Lucie Evans, Branston Academy

Our find of the month for June is a collection of carved animal bones engraved with a ring and dot decoration. They were found on farm land located in South Cambridgeshire. The bones in question were found in the fill of an oven which has been dated to the Iron Age. It appears that a pit was later dug into the centre of the oven and objects discarded into it. The pit contained layers of silty and organic deposits and the four pieces of worked bone were found along two metal objects. The appearance of ridge and furrow cropmarks and an Iron Age enclosure ditch suggest an agricultural community having occupied this area.

Worked animal bone

There has been a bit of a debate within the office as to what the worked bones would have been used for. Whilst three look as if they were just used to practice the design of dot and ring on, one of them has has been shaped with a rounded end. They are all made of animal bone, not antler (which seems to be the preferred choice of the time). Three were crafted from long bone while the rounded end piece is made of metapodial (long bones found in the hands and feet of mammals which connect the digits to the centres).

One suggestion of what they may have been turned into is a comb beater which would have been used to push down ‘weft threads’ when weaving.

The ring and dot pattern can be found on objects from pottery to bone; it is used nationwide and across the centuries. The ring and dot pattern would have been created with an Iron Age compass tool, which helped to create the perfect circles. This simple design would has been described as ‘folk art’ as it would have been simply used to make the piece more interesting.

I find these pieces really interesting as to me it shows the gradual skill learning and perfecting taking place, and although it is most probably down to my imagination I see these as the slow progression of an ‘individual’ in their craftsmanship.