Review – 50 Finds from Warwickshire: objects from the Portable Antiquities Scheme

1 min read
Angie Bolton
Amberley Publishing, £14.99
ISBN 978-1445665146
Review Kim Biddulph

Another in the series of ‘50 Finds from the Portable Antiquities Scheme’, this book focuses on Warwickshire, and demonstrates, once again, the fruitfulness of encouraging the public to report finds. It must have been difficult to choose 50 from the 28,500 objects recorded by the PAS in the county. Among those selected are a handaxe from Bidford-on-Avon, the Alcester miniature Iron Age shield, a preserved Roman leather sandal found near Newton, the ‘Bidford Bobble’ (an early medieval aestel), and a lead papal bulla of Pope Innocent IV.

For comparative purposes, I welcome the inclusion of more than one example in many object classes. For instance, the Iron Age linchpin terminal from Wibtoft is compared to one from Kingsbury, and is followed by two examples of harness mounts of the same period. There are many Roman plate brooches as well, such as the Fenny Compton hare, the Long Itchington oval, and a tetraskelion-shaped example from Offchurch (the word ‘swastika’ is avoided). This is a delightful book to dip into.

This review appeared in CA 339.

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