Jet Cross Pendants from the British Isles and Beyond: Forms, Distribution and Use

Abstract

Identical objects from a wide geographical area are rare in medieval archaeology, but jet cross pendants with a ring-and-dot motif have been found in excavations throughout Britain, Ireland and Scandinavia. The aim of this paper is to bring this corpus of unique medieval artefacts to the attention of archaeologists in the UK and abroad and to understand how and why they received such a wide distribution. This article catalogues the finds and discusses differences in style, distribution, date and meaning for their medieval owners.