HIST 246, Carleton College, Spring 2018
The 3D printing table was a little different than other tables. Our recreations could be moved, touched, etc. but we did not have hands-on activities apart from object handling. We featured a few items at the table, including the metal spearhead modeled by Henry, the bone comb modeled by McClain, funerary urns modeled by Austin, and a portion of the Sheffield Cross Shaft modeled by Mary Chester-Kadwell, working for the British Museum.
THE OBJECT
The cruciform brooch I chose for my modeling and research paper was found in a cemetery at the West Stow site. Since brooches of a similar cruciform style were found in the same cemetery at West Stow and in other locations. Considering what has been discovered of other Anglo-Saxon grave goods, it is reasonable to assume this brooch accompanied a late Anglo-Saxon into the afterlife. Twelve brooches of the cruciform style were found in the cemetery, all made of a bronze alloy.[1] According to Stanley West, the brooch is typical of the Leeds Type V.f. and is a “remarkably successful, decorative piece, with a flowing, rounding design of masks and bird heads.”[2]
In class, many of us were struck by the surprising amount of phallic jokes penned by monks. Of course, we were also struck by the very clever imagery and metaphors used in the riddles, and these riddles offered us a surprisingly large amount of insight into the material lives of those who wrote them.
