Bronze age jewellery declared treasure

Thu, 29 Sep 2022

An extraordinary set of ancient jewellery discovered on the Isle of Man has been declared Treasure.

Found during planned archaeological excavations at Berk Farm near Kirk Michael as part of the Round Mounds of the Isle of Man project, the find consists of 122 jet beads that make up a complete necklace and a matching bracelet.

Allison Fox, Curator for Archaeology for Manx National Heritage said: “This really is an astonishing find.  These are the very personal belongings of someone who was buried four thousand years ago.”

The necklace has a terminal plate at each end, and two “spacer-plates” on each side. In between these decorated plates and forming the majority of the necklace are one hundred and three undecorated, but carefully fashioned, barrel-shaped beads.  There is also an undecorated triangular-shaped bead which would have been used to secure the necklace around the neck. 

A number of the beads are still undergoing some conservation, but some are now on display in the Prehistoric Gallery at the Manx Museum.

 

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