Wilsford G58
primary name: Wilsford G58
other name: RCH: Wilsford Group 18
archaeology / bronze age
SiteName: The Wilsford Group,
Parish: Wilsford,
County: Wiltshire,
LocalityType: bell barrow,
LocalityType: round barrow,
Coordinates: NGR:ST11713982
Bell barrow with primary inhumation of a tall man (head SE.) on
surface with flanged axe, perforated battle-axe, bone haft,
grooved whetstone, bone tube, boar's tusk and bronze cauldron
handle with hanging chain.
author: Martin, Andrew, Dr.
No. 18. This large bell-shaped barrow, 121 feet in diameter, and
11 in elevation, may be considered as the monarch of this group,
both as to its superior size, as well as contents. On the floor
of the barrow we found the skeleton of a very tall and stout
man, lying on his right side, with his head towards the
south-east. At his feet were laid a massive hammer of a
dark-coloured stone, a brass celt, a tube of bone, a handle to
some instrument of the same, a whetstone with a groove in the
centre, and several other articles of bone, amongst which is the
enormous tusk of a wild boar ; but amongst these numerous
relicks, the most curious article is one of twisted brass, whose
ancient use, I leave to my learned brother antiquaries to
ascertain. It is unlike any thing we have ever yet discovered,
and was evidently fixed into a handle, as may be seen by the
three holes, and one of the pins still remaining: the rings seem
to have been annexed to it for the purpose of suspension. This
article, together with the celt and boar's tusk form a very
interesting engraving, and are all drawn of the same size as the
originals in TUMULI PLATE XXIX.
Wilsford Barrow 18 36 (V.C.H. Wilsford (S.) 58) (Fig. 3). This
is a bell-barrow, 121 feet in diameter, and 11 feet high.
Cunnington described his excavation of it thus : "A large bell
shaped barrow, 121 feet in the base diameter and is 11 feet in
elevation. This fine tumulus is on the western edge of the
group, at the depth of 11 feet we found the skeleton of a very
tall stout man, lying on its right side with its head to the
south east. At the feet were found, a stone hatchet or hammer, a
brass celt, a curious tube of bone, a bone handle to some
instrument, a very curious whetstone with a groove up the
middle, and some more articles of bone.... but the most curious
article found in this tumulus is the brass instrument...."
(i.e., the object described by ApSimon and Ashbee, fig. 4).
(Cunnington MSS.13, p. 9.) This is the richest of the
grave-groups discussed in these notes. It would seem to have
been the barrow of a man of importance, and it can well be
compared to the most princely of all graves of this period, Bush
Barrow, Normanton." It may be no coincidence that both the
skeletons were of " tall stout men." The Bone Tube:38 This has
been carved from a long-bone, possibly human, but it has been so
completely smoothed that it is not possible to identify it. It
is complete in length, but in recent years one end has been
damaged. In Part 1 of the Devizes Museum Catalogue, Goddard is
the authority for saying that there was a side hole at the
damaged end. All traces of this have now been broken away. Both
ends have been squared off, and the interior of the bone has
been scraped out and made circular. The use to which this tube
has been put must remain a puzzle. If it did possess a hole at
the side, near the narrow end, it might possibly have been a
horn, although it is rather short for this class of wind
instrument. The expanded end has been stained green, but this
may be due to contact with the axe rather than an implication
that it was a handle. Evans states that the chain for the forked
instrument was fixed to this tube. This can only be his
conclusion, and it is clearly incorrect. The nearest Wessex
parallel is from Normanton Barrow 139. There seems little doubt
that this is a flute made from the ulna of a large bird, perhaps
a swan. It is 6.75 ins. long, with a carefully shaped
mouth-piece; one, and possibly three, finger-holes are visible,
the first beginning 3 ins. from the mouth-piece. The Bone
Handle: This must be the handle to a knife, the blade of which
was removed before burial. It is made of antler, ground to shape
all over. At the narrow end, a short socket has been hollowed
out, perhaps to receive some sort of pommel. The other end
expands to fit the butt of a knife; it resembles the normal
Bronze Age hilt, but lacks a semi-circular opening for the
thumb. The four holes through the wider end are of two different
types, one pair being counter-sunk, the other being cylindrical.
The latter pair are so inclined that it would not be possible to
fit a rivet of the same diameter as the holes; each inclines
towards the centre of the handle. All the rivet holes, if such
they are, fail to show any signs of wear. The socket of this
handle however is rather rough, although this may be due to
natural decay. The mark of the edge of the haft on the axe (see
below) precludes its use as a scraper fitting into this handle.
We suggest that this bone object may have been a model rather
than a functional knife-handle. If it was such, it forms a close
parallel to an exotic bronze handle from a hoard found at
Blackrock, Sussex." The chronological difficulties that arise,
should this analogy be correct, are considered at the end of
these notes. The Sussex handle, a North European type, is dated
between 125o and 1050 B.C. Perforated Bone Plate: This resembles
the plate from Snail Down Barrow 2, except that its greater
thickness has allowed its maker to bore two holes straight
through it. No further comment seems necessary. Boar's Tusk: A
boar's tusk, measuring 41 ins. from root to tip is preserved
from this barrow but is not illustrated. It has been sharpened
along the concave edge, which is clearly worn with use; it has
not been perforated. In the Secondary Neolithic culture it was
common to use tusks as scrapers and knives." The Grooved
Whetstone: This specimen has one groove on the flat face. It has
been better finished than that from Snail Down (see above). It
is made from weathered Forest Marble of fine grain, which may
have come from the Atworth area of Wiltshire. A larger
whetstone, from Roundway Oval Barrow 0 is made of a similar
rock, though with a coarser grain. The Stone Battle-axe: The
much-used battle-axe, or axe-hammer, of greenstone seems to have
been partly functional, partly a symbol of authority. It is a
fine example of a Wessex Culture perforated axe, except that it
is rather larger than usual and is not just a parade-piece. Its
cylindrical perforation is parallel-sided but was probably bored
initially by a hole started at each end. A similar axe, which
has also been much used, was found in a barrow on Windmill Hill,
Avebury," associated with a Grape Cup. This one was made of
picrite, from the factory at Cwm Mawr, Shropshire. Another axe
of picrite, from Chippenham, Cambs., also has a parallel-sided
hole, but it is slightly oval in plan. The Bronze Axe: This is
sufficiently large to have been a wood axe rather than a
scraper. It has a central thickening and cast flanges. It may be
considered a classic example of the British flat and flanged
axes, its sides being nearly parallel, its blade expanding
sharply and its butt thin and convex.
RCH 18: primary skeleton of tall man on floor, head SE., with
perforated battle-axe or axe-hammer of ophitic dolerite (P. 294)
slightly flanged axe, bone haft, bone tube, grooved whetstone,
and boar's tusk (Wessex grave 89); also a bronze double handle,
with hanging chain, from vessel of exotic type, prob. a
cauldron, possibly with wooden rim an body and perhaps wheeled;
probable origin, Central or N. Europe, date towards 1100 BC
(CFCH). This object may or may not have been with the primary
interment; possibly with a secondary interment which was not
found. AW i. 209 pl. xxix; DMCat. i, 167 71, figs.; WAM xxxvii.
112-14 (better fig.), 157, no. 296; WAM Iv, 321-5 (Cf. PPS xiv.
186, 204; Childe, Prehist. Migrations in Europe, Oslo 1950,
202-3 Acta Arch. xx. 257-64.) LBA sherds have been found on this
barrow by RSN.