I Dig Sheffield | Digging Around Sheffield and the Peaks

Dimensions : Height 5.2cm, rim diameter 11cm.

Site name : Cow Low
Site type : Burial site

Time period : Anglo-Saxon
Material : Glass
Object type : Grave goods; Household item
Museum number : J1949.70

The Cow Low bowl is not the only example of an Anglo-Saxon glass vessel from the Peak District. Two were found at White Low and a fragment at another site. Unfortunately these are all lost and there is little information about them.

However, two very similar bowls were found in another rich female grave at Swallowcliffe Down, Wiltshire in 1966. This barrow was also in a reused Bronze Age barrow. The Anglo-Saxon burial was that of a young woman, aged 18-25 years old. The two vessels, called palm cups by the excavator, are almost identical. One is complete, the other broken. These two bowls are almost identical to the one from Cow Low. It is very likely they were made at the same workshop. The glass is very thick and blue-green in colour. All the bowls were made by blowing. They have rounded bases and would not have stood upright.

There are other similarities between the two sites. They must be of very similar date. A late 7th century date has been suggested for both.

Find out more...

Bibliography :
Bateman, T. , 1848
Speke, G. , 1989

Glossary:
Anglo-Saxon
Barrow
Bronze Age
Excavator
Peak District

Related objects
Watercolour of finds from Cow Low including bowl, pin set, studs and beads
Painting of Thomas Bateman and son
Pin set from Cow Low
One of the beads from Galley Low

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