A MEDIEVAL SEWING-THIMBLE FROM DOLBENMAEN, GWYNEDD for Gwynedd Archaeological Trust AsF Report : 0009.01 March 2014 www.smallfinds.org.uk A MEDIEVAL SEWING-THIMBLE FROM DOLBENMAEN, GWYNEDD Prepared for Gwynedd Archaeological Trust Craig Beuno Ffordd y Gart h Bangor Gwynedd LL57 2RT by Jörn Schuster AsF Report : 0009. 01 March 2014 Disclaimer: This document has been prepared f or t he t it led proj ect or named part t hereof and should not be relied upon or used f or any ot her proj ect wit hout an independent check being carried out as t o it s suit abilit y and prior writ t en aut horit y of ARCHÆOLOGICALsmallFINDS being obt ained. ARCHÆOLOGICALsmallFINDS accept s no responsibilit y or liabilit y f or t he consequences of t his document being used f or a purpose ot her t han t he purposes f or which it was commissioned. Any person/ part y using or relying on t he document f or such ot her purposes agrees, and will by such use or reliance be t aken t o conf irm t heir agreement t o indemnif y ARCHÆOLOGICALsmallFINDS f or all loss or damage result ing t heref rom. ARCHÆOLOGICALsmallFINDS accept s no responsibilit y or liabilit y f or t his document t o any part y ot her t han t he person/ part y by whom it was commissioned. © ARCHÆOLOGICALsmallFINDS 2014 all right s reserved T 01747 820216 E info@smallfinds.org.uk A medieval sewing-t himble f rom Dolbenmaen, Gwynedd 1. Introduction ARCHÆOLOGICALsmallFINDS (AsF) was commissioned by Gwynedd Archaeological Trust t o provide a report for publicat ion of a medieval sewing-t himble found during excavat ion at Dolbenmaen, Gwynedd (Gwynedd Archaeological Trust Proj ect Number G 2293). The sit e comprises t hree ring dit ches as well as several clust ers of pit s and post -holes, probably mainly of prehist oric (Bronze Age) dat e. The sewing-t himble ON 5 was recovered from a secondary, perhaps deliberat ely dumped, charcoal-rich fill (1611) in pit 1608 – a possible cremat ion relat ed deposit of prehist oric dat e. Fill 1611 was cut by undat ed pit 1634, covering almost t he ent ire lengt h and widt h of t he original pit . No evidence for medieval act ivit y has been recorded on sit e, but Figure 1. Sewingt himble ON 5. Scale in mm. “ t he geological out crop and associat ed eart h mound known as Pen Bryn yr Orsedd which is sit uat ed direct ly t o t he nort h, and wit hin t he same field as t he development sit e, may have served as an assembly mound for t he ret inue of a peripat et ic early medieval court ” . The cast le eart hworks marking t he sit e of t he medieval llys of Dolbenmaen lies c. 830m t o t he west of t he sit e (D. McNicoll, pers. corr. 10.01.2014). 2. Method The sewing-t himble was examined visually wit h t he help of a hand lens (x8-magnificat ion), and it s dimensions and weight were recorded. It was subsequent ly compared wit h ot her pert inent collect ions of t himbles. 3. Discussion The earliest evidence for t he use of sewing-t himbles nort h of t he Alps comes from writ t en sources, indicat ing t heir use in t he region of t he middle Rhine valley during t he 12t h cent ury (Langedij k and Boon 1999, 17). The earliest archaeological evidence comes from sout hern France, where bronze t himbles wit h relat ively point y t ops have been recorded from 13t h-cent ury cont ext s at Rougiers and Avignon (ibid.). In Brit ain, t he first use of t himbles can be dat ed no lat er t han t he middle of t he 14t h cent ury (Holmes 1988 ,1); some of t he earliest t himbles – in t he form a soldered sheet ring wit h open t op and drilled holes – were found at