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25.08.2021

Book marker of copper-alloy

This copper alloy book marker, believed to be from the medieval period, possibly late medieval, was unearthed during excavations conducted in the 1970s at the archaeological section of the Winchester Museum on Victoria Road in Winchester, Hampshire.

The book marker is designed in the form of tweezers, featuring rectangular end plates and a peranal ring meant to slide around a rod. The connection point between the hanger loop and the rod is marked with small protrusions, which may have served to prevent the ring from moving up on the loop. To secure the marker to the page, the ring would have been pushed down the rod.

Notably, the end plates of the book marker are adorned with lines of perforated triangles arranged in geometric patterns. Each line consists of double triangles facing outward. On one side of the marker, a saltire is depicted, while the other side features a small framed saltire. While this artifact was found outside the walls of Hyde Abbey, it is important to note that literacy was relatively rare among the laity in medieval suburbia. Therefore, it's possible that the book marker was originally used by the clergy of the abbey.

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