A HISTORY OF KENT 



APPENDIX 



GOLD ORNAMENTS FOUND AT BEXLEY 



Since the foregoing pages were written two very important discoveries of gold bracelets have 

 been made at Bexley in the course of digging for sand and gravel in a field on the right-hand side 

 of the top of Dartford Heath Lane.^ The first find was in July, 1906, when eight objects, 

 like old brass rings, were thrown out of the diggings by the workmen as of little value. 

 Subsequent examination proved them to be bracelets of pure gold, but unfortunately, the 

 men, in their endeavours to ascertain the nature of the metal, broke one bracelet in halves. 



A second discovery of bracelets, also composed of solid gold, was made in February, 1907.^ 

 In this case the articles were nine in number, and although generally of the same character 

 as those first found, were more slender in form and of course contained less metal. 



Both groups of bracelets were found buried in the sand beneath what had been the floors 

 of ancient hut-dwellings. They lay about 3 ft. below the present level of the ground. The fact 

 of these objects being buried in this way is of considerable archaeological importance. It estab- 

 lishes the existence of dwellings of Bronze Age man at Bexley, and it also indicates that in the 

 case of at least some hoards of metallic objects the place of deposit was not only close to, but 

 actually within the limits of, the dwelling. It may well be that such a place of deposit was 

 very rarely chosen, and therefore specially selected for the hiding of these peculiarly attractive 

 and valuable objects. The burial of valuable objects underground within the tent is a prac- 

 tice not unknown in oriental regions. 



The bracelets are of solid gold and have no ornamental feature, unless the thickening 

 into seal-like terminations, and the rolled ends of two of the examples in the second hoard 

 are to be so regarded. The weight of the gold is quite remarkable, amounting in one case to 

 upwards of four ounces. They evidently belong to the latter part of the Bronze Age. 



The following weights of the bracelets have been obligingly furnished by the authorities 

 at the British Museum, where the ornaments are deposited as treasure trove. 



First Discovery (July, 

 (i) 2,080 grains 



1906). 



i'eight). 



The Antiquary, April, 1907, 



.26-7. 



Home Counties Magazine, 1907, p. ifl 



338 



