AN exciting archaeological find has been donated to Andover Museum.

The bronze, Saxon hanging bowl was discovered near Kimpton by local metal detectorist Michael Robbins.

He took it to the Hampshire finds liaison officer, Rob Webley, in Winchester.

Mr Webley, whose post is part of the national portable antiquities scheme, said: "It was covered in mud and a far cry from its current appearance."

The bowl dates to between 600 and 700AD. Such bowls appear to accompany what archaeologists call sentinel burials of men on the edge of a tribal boundary. Intere-stingly the bowl was found near to a Bronze Age barrow cemetery, which was investigated by the Andover Archaeological Society in the 1970s. It's not unusual to find Saxon burials near to those of earlier periods.

Mr Robbins has donated the bowl to Hampshire museums and archives service and it's now on display in Andover Museum. It can also be seen via the portable antiquities scheme database. Visit www.finds.org.uk.