire.

https://finds.org.uk/counties/lincolnshire/the-mystery-of-the-bone-point/?fbclid=IwY2xjawLUfpJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHsRILlhAW0ap8122gz3YQVVEk3aAydM3MRseZjpr4f_LrlPL-qH09W0-4xFU_aem_HQ2WWYVea2dZ_5QLyTUN1g

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27/06/2025

This week's is a Neolithic axe, dating to c. 3000 - 2351 BC. The axe is made from Cornish greenstone and was probably sourced from the Mounts Bay area near Penzance. The surface is pitted from loss of surface material, otherwise is it undamaged. It has a thick oval cross section with an asymmetrical cutting edge, with the top edge of the axe extending further forward than the lower edge.

PAS no. LIN-928743

20/06/2025

This week's is a Roman copper alloy and enamel Colchester Derivative Rearhook Fantail brooch, dating to c. AD 40 - 70. A hook projects centrally from the wings, curving toward the reverse and tapering to a broken point. The brooch also extends into a flat, flaring foot. This section features two triangular panels, each terminating in a knop, forming gentle arcs along the outer edge. Each triangular panel contains dark enamel.

Mackreth states 'The distribution shows that the factory making [this brooch] was located somewhere in southern Norfolk or northern Suffolk' (Mackreth 2011, vol 1, p. 68).
PAS no. LIN-6C10F8

13/06/2025

This week's is a post medieval copper alloy belt hook, dating to c. AD 1450 - 1550. The object is anthropomorphic in form. At the base there is an integral hollow tube which would have originally suspended keys, a purse, or a pouch. A belt would have been threaded through the open rectangular clip at the back. The figure is depicted in a fashionable 15th-century Italian costume, wearing a short tunic and hood (or chaperon). It is posed with hands resting on its hips and elbows extended outward.

This belt hook represents a distinctive German type and is a significant find, with only a limited number known from England. This is the third example recorded by the PAS and the second example in Lincolnshire. It is therefore listed as a Find of Note.
PAS no. LIN-EE3DF6

06/06/2025

This week's is a Roman copper alloy and enamel mount, dating to c. AD 80 - 250. The mount has a flat plate, which takes the shape of a circle with eight radiating triangles. The circular plate is recessed and decorated with enamel, which has deteriorated to a lime and green colour with flecks of red. Banded enamelling in tones of grey and white forms a cross, radiating from the central aperture to the border. The reverse is flat with two integral rivets or brackets, each in the form of a T.

This style of mount is not common on the PAS database and is therefore listed as a Find of Note.
PAS no. LIN-6DE105

30/05/2025

This week's is a medieval copper alloy buckle plate, dating to c. AD 1100 - 1300. The surface of the plate is decorated with an enamelled abstract human face. The skin is shown by white enamel, the eyes with blue enamel, and the lips with red. Below the face is a long rectangular strip of blue enamel probably representing a piece of clothing. The face presumably represents a saint.

PAS no. LIN-E64986