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An Increase in reported finds of metal ampullae enables a reappraisal of this distinctive class of pilgrim souvenir in England and Wales, Norfolk in particular: their form, decoration, distribution, context and the physical signs of their production and use. This sheds light on an aspect of late-medieval culture and custom; additionally, it encourages reflection on the kinds of data that metal-detectorists currently record and report. The thesis is that 15th- to mid16th-century ampullae were associated especially with rural communities and deposited in fields as votive objects, often after intentional 'destruction'.
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William A. Anderson (2010) studied this question.
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