Summary

One of two joining pieces of thin silver sheet decorated along original edges with a border of small circular raised dots, from Norrie's Law, Fife, 500 - 700 AD

Accession Number

X.FC 79

Other references

Original description

PERSONAL ORNAMENTS, &C. Small fragments, clippings, etc. Norrie's Law, near Largo, Fifeshire. [MoS description] Melting rocks, forging metal. Moving metal, recycling metal. Recycling Roman silver. (11) Chopped up silver, Norrie's Law. 500 - 700 AD. Alice Blackwell 23.07.2015, note: One of two joining pieces of thin silver sheet (with x.FC 80), originally part of a larger object, decorated along the two surviving original edges with a border of small circular raised dots. The two fragments were made into a hacksilver parcel – folds are clearly visible, though all now are unfolded. X.FC 79 is the smaller of the two fragments, and only one small fold is apparent, serving to tuck one corner inwards. Both fragments show that the original object expanded along its length and had slightly curving sides, one more shallowly curved than the other, producing a shape suggestive of the expanded terminal of a penannular brooch such as x.FC 37. The non-joining edge of x.FC 79 appears to be cut rather than broken along a fold – under magnification the section is smooth. This is also definitely the case on the non-joining edge of x.FC 80 suggesting that (before broken into two separate fragments) they formed the entirety of a parcel, unless perhaps a further separate fragment or coin was sandwiched within the folds. Alice Blackwell note, 15.09.2015: This is one of 13 fragments sampled by NMS Collections Science for analysis by PIXE in 2009.

Associated person/people (e.g. excavator/former collection)

Durham, James, General, 1754 - 1840
Buist, George, 1805 - 1860

Discovery / field collection

Date of discovery

1819

Method (e.g. excavation)

Chance discovery

Place (i.e. location of discovery)

Norrie's Law, Largo, Fife, Scotland, Northern Europe

Grid reference

Not recorded

Acquisition

Acquisition date

1864

Acquisition source (i.e. name of donor)

Mrs Dundas Durham

Acquisition source role (e.g. donor)

Donor

Image