Excessively Rare Ancient UK Bronze to Iron Age Shamanic Zoomorphic Bone Amulet

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Seller: ancientpasts ✉️ (548) 100%, Location: Peterborough, GB, Ships to: WORLDWIDE, Item: 355390631670 Excessively Rare Ancient UK Bronze to Iron Age Shamanic Zoomorphic Bone Amulet.

Date: Circa: Bronze to Iron Age: 1,200 BC – 300 BC: Huntingdonshire:

Size: length: 47.5 mm: height: 46 mm: width: 50 mm to tusks – 17 mm to rear: weight: weight: 25.37 grams:

An ancient bone amulet thought to have been carved in a zoomorphic form and representing a ‘shamanic’ wild board and wolf hybrid [mythical-creature] : The animal appears with the snout and the tusks of a boar and the eyes ears and head of a wolf: The amulet appears to have been carved [ in reduction ], from a bovine vertebrae: The snout is seen to the front with curved tusks, behind this we see two eyes in ‘rig and dot’ style: Above the eyes the head is assented with two ears and in the middle of the upper head a hole is seen for retention below which we see a slender neck:

The wild boar in the UK was once the primary prey of the wolf and humans have also been hunting the wild boar for tens of thousands of years, it could be a formidable beast and came to symbolise courage and ferocity: It is possible [conjecture] , that this amulet could have been a ‘shamanic totem’ paying homage to both the boar and the wolf:

Condition: extremely fine:

The amulet appears largely complete [tusk terminations absent] , the bone is suspected to be in calcite transition with mineralisation giving the texture and feel of stone or extremely dense wood: The outer surfaces appear polished in a mirror like form and with a dark brown tone: This is a natural age achieved finish and has been enhanced with exposure to a tannin rich substrate, typical of the East Anglian Fenlands: Bone of this age is extremely dense, hard and possess a uniquely ancient characteristics:

Provenance: Northern Huntingdonshire: Winter 2022:

The amulet was recovered from the peat and sand material strata of a 4ft collapsed bank adjacent to an ancient bog pond laying below the current water-table: Roman ceramic fabrics [none-tumbeled] of a ‘Nene Valley’ type were recovered above the find strata-level, helping to affirm a context: 

Reference material and further reading: 

Where possible ancient  artifacts  may be referenced to similar material observed in the following publications within my collection:

  • British Artefacts Vol.1, 2 and 3:  Brett Hammond [Greenlight Publishing 2010]:

  • Celtic & Roman Artefacts:  Nigel Mills  [Greenlight Publishing 2007]:

  • SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome:  Mary Beard [Profile Books 2015]:

  • 50 Bronze Age Artefacts: Portable Antiquities Scheme:  Dot Boughton [Amberley Publishing 2021]:

  • Pottery in Britain 4000BC to AD 1900:  Lloyd Laing [Greenlight Publishing 2003]:

  • British Iron Age Coins In The British Museum:  Richard Hobbs [British Museum 1996]:

  • Swords of The Viking Age:  Ian Peirce: [The Boydell Press 2003]:

  • Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society Volume 85:  [Cambridge University Press

    2019]

  • Mesolithic Europe:  Geoff Bailey / Penny Spikins [Cambridge University Press 2008]

  • Viking Art:  James Graham-Campbell: [Thames & Hudson, London 2018]

  • Roman Coins Vol. 1, 2 & 3:  David R Sear: [Spink London 2000]:

  • The Roman Cavalry:  Karen R. Dixon: [B. . Batsford 1997]:

  • Rome’s Saxon Shore: Coastal  Defenses  of Roman Britain AD 250 – 500:  Nic Fields [Osprey Publishing 2006]:

  • Amulets of Ancient Egypt:   Carol Andrews: [University of Texas Press / British Museum Press 1994]:

  • The Uniforms of the Roman World: Military dress, weapons, artillery, ships, siege engines and fortifications:  Kevin F. Killey: [Anness Publishing 2017]:

Where possible finger rings may be referenced to similar material observed in the following publications within my collection:

  • Victorian and Albert Museum CATALOGUE OF FINGER RINGS 1930:  C.C.Oman [Anglia Publishing. 1991 – Now out of print]:

  • Finger Rings:  Diana Scarisbrick / Martin Henig: [Ashmolean Museum Oxford. 2003]:

  • Ancient Rings An Illustrated Collectors Guide:  T. N. Polio: [ McFarland & Co Inc.  2018:

  • 1000 Rings: Inspiring Adornments of the Hand:   Le Van, Marthe; Ebendorf, Robert [W: Lark Books 2004]:

Copyright Ancient Pasts | All rights reserved

  • Condition: Used
  • Condition: Condition: Extremely fine: please see the pictures and the detailed description:
  • Brand: Bronze Age Amulet
  • Style: British
  • Unit Quantity: 1

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