Rillaton barrow

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Rillaton barrow is a Bronze Age round barrow situated in the parish of Linkinhorne on Bodmin Moor, in Cornwall.

It was excavated in 1837 and was found to contain a centrally-placed inhumation beneath the 25m wide barrow. The burial had been placed in a stone cist measuring 2m by almost 1m. Human remains were discovered along with grave goods including a bronze dagger, beads, pottery, glass and other items.

[edit] The Rillaton Gold Cup

Most notably, the burial also contained the Rillaton Gold Cup, a biconical gold vessel, 90mm high, with a handle attached with rivets. The cup resembles a late Neolithic ceramic beaker with corded decoration but dates to a much later period of c. 1650-1400 BC. The cup is of note due to its Aegean style metalwork of the period and resembles similar finds from the Greek site of Mycenae, suggesting cultural and trading links with the Eastern Mediterranean.^[1] The cup became lost after discovery but turned up years later in the dressing room of King George V as a receptacle for his collar studs. It is now on show the British Museum, next to the similar Ringlemere Cup, though it still belongs to the Royal Collection. An exact copy may be seen in the Royal Cornwall Museum at Truro.^[2] In 2007 there have been calls in the local Cornish press for the Rillaton Gold Cup, along with the Morvah Gold Hoard [1] and Towednack Gold Hoard [2] to be returned to Cornwall from the British Museum.^[3]