Ex-Scotland, Yeavering, Anglo-Saxon settlement - timber halls (Bede's Ad Gefrin) and Iron Age Hill fort, Northumberland (NGR NT 926 305) Copy of view of gold filigree washer, excavations by Brian Hope ...

Description Ex-Scotland, Yeavering, Anglo-Saxon settlement - timber halls (Bede's Ad Gefrin) and Iron Age Hill fort, Northumberland (NGR NT 926 305) Copy of view of gold filigree washer, excavations by Brian Hope-Taylor 1953-1962 Digital image only

Date c. 1953 to 1962

Collection Papers of Brian Hope-Taylor, archaeologist, Cambridge, England

Catalogue Number E 37046 CN

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 775962

Scope and Content Gold filigree washer, Yeavering, Northumberland This circular ring of gold was discovered in a post-hole of one of Yeavering's great halls. The two ends of the wire are separated suggesting it had been prised out of the item of jewellery to which it belonged. The wire is moulded into a series of fine, segmentations at small intervals. This technique of metal working is known as 'filigree' work and was used widely by goldsmiths in the 1st millennium AD. Gold beadings such as this are common in Anglo-Saxon craftsmanship of the 6th and 7th centuries. It often appears as a decorative accessory to inlays and rivets on buckles and circular brooches. Yeavering was the site of an Anglo-Saxon royal palace associated with the kings of Northumbria. Excavations undertaken by Brian Hope-Taylor between 1953 and 1962 revealed the ground plans of an extraordinary array of timber buildings, which had lain undisturbed since the site was abandoned. The palace entered the historical record in the 7th century when it was mentioned by Bede, who referred to it as 'Ad Gefrin'. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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