Norvic Philatelics - GB New Stamps and Special Postmarks
Ancient Britain - stamp issue 17 January 2017
Royal Mail starts its 2017
Stamp Programme with a subject that has not previously been
featured as a stand-alone topic: how people lived in prehistoric
times has always been a fascination for many and the Ancient
Britain stamp issue explores this subject in some detail.
The stamps show famous iconic sites and some of the most
exceptional artefacts found across the UK, and overlays
illustrations to show how people lived, worked and used the
objects. We also explore the social and technological evolution of
these early Britons.
The first metals were used in Britain while still in the
‘Stone Age’. The arrival of cultures that could ‘make metal’ would
have a dramatic effect on society. In the British Isles the first
seams of copper were exploited in Ireland around 2500BC. The
discovery of tin in South West England helped to make Britain an
important centre – copper smelted with an amount of tin makes the
superior metal bronze: harder, more durable and versatile and the
so-called Bronze Age saw several other technological
advancements. Overall, the stamps give a timeline across
thousands of years of history, from a glimpse of Stone Age ritual of
11,000 years ago, through the Bronze Age and into the Iron Age of
some 300 BC.
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Stamp
Set - in horizontal se-tenant pairs
1st class - Battersea Shield, Skara Brae village.
£1.05 – Star Carr
headdress, Maiden Castle Hillfort;
£1.33 - Averbury Stone
Circles, Drumbest Horns; £1.52
- Grimes Graves, Mold Cape.
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Stamps in detail
Battersea Shield, Iron Age – 1st Class
FIND-SPOT: River Thames, Battersea, London, England
EXHIBITED AT: The British Museum, London
Shields from the Iron Age are rare. They were mostly made of wood which has
not survived. The Battersea shield is exceptional. Crafted from bronze with
inlaid glass, it was ceremonial and held together by concealed rivets. It is
highly decorated with engravings. It was placed in the River Thames as an
offering, where many weapons have been offered in sacrifice. The shield
gives a glimpse of the war-like culture of much of the Iron Age as well as
the rituals of life. The complete shield is about 78cm (2½ft) long. The
panels are made from thin beaten sheet bronze, decorated with repoussé,
engraving and red-enamel inlay. The designs are Celtic in style, comprising
interlocking circles and spirals connected by S-shaped curves.
Skara Brae Village, Neolithic – 1st Class
LOCATION: Bay of Skaill, Orkney Islands, Scotland
An example of an extremely early settlement is Skara Brae on Orkney. Unlike
in many other parts of the UK, by the third millennium BC there were few
trees on Orkney and stone was therefore the building material of choice
(which of course can survive for millennia). Today 8 recognisable houses
remain, the earliest dating from around 3200BC. Fashioned in stone are beds,
shelves and storage containers, around a central hearth. Prominent in each
home is a ‘dresser’ made of flagstones. The inhabitants used beautifully
decorated Grooved Ware pottery and had a rich material culture of worked
stone and bone. Their diet was based on domesticated crops, wild plants,
fish, seabirds and the products from sheep, goats, pigs and cattle.
Skara Brae is part of the 'Heart of Neolithic Orkney' UNESCO World
Heritage Site.
Star Carr Headdress, Mesolithic – £1.05
FIND-SPOT: Star Carr, near Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England
EXHIBITED AT: The British Museum, London
Excavations over the last 70 years have revealed three brushwood and timber
platforms along the edge of what was once Lake Flixton, as well as evidence
of houses on drier ground away from the shore. Among the rich collection of
worked stone, flint, bone, antler and wood were more than 30 frontlets of
red deer. All had been extensively worked, with the antlers trimmed, and
some had holes cut through the skull. These strange items were probably
masks or some kind of headdresses. They may have been used as a disguise in
hunting or during ritual performances in which people took the place of an
animal. It is likely that the original skin formed part of the attire, which
may have been worn by shamans when communicating with animal spirits.
Maiden Castle Hill Fort, Iron Age – £1.05
LOCATION: Near Dorchester, Dorset, England PUBLIC ACCESS: English
Heritage
The population of these islands exploded in the Bronze Age, and society
became agrarian, dependent on the land and settled. Soon there was pressure
placed on available land. In the ‘Iron Age’ we see the development of
enclosed land and ‘hill forts’, upland areas, sometimes ringed with
defensive earthworks. The largest of these, such as Maiden Castle in Dorset,
have huge defensive ramparts (some 5.5m high) built from around 400BC
(although first peoples on the site date as far back as 3000BC). Within the
enclosed area would have been storage facilities for grain and people lived
in timber round houses.
A long sequence of occupation on this hilltop
overlooking the River South Winterborne was revealed through excavations in
1934–37 and 1985–86. Early occupation includes a causewayed enclosure at the
eastern end built around 3550 BC, a long mound along the spine of the hill
built around 3400 BC and an early hill fort with a single rampart enclosing
6.4ha (nearly 16 acres) built around 600 BC. The great multivallate hill
fort whose earthworks dominate the site today was built around 400 BC,
enclosing 19ha (47 acres) – the largest hill fort of its type in Britain.