Billingsgat e Lorry Park, London, in a cont ext dat ed t o ceramic 3 A medieval sewing-t himble f rom Dolbenmaen, Gwynedd phase 9 (c.1270–c. 1350; Egan 2010, 265), and at t he Foundry, York, in a lat e 13t h–early 14t h-cent ury layer (Ot t away and Rogers 2002, 2739–40 fig. 1347, 13302). Since no cont ext dat e is fort hcoming for t he Dolbenmaen t himble, it s dat e can only be est ablished by a det ailed analysis of marks left by t he manufact uring process on t he t himble it self. A good indicat or for an early dat e of t he t himble is t he fact t hat it was cast . In Amst erdam, hammered or st amped t himbles st art t o appear from t he second half of t he 15t h cent ury, about a cent ury lat er t han cast t himbles. By t he first half of t he 16t h cent ury t he lat t er have all but disappeared, and by t hat t ime holes also cease t o be drilled (Langedij k and Boon 1999, 20). In Brit ain t he pict ure seems t o be slight ly different in t hat st amped domed t himbles have been found in London in cont ext s dat ed t o ceramic phases 10 and 11 (c.1330–c. 1380 and c.1350–c.1400, respect ively), while indisput ably cast domed t himbles were not recovered from cont ext earlier t han ceramic phase 12 (c.1400– c.1450; Egan 2010 ,266). The above ment ioned t himble f rom York also support s t his earlier use of open t op t himbles compared t o domed examples. At Nuremberg, cast ing of t himbles is abandoned around 1530, alt hough t his met hod of manufact ure was lat er reint roduced by Dut ch t himble makers in t he early 17t h cent ury and subsequent ly int roduced t o Brit ain (Holmes 1988, 2); however, t hese t himbles are easily dist inguished from t heir earlier count erpart s by t heir generally more careful manufact ure and finish (ibid, 4 fig. 7b-c). The t onsure-like pat ch of t himble ON 5 is equally indicat ive of an early dat e. Sewingt himbles wit h bare crowns are not found aft er c. 1650 (Holmes 1988, 3). While it is not uncommon t o find cast t himbles wit h drilled holes feat uring one or t wo lines above t he opening (see e.g. Meols: Egan in Griffit hs et al. 2007, 179 pl. 34, 2243; London: Egan 2010, 267 fig. 206, 830 and 831 ), it is very rare t o find t himbles wit h a line separat ing t he t onsure at t he crown from t he wall. Out of a t ot al of 1140 obj ect s recorded (and phot ographed) as t himbles of medieval dat e on t he Port able Ant iquit ies Scheme (PAS) dat abase, only t wo are closely comparable t o t he Dolbenmaen t himble in sharing t his line. One was found on t he Isle of Wight ( Figure 2; Basford 2010), t he ot her comes from Clot hall, Hert fordshire (Figure 3; Wat t ers 2011). Compared t o t he Dolbenmaen t himble, bot h t hese t himbles have t heir indent at ions arranged in more carefully aligned vert ical rows. 4 A medieval sewing-t himble f rom Dolbenmaen, Gwynedd Figure 2. Figure 2. Sewing-t himble f rom t he Isle of Wight . Af t er Basf ord 2010. ©PAS. Figure 3. Sewing-t himble f rom Clot hall, Hert f ordshire. Af t er Wat t ers 2011. ©PAS. It is int erest ing t o not e t hat on t he oldest depict ion of a t himbler, from t he Hausbuch der Mendelschen Zwölfbrüderst ift ung dat ed t o c. 1425 (Amb. 317.2° Folio 5 verso (Mendel I) ; Treue et al. 1965, 111, Taf. 13; cf. also Egan 2010, 264 fig. 205), t he craft sman drilling t he holes on bot h open and domed t himbles appears t o have drilled t hem in no part icular pat t ern. Unevenly scat t ered holes have been ident ified as a feat ure of earlier t himbles, alt hough t hey are usually applied in regular pat t erns such as vert ical lines or concent ric circles, and by t he 16t h cent ury t he pat t erns commonly t ake t he form of spirals (Holmes 1988, 2). 