Late Bronze Age Hoards from Kent.
A number of finds of Late Bronze Age hoards, or of material possibly derived from hoards, came to light in Kent during 2003 and early 2004. All were metal detector finds and illustrate the important role of the Portable Antiquities Scheme in ensuring that such finds are reported and recorded. These included the Hollingbourne Hoards, the first to be reported in England and Wales under the scope of the revised Treasure Act, which came into force on 1 st January 2003 .
Hollingbourne
On Sunday 12 th January 2003 , David Button, a metal detectorist from Sittingbourne, was detecting on farmland near Hollingbourne. This was the first time that David, or indeed anyone, had had permission to detect on this particular field, and so the prospects of finding something of interest were good. David was not disappointed; as the light was fading he recovered a length of copper alloy blade, and then, about 12m away, a large socketed axehead, also of copper alloy. Both were clearly of Bronze Age date.
Figure 1: British Museum Curator, Stuart Needham holding one of the hoard's axe-heads.
Realising that the blade and axehead were possibly part of a dispersed hoard, and therefore could constitute treasure, David telephoned Andrew Richardson, the Portable Antiquities Scheme Finds Liaison Officer for Kent , who is based with Kent County Council's Heritage Conservation team at Maidstone . It was agreed to meet at the site the following Wednesday afternoon, along with the farmer, Michael Summerfield. Upon arriving at the site the positions of the two findspots were located and marked, and a sweep of the area around these was made by metal detector. Further signals were immediately noted, and these were plotted and then dug. This resulted in the finding of a further 11 Bronze Age artefacts, consisting of 4 socketed axeheads, 4 lengths of double-edged blade, 2 ingots' of unworked metal and part of one sword or dagger handle. All the objects were of copper alloy, and all were incomplete, the axeheads having either the end of the blade or the end of the socket broken off in antiquity. The regularity of the breaks, combined with the presence of the ingots, suggested a smith's (founder's) hoard of scrap metal. The finds were deposited in the British Museum the following day, and it was confirmed that this hoard represented the first find in the country to fall within the scope of the extended Treasure Act.
Figure 2: Finder, Gill Davies and Andrew Richardson explaining to Estelle Morris about the astonishing Hollingbourne