Copper-alloy and organic material, 8.66 grams, 46.52 mm. Circa 5th-6th century AD. A very interesting and unusual Anglo-Saxon pendant made from organic material - either a tusk from a boar, or possibly bone worked into a similar shape. The thicker upper end is encased in copper-alloy strip – a horizontal band around the tusk itself, with a vertical band for suspension, the whole pierced and riveted. The horizontal band is still partly present. The boar was an important symbol to the Anglo-Saxon warrior class, who used its image on their helmets (Benty Grange, Wollaston) and other war-gear; the Old English word eofor ‘boar’ was used figuratively for ‘persistent and determined lone warrior’. Reference: animal teeth mounted as pendants in Chambers, R.A. Oxonensia, vol.40, 1975, p.192. Published: Hammond, Brett British Artefacts, volume I - Early Anglo-Saxon. Extremely rare and in a good state of preservation.