4. Conclusion On t he basis of t he det ails of t he product ion process discussed above it can be concluded t hat t he Dolbenmaen t himble was most likely manufact ured during t he lat e 14t h or early 15t h cent ury. Considering t he scarcit y of t himbles wit h an addit ional line bet ween wall and crown, it has however not been possible t o link it t o a known cent re of t himble manufact ure like Nuremberg or Amst erdam. It is possible t hat it may have been made at an unknown locat ion in sout hern Brit ain. The t himble’ s deposit ion in t he secondary fill of what may be a prehist oric cremat ionrelat ed deposit is most likely due t o a dist urbance of t hat cont ext during or aft er t he lat e medieval period. Considering it s fragment ary condit ion, it may have been t hrown away elsewhere and discarded on sit e t oget her wit h ot her organic set t lement wast e which might have been used as fert iliser. 5 A medieval sewing-t himble f rom Dolbenmaen, Gwynedd 5. Catalogue Description Dolbenmaen Gwynedd (Gwyneed Archaeological Trust Project Number G 2293) Object Number 5, Context 1611 Sewing-t himble. Incomplet e, slight ly less t han half remaining. Heavy dut y, cast , domed t himble wit h drilled holes (indent at ions) of varying dept hs, arranged in irregular vert ical lines. Holes do not ext end below faint line c. 1.9mm above opening, nor above anot her faint line separat ing t onsure at t he crown (t op) from wall. Crown now appears f lat (may have been caused by damage). Faint t races of filing visible at middle of wall and near opening. Dark green pat ina. Mat erial : Copper alloy (probably brass). Measurement : H 20mm; Diam (at mout h) 21.4mm; Th of wall 1.04–1.45mm; Weight 4.0g. 6. References AMB. 317.2 Folio 5 verso (Mendel I). Webpage available at : ht t p:/ / www.nuernbergerhausbuecher.de/ 75-Amb-2-317-5-v/ dat a [Accessed 29 Mar 2014]. Basford, F., 2010 IOW-931834 A MEDIEVAL THIMBLE Webpage available at : ht t p:/ / finds.org.uk/ dat abase/ art efact s/ record/ id/ 405975 [Accessed: 29 Mar 2014 13:55:53]. Egan, G., 2010 The medieval househol d: dail y l iving c.1150-c.1450, Medieval finds from excavat ions in London 6. Boydell Press in associat ion wit h Museum of London, Woodbridge. Griffit hs, D., Philpot t , R.A. and Egan, G., 2007 Meol s: t he archaeol ogy of t he Nort h Wirral coast : discoveries and observat ions in t he 19t h and 20t h cent uries, wit h a cat al ogue of col l ect ions, Oxford Universit y School of Archaeology: Monograph 68. School of Archaeology, Oxford. Holmes, E., 1988 Sewing Thimbl es, Finds Research Group 700–1700 Dat asheet 9. Finds Research Group 700-1700, Norwich. Langedij k, C.A. and Boon, H.F., 1999 Vingerhoeden en naair ingen uit de Amst erdamse bodem: product iet echnieken vanaf de l at e middel eeuwen, AWN-reeks 2. Archeologische Werkgemeenschap voor Nederland, Amst erdam. Ot t away, P. and Rogers, N.S.H., 2002 Craf t , indust ry and everyday l if e: f inds f r om medieval York, The Archaeology of York 17/ 15. York Archaeological Trust , York. Treue, W., Goldmann, K., Klemm, F. and Wißner, A. (eds), 1965 Das Hausbuch der Mendel schen Zwöl f brüderst if t ung zu Nürnberg. Deut sche Handwerkerbil der des 15. und 16. Jahrhundert s, Bruckmann, München. Wat t ers, J., 2011 BH-49EA23 A MEDIEVAL THIMBLE Webpage available at : ht t p:/ / finds.org.uk/ dat abase/ art efact s/ record/ id/ 462862 [Accessed: 29 Mar 2014 14:32:26]. 6