| Ancient Meols No 4. |
The term bosses and studs frequently used as identical in meaning; but when a distinction is made, the former is supposed to refer to objects somewhat larger in size. Their form came as wheel-shaped, circular, cruciformed, square, as well as plain, ornamented, flat, in relief, dotted, with open work, etc. In the like manner, those that we find in ancient sculptures and paintings were no less varied.
There were particular portions of equipment of both men and horses with which studs were connected, the belt, the bawdrick and sword scabbard of the knight, were often decorated: and the headstall and bridle-reins as well as the croupe-straps of the horse, that is why so many are located on arable land and bridleways by the ardent detectorist having parted with their owners for some reason or other.
The shoes of horses are often located on bridleways, I have one which is termed as a Guildhall type, being very broad metal helped the horse when negotiating deep muddy roads, these need great attention in the preservation, once exposed to the air very quickly deteriorate into a flakey ruin.
Returning back to Bosses and Studs- studs were also used for ornamenting armour and even gloves. No part of the dress was prepared with greater care than the belt. So much pride was taken of it that it was always conspicuous. Apart from being displayed in all its elegance it also had functional duties to perform, it formed a basis for the attachment of small objects like the dagger for instance.
Studs were used for many other purposes, it has been noticed that in ancient book binding there were usually five large studs or bosses on the sides which lay upon the table, I well remember my Grandmother having one such bible that had such studs four at the corners and one in the centre, the tables in those days were more functional and not usually polished but scrubbed at regular intervals which bleached the wood white.
The round brass-headed nails which decorated the chairs in the 18th and 19th centuries were the relics of this ornamentation, and after a period of time appeared as large square brass studs which adorned Victorian furniture. For the detectorists information it was not unusual for the studs to have loops behind and if found could be mistaken for buttons were used to fasten boots in the 19th century onwards. The loops were there to fasten to leather or cloth.
I am going to include bosses and studs found on shields, some have been recovered and more likely to have been dismissed as part of horse harness decoration. The earliest of shields were made of wickerwork, covered with skin or thin metalic plates, and sometimes of two boards laid together. The boss of a shield or centre knob was hollow as if intended for the hand; and in some instances it appears to have been hemispherical. Some etchings I have seen show the forms which the umbo or boss of the shield sometimes assume not exactly hemispherical but more like a dish cover, and others is conical, I have two conical-shaped bosses that may have been shield bosses but I have not been able to associate them with other known ones.
Spindle whorls are the most ancient objects found and of which at first are least understood. When the distaff was in use as it was on the continent up to the end of the 18th century, and before the invention of the spinning wheel, which already has become an object of antiquity, the spindle and its whorl or whirl were common domestic implements. When there was no whirl on the spindle the roll of yarn could be drawn off it, it was called a slipper spindle.
This instrument was used in Roman times and there is a distinct that was has been found from this period but out of context. That is the difficulty of dating such artifacts, it is always easy to call identify any spindle whorl as grom a definate period, but what we do know is that most that are recovered by detectorists are more than likely to be medieval.
Although some of them I have seen are made of stone or a slatey substance almost all in my collection are of lead. Oddly one of them had been severly chewed by some animal.
A Roman spindle whorl was discovered at Caerwent consisting of a disc of red ware, and in Anglo-Saxon times and in graves since discovered, a considerable number had been found and were generally made of clay or glass, and to find one of these what we call "eyes only" would be a very choice find indeed.
In the process of spinning, the thread was inserted in a slit at the top or side of the spindle, so as to keep the old part firm in its place, while the new portion was being twisted. It was released from the slit, and an additional portion was wound on the spindle, the thread was inserted as before, and a new portion was spun. Sometimes there were holes in the side of the whorls to accomodate the thread, I have such a type in my possession at the moment, this is being diplayed with a made spindle and wool attached to demonstrate its use.
In the early years of archaeology the only method of discovering spindle whorls were in the graves of women and children. There were various shapes, some which were cylindrical, plano-convex or flat on one side and convex on the other. I have no doubt that some cylindrical ones could have been used for net sinking for fishing making them a dual purpose instrument.