Medieval Archaeology 22

Many new discoveries made in the last twenty years have increased knowledge of mid- and late Saxon glass. For the early period a few new shapes have been discovered. Quantities of window glass have come from Monkwearmouth and Jarrow, and from churches like Escomb, while in the late AS period glass has also come from settlements. A gap follows before glass reappears, this time of 'Byzantine' and 'Syro-Frankish' types. Italian glass of 13th/14th century is found at Boston, Southampton, and Nottingham and includes fine soda glass; forest (potash) glass of the same period comes from both the Continent and England. Important advances were also made by the complete excavation of the c 1330 glasshouse at Blunden's Wood.

Recognition in the Castle Museum, Nottingham, of a 'lost' sword from a Viking age warrior's grave excavated at Donnybrook in 1879 has prompted a reassessment of the burial in relation to other Viking age burials in the 'Irish Sea province'. Detailed metallurgical analysis of the sword, undertaken during conservation, has provided important information about the techniques of its construction and demonstrated the potential of a variety of analytical approaches. The elaborate hilt had brass and silver inlaid into a network forged in the iron, forming one of the finest Viking age weapons from these islands. Au(amp)

Restoration of the buildings allowed the examination, in a dismantled state, of the important series of scissor-braced roofs of the Priory. This revealed numerous variations in the joints used, apparently stemming from the craftsmen's engineering sense and from their response to variations in the timber supplied; for instance, secret and semi-secret notch laps appear as a means of coping with waney surfaces. The distortions suffered by the timbers are analysed, and contemporary records of the origins of the timber provide useful information. The eighty-two oaks given by the king - some coming at least 60 miles - provided about half the number of trees required in all.

NZ 179053. Two sculptures were discovered in the bank of Gilling Beck near to a site which recently yielded a Viking-period sword. One is a slab decorated with an encircled cross, this is identified as an architectural feature and dated to the Anglian period. The fragment is thus earlier than any known carving from Gilling though documentary evidence suggests the existence of an Anglian monastery here. The other stone is a hogback decorated with scroll and pseudo-interlace. R N B

The pottery is easily recognized by its thick, hard, very sandy fabric, bluish or brownish black or bluish grey, wheel-thrown and with sagging bases. It was going out of use by early 10th century but its starting date and place of origin are still unknown; thin sections failed to reveal a likely source.