Avebury Stone Circles, Neolithic, £1.33
LOCATION: Avebury, Near Marlborough, Wiltshire, England PUBLIC ACCESS:
National Trust and English Heritage
With a more settled lifestyle came changes to how society was organised, and
perhaps also religious beliefs. With food surpluses it was possible to
organise people’s labour away from subsistence activities. From around
3000BC saw the building of large monuments in the UK, either earthworks or
the more familiar circles of stones and standing stones. One of the most
impressive and one of the largest in Europe is at Avebury in Wiltshire.
Building commenced in around 2500BC there are a total of three circles and
avenues of standing stones plus associated earthworks.Four entrances give
access to the flat central space some 350m (383yd) across which once
contained a series of stone structures, comprising 98 unworked pillars of
local sarsen stone. Within there were two further circles. The southern
circle of 29 pillars surrounded a single standing stone or obelisk. The
northern circle of 27 pillars surrounded a ‘cove’ of three massive uprights
forming the sides of a box-like structure open to the northeast. The massive
earthworks possibly served to contain powerful spirits while providing a
grandstand from which to observe ceremonies inside the henge. At least two
of the entrances link with stone-lined avenues defining pathways out into
the landscape that connect Avebury with nearby monuments and the River
Kennet. The Neolithic sites of Avebury and Stonehenge are in a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Drumbest Horns, Bronze Age - £1.33
FIND-SPOT: Drumbest, Near Ballymoney, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
EXHIBITED AT: The Ulster Museum, Belfast
Further examples of exquisite metal work are the Drumbest horns. Discovered
in 1840 in a bog in Northern Ireland, these are among the best preserved
such horns in Europe. Very finely made, they would have been striking and
shiny when new. It is believed that they were played in pairs, one producing
a drone like a bagpipe, and the other notes. These are in the Ulster Museum
and provide an insight into the sophistication of the metal working as well
as the culture of peoples in the later Bronze Age (around 800BC).
Experiments show that these instruments would have made deep resonating
sounds when played like an Australian didgeridoo. Two of the horns were
side-blown and could have provided a backing drone; the other two were
end-blown through a caston mouthpiece and could have carried a melody. Rings
would have held straps to support the instruments while being played in
public rituals, battles or during raids. Regional styles can be recognised,
and on a wider compass they are closely connected to the lurs of southern
Scandinavia and the Baltic coastlands.
Grime’s Graves Flint Mines, Neolithic - £1.52
LOCATION: Weeting With Broomhill, Near Thetford, Norfolk, England PUBLIC
ACCESS: English Heritage
Flint was the dominant tool crucial for making edged tools and weapons in
prehistoric times. It had been used for thousands, perhaps millions of
years, but the early agriculture promoted a population growth, and this in
turn meant that forests needed to be cleared and fields prepared. The demand
for flint led to organised excavation of mines. The Grimes Graves Flint mine
(around 2500BC) is one of the largest found in the UK, and for more than
1000 years workers dug hundreds of shafts to reach seems of flint. Much of
the best flint was obtained from mines in the chalklands of South East
Britain. Some flint was exported to far-flung communities as nodules, but
much of it was worked into tools as it came out of the ground, and these
were traded across the country.
Mold Cape, Bronze Age - £1.52
FIND-SPOT: Bryn Yr Ellyllon (Goblins’ Hill), Mold, Flintshire, Wales
EXHIBITED AT: The British Museum, London
Among the precious metals worked were gold and some outstanding ancient
examples remain. In Mold, Wales, a beautiful ceremonial gold cape was
discovered in a burial mound of some 1900-1600BC. A prestigious item, it was
possibly used for ceremonial purposes and it has been suggested would have
been worn by a high-status woman (perhaps a ‘priestess’). Made by hammering
out a 700g (1½lb) ingot of gold, this dazzling object formed the upper part
of an elaborate garment that was restrictive to wear but stunning in its
impact. It was found by workmen in 1833 while quarrying stone from a large
round barrow. With the cape just 465mm (18 in) wide, the wearer must have
been young or of slight build.
Technical details:
The se-tenant stamps are designed by True
North and stamps are printed by International Security Printers in
lithography. The stamps are 41 x 30 mm, and printed in 4 sheets,
30/60 per sheet.
Acknowledgements: Illustrations by
Rebecca Strickson; Battersea shield, Star Carr headdress and Mold
cape photos © The Trustees of the British Museum; Skara Brae village photo
by Rolph Gobits © Royal Mail Group Ltd 2017, taken with the kind
permission of Historic Environment Scotland/Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil
Alba; Maiden Castle hill fort photo © Skyscan Photolibrary/Alamy
Stock Photo; Avebury stone circles photo by Rolph Gobits © Royal
Mail Group Ltd 2017, taken with the kind permission of the National
Trust; Drumbest horns photo by Jonathan West © Royal Mail Group Ltd
2017, taken with the kind permission of Ulster Museum, Belfast; Grime’s
Graves flint mines photo by
Rolph Gobits © Royal Mail Group Ltd 2017, taken with the kind permission
of English Heritage
Product range - we will not be stocking these products
Set of 8 stamps Presentation Pack
First Day Cover Set of 8 Stamp Cards
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