Tuesday, 28th October 2008 (486 views)

Described as one of the most important archaeological finds ever in Britain, a series of gold pins that formed part of a 4,000-year-old dagger are due to go on display in Devizes.

The pins lay discarded in a desk drawer for 40 years because their significance was not recognised when they were excavated from a warrior's grave near Stonehenge in Wiltshire in 1808.

The gold studs, around the size of a pinhead, originally adorned the handle of a Bronze Age dagger and were discovered in a desk at Cardiff University.

Unearthed at Bush Barrow, the pins were loaned to the university during the 1960s and were recently rediscovered by lecturer Niall Sharples.

They have now been examined by experts from the Wiltshire Heritage Museum and will form part of an exhibition of finds from Salisbury Plain.

Made in Brittany, France, the ceremonial dagger had a wooden handle that was decorated with the tiny studs in a herringbone pattern around 4,000 years ago.

 

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