This is an example of decoration from a grand culture.
The cruciform brooch is made from a copper alloy. It is decorated with a mixture of engraved animal forms (in masks and four footed mammals) and punched decoration. The brooch would have been used to pin clothes together and was a grand demonstration of the owner’s power and wealth.
It was discovered in a pagan Anglo-Saxon burial site in Norton-on-Tees. It dates from 550-620 AD and is testament to the sophisticated and creative society that was in this region at the time.
It also marks the passing of the Pagan age, as Christianity was re-introduced to the Kingdom of Northumbria in 625 AD. This culture had reached its pinnacle and then begun to fade away, meaning pagan burials with their grave goods, that revealed so much about the culture, came to an end.
Unknown maker (mid-6th to early 7th centuries AD)
On display at Preston Park Museum & Grounds, Stockton Borough Council
www.stockton.gov.uk/museums
