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Balmashanner

Armlet(S) (Bronze), Bead(S) (Amber), Cinerary Urn, Hoard (Bronze), Socketed Axehead (Bronze)

Site Name Balmashanner

Classification Armlet(S) (Bronze), Bead(S) (Amber), Cinerary Urn, Hoard (Bronze), Socketed Axehead (Bronze)

Canmore ID 33574

Site Number NO44NE 5

NGR NO 462 489

NGR Description NO c. 462 489

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/33574

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Angus
  • Parish Forfar
  • Former Region Tayside
  • Former District Angus
  • Former County Angus

Archaeology Notes

NO44NE 5 c. 462 489.

A Late Bronze Age hoard, apparently contained in a cinerary urn, which was broken previous to being found, was ploughed up on Balshanner farm at the beginning of 1892. Its exact site is not known. The hoard consisted of: Cast bronze bowl, damaged in casting; socketed axe; penannular armlets; rings of bronze and iron; 'ring-money' - penannular rings of cast bronze core, wrapped in thin beaten gold; amber and jet or albertite beads; penannular ornaments of beaten gold.

The bowl, which was probably a 'waster', and the armlets are Late Urnfield types from the Middle Rhine area, and form part of the Covesea phase of N E Scotland, from c. 700 BC.

The hoard, together with fragments of the urn, is now in the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland (NMAS Accession nos: DQ 131-159 & 193).

J Anderson 1892; J M Coles 1962.

(Unclassified socketed axe). Found in 1892 while ploughing on the farm of Balmashanner, near Forfar. Socketed axe fragment, mouth part only, smooth, finely pitted, green, untrimmed. Length now 50mm, mouth 20 x 38mm, weight 165 gms. NMAS DQ 131.

Associated finds: eleven penannular armlets (some with expanded terminals); one iron penannular ring; ten bronze rings of varying diameters; four lock-rings (one fragmentary); three penannular 'hair-rings' of cast bronze cores wrapped with thin beaten gold; one cast bronze bowl (probably an unsuccessful casting and untrimmed); twenty-six amber beads with flattened ends; five jet or albertite beads with flattened ends; pottery sherds of a flaky surface texture with large grits, outside red-buff, inside dark encrusted, the pot was apparently 'shaped like the usual cinerary urn'.

P K Schmidt and C B Burgess 1981.

Ploughing uncovered a Late Bronze Age (c.700BC) hoard, which comprised a socketed axe, eleven penannular armlets, an iron ring, ten bronze rings, three bronze and gold rings four penanular ornaments, a cast bronze bowl five jet or albertite beads, some sherds and twenty six amber beads (NMAS acc no.DQ 167-92).

There are nine medium-sized beads of short cylinder type with sharp edges, circular in cross-section, and drop-shaped or rounded rectangular in logitudinal section.

There are five small to medium-sized flat and thin disk shaped beads with sharp edges, circular in cross-section and rectangular in longitudinal section.

There are three small, flat and thin disk-shaped with round edges amber beads, circular in cross-section and rectangular with rounded corners in longitudinal section.

Three of the amber beads are small to medium-sized, irregular, round with a circular cross-section and drop-shaped longitudinal section. There are four medium to large, thin truncated biconical beads, circular in cross-section and irregular hexagon-shaped in longitudinal section. A further two are medium-sized, short, truncated biconical beads which are ciruclar in cross-section and irregular hexagon-shaped in longitudinal section.

The beads range in size from 8.5mm to 25mm in length by between 4mm and 16.5mm in thickness.

C Beck and S Shennan 1991

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