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Medieval silver gilt earscoop found in Norfolk
A rare decorated parcel-gilt silver earscoop from the Middle Ages was discovered by a metal detectorist in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, in July. The whole piece is just 1.7 inches long and is composed of a shaft that is square in cross-section with a widened, flattened end hollowed out to form a scoop on one side and a flattened square end on the other. The square end bears some resemblance to a modern cuticle pusher, but if it had a usage in the Middle Ages, it was more likely to have been used to clean under fingernails. The shank is z-twisted (turned clockwise) and partially gilded. It was decorated with punchmarks using a sharp tool inserted at an angle that left a triangular divot and a small blob of silver at the base of the triangle. Unlike Roman earscoops, this one has no perforation to suspend it, so despite its small size it was carried rather than worn.
County finds liaison officer Helen Geake said scoops were “really, really hard to date”, but a line of dots punched along its “barley twist” handle suggested to her it is later medieval rather than from the earlier Roman period in Britain.
Just 20 silver ear scoops have been recorded on the Portable Antiquities website since it was created more than 25 years ago, making it a rare find, she added.
“For comparison with other medieval silver items, there are 1,200 brooches, 1,200 finger rings and 29 pins on the database,” Dr Geake said.
Several of its features are unusual compared to the other medieval earscoops recorded in the PAS database. Most of the others have a tapered point on the opposite end of the scoop, believed to have been used as a toothpick, as gross as that is. The flat square on the other end of this scoop has not been seen before. The partial gilding is extremely rare. The z-twist is also unusual; most of the other recorded earscoops have an s-twist (turned counter-clockwise). Any decoration at all along the twisted shank is so rare there’s only one other recorded example, and it has engraved lines, not punchmarks.
The fact that the few medieval earscoops that have been found are primarily made of silver attests to their being the province of the wealthy. (Silver and gold were even more rare before the colonization of the Americas spurred a new influx of precious metals to Europe in the 16th century.) Most people probably didn’t use earscoops at all, rather than making them from inexpensive materials.
Because it is made of a precious metal and is more than 300 years old, the earscoop qualifies as Treasure under the 1996 Treasure Act. Its official status will be adjudicated by a coroner’s court, after which a local museum will be given the opportunity to acquire it for an amount determined by a valuation committee. The Norwich Castle Museum is hoping to secure it for its collection.
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