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Trapezoid “spangle” made of white washed metal sheet, with punched dots around the edges. This may have been worn on a necklace, or it could have been mounted on another object as decoration.

Brooch. This type of brooch is sometimes called a ‘caterpillar’ brooch on account of their shape.

Glass Bead.

Brass wire strung with two opaque yellow ‘annular’ beads and one unpolished cobalt blue ‘annular’ bead. This may have been a breast ornament – it would have been pinned onto a piece of clothing.

Equal arm brooch, set with garnets in gilt copper.

Oval copper alloy buckle with buckle plate and tongue complete.

Buckle, broken into two pieces, with triangular plate. Such buckles were normally found in graves of high status males and are often decorated with garnets. This is a slightly cheaper version, but would still have belonged to a rich man.

Fragment of double-sided antler comb. The comb is decorated with a series of ring-and-dot motifs in a triangular arrangement at its end.

Single-sided comb with antler handle, iron nails and bone teeth.

Worked Bone single-sided comb.

The Anglo-Saxons kept their combs in cases to stop the teeth from breaking.

Copper alloy disc brooch decorated with a quincunx (group of five) of cup-and-dot decorations, a favoured decorative motif in this period.

Gilded copper alloy small-long brooch or mount in four pieces.

Pendant. The central swastika, or Tetraskele, was used on many items in the Early Anglo-Saxon period.
Found by a metal detectorist near Manston in Kent. Acquired for the museum through the Portable Antiquities scheme.

Key with shepherd’s crook suspension loop. It was cast in bronze and finished by hand with deeply cut out carving.

Fragment with gilt front; chip carved decoration showing a stylised owl.

Coin. Minted in Canterbury for Archbishop Aethelheard during the reign of King Offa. We can date the coin to within just a few years, as Aethelheard became Archbishop in 793 and Offa died in 796.

Copper Alloy pin with a garnet set into the head. There is a piece of gold foil behind the garnet to enhance the colour of the stone.

Five worked bone double-ended pinbeaters. Pinbeaters were used while weaving to adjust the placement of threads on the loom.

Three worked bone pins. These may have been used to hold a hair style, or perhaps to secure an item of clothing.

Coin. Probably known as ‘pennies’ when they were in use, these coins were minted in Kent, Frisia and Jutland. The earliest sceatta in Britain were minted in Kent and the Thames estuary.

Coin. Probably known as ‘pennies’ when they were in use, these coins were minted in Kent, Frisia and Jutland. The earliest sceatta in Britain were minted in Kent and the Thames estuary.

Bone spindle whorl with incised decoration. Spindle whorls were used when spinning wool into yarn. Attached to the spindle, they helped maintain the speed of the spin used to twist the raw wool into a long thread. Using a spindle whorl helped maintain the same thickness of the wool as it was spun.

Two bone Spindle whorl.

Two Ceramic spindle whorls.

Square headed brooch decorated with the ring-and-dot motifs popular in the early Saxon period. This type of brooch is one of the most common worn by the Anglo-Saxons, and was used to secure clothing.

Square-headed brooch fragment with gilding

Silver-gilt sword ring inlaid with niello.

A fine example of an Anglo Saxon pendant made from a gold disc inlaid with garnets and glass. The empty central spaces would have been filled with white paste to form a cross.

Tweezers are often found in Anglo-Saxon graves. They may have been worn on a necklace or attached to a belt, but either way their inclusion in a grave shows how dedicated the Anglo-Saxons were to personal hygiene.

Cast in bronze to resemble a bird. This shape has been found both in Kent and in Northern France, and it is one of the ways we know about the close links of the Anglo Saxons across the Channel.