PAS Finds

PAS Finds: week ended 26 November 2021

PAS Finds: week ended 26 November 2021

My selection of the finds recorded at the PAS for the week ended 26 November 2021. There were 448 finds recorded in this week

Featured Find

“Pelican in its Piety” seal matrix

Photo: North Lincolnshire Museum CC By SA2.0
Object type: Seal Matrix
Period: Medieval
Primary material: Copper alloy
Date found: 14/10/2021
Location: East Lindsey, Lincolnshire

A seal matrix dating to 1250-1300 depicting a pelican feeding its young with the inscription SVM PELLI CAnVS DEI meaning “I am the divine pelican“. This is a representation of the Pelican in its Piety.

Pelican in its Piety

In pre-Christian times, it was believed that the Pelican fed its young with her own blood by making a wound in her chest. In fact the pelican has a pouch attached to their under-bill in which it macerates small fish by pressing the bag against its breast. It is the blood of the fish that is then visible on her chest.

The myth was expanded in Christian times when St. Hieronymus gave the story of the pelican restoring its young ones with her blood when they were destroyed by serpents. Because of that belief, the pelican became a major symbol of self-sacrifice and charity and an emblem of Jesus. Early Christians had adopted it by the 2nd century and started using it in texts and images. It was such a popular image that it appeared in stained glass, paintings, bench ends, misericords and various carvings in wood and stone all around Europe.

One of Elizabeth I’s most famous portraits is called the The Pelican Portrait as she is wearing a brooch of a pelican piercing its own chest to symbolise the sacrifices she made to protect and nurture the country.

Selection of other finds

Photo: Birmingham Museums Trust CC By 2.0

Late Bronze Age spearhead

A leaf shaped spearhead of Late Bronze Age date ( c. 950 – 750 BC). This type of spearhead is consistent with that of the Ewart park phase and a parallel can be found in the Shropshire Marches VII hoard. It is designated a Find of Note: County Importance.
Photo: Kent County Council CC By 2.0

Rushlight holder

An incomplete cast, copper alloy rushlight holder dating to 1650-1800. This has been designated a Find of Note 
Photo: The Portable Antiquities Scheme CC By 2.0

Roman brooch of a frog

A Roman brooch in the form of a frog dating to the 2nd century AD. Possibly produced on the continent there are few similar brooches recorded on PAS and it is designated a Find of Note: Regional Importance.
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