This strange little item, nickname 'hedgehog', turned up in an otherwise fairly sparse field. However, there were enough signs of extensive early settlement on the surrounding hills for me to slip it into my pocket for further investigation. Then, the Searcher magazine ran a brief article asking anyone who had examples to send in details. Apparently, one of these was found in the Winchester hoard, and some fairly eminent people are trying to figure out what the heck they were for. As soon as I know, so will you.

The hoard dates it as Saxon - but for what purpose? For anyone interested, it's copper alloy and measures 1.5cms or 5/8 of an inch, between the two points.