A Bark Shield? The Iron Age Enderby Shield

In 2015, everything we knew about Iron Age shields changed — and it happened in a field in Leicester.

Iron Age Curator Sophia Adams explains the construction of the first shield made of tree bark ever discovered in the Northern Hemisphere — how it was built, how it was used, and how it transforms our understanding of shields from that time.

It’s 2,200 years old. And it’s an object you can really get behind.

Content Warning: Contains wholesome depictions of Iron Age woodworking.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
01:12 Where the shield was discovered
02:02 The boss shows this was a shield
02:25 Harvesting & working willow bark
04:05 Reinforcing laths
05:07 The basketry boss
05:34 The hazel rim
06:26 Lime bast stitching
07:30 The poplar handle
07:52 Extra features
08:17 Decoration
09:05 Dating the shield
09:30 Looking at the original boss
10:36 Damage to the original
12:25 Original basketry
12:55 What this shield tells us
14:50 Outro

Acknowledgements:
This shield project was made possible by the inspiration and knowledge of Matthew Beamish, and the skills and dedication of a team of field archaeologists, experimental archaeologists, independent specialists, conservators, and scientists from The British Museum, University of Leicester Archaeological Services (https://le.ac.uk/ulas), SUERC, and the York Archaeological Trust — including Caroline Cartwright and Barbara Wills (BM); Matthew Beamish, Adam Clapton, and Roger Kipling (ULAS); Diederik Pomstra, Paul Windridge, and Michael Bamforth.

With thanks to Everards of Leicestershire, and Mike Winterton and family.