Home > Ringlemere gold cup

Although badly crushed by plough damage it can be seen to be 14cm high with corrugated sides. Only five similar cups have been found in Europe, dating to the period between 1700 and 1500 BC. It is similar to the Rillaton gold cup found in Cornwall in the nineteenth century.

A programme of archaeological work funded by English Heritage was undertaken following the discovery which revealed that a Bronze Age barrow had stood at the site. It is thought that the cup was not a grave good however but a votive offering placed at the centre of the barrow independent of any inhumation. No contemporary burials have in fact been found at the site although later Iron Age ones have since been found.

The finder, Cliff Bradshaw, reported the find of the cup to the local coroner's office and through the Portable Antiquities Scheme and the Treasure Act 1996 the cup was recorded and declared to be Treasure TroveUnder the common law of the United Kingdom, if a person dies without passing their property by will, and has no relatives, then their property is Bona Vacantia lit. vacant goods") and passes to The Crown as final owner of all property in the UK. However,. It was bought by the British MuseumThe British Museum is one of the world's greatest and most famous museums. It was established in 1753 by Sir Hans Sloane, a physician and scientist who collected lots of literature and art, on its present site at Montague House in London, United Kingdom, with the money paid split between Mr Bradshaw and the Smith family who own Ringlemere Farm. The money to secure the cup for the nation was raised through donations by the Heritage Lottery Fund , The National Art Collections Fund and the Friends of the British Museum .

Excavation work has continued at the site, funded by English Heritage, the BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation BBC is primarily a national publicly-funded broadcaster based in the United Kingdom, which also has some international services. Some of the international services (such as BBC cable TV in America, Canada and elsewhere, the British MuseumThe British Museum is one of the world's greatest and most famous museums. It was established in 1753 by Sir Hans Sloane, a physician and scientist who collected lots of literature and art, on its present site at Montague House in London, United Kingdom, and the Kent Archaeological Society . This work has indicated that the now ploughed-away barrow was as high as 5m and had a diameter of more than 40m. The flat-bottomed ditch that surrounded it was 5-6m wide and 1.35m deep. Considerable evidence of much earlier NeolithicThe Neolithic (Greek neos new, lithos stone, or "New Stone Age") is traditionally the last part of the stone age. The name was invented by John Lubbock in 1865 as a refinement of the three-age system. It followed Pleistocene Epipalaeolithic and early Holo activity has now been found on the site including by far the largest assemblage of grooved wareMost Neolithic cultures in Britain are best identified by the pottery remains which they left. A large number of apparently unrelated cultures seem to have produced urns which have characteristic grooves near the top rim, hence the name Grooved Ware Peopl in the county. Current theories now focus on the site having been significant long before and after the barrow being built and that the ditch may have been that of an older hengeA henge is a circular or sub-circular prehistoric enclosure defined by a raised circular bank, and a circular ditch usually running inside the bank. Henges have one or more entrances leading into the enclosed open space. They are unique to the British Isl or, more likely, hengiform monumentA Hengiform monument (also known as a Dorchester henge) is a name given by archaeologists to prehistoric monuments which resemble henges but have a diameter of less than 20m. They are distributed through out England and into southern Scotland though no ex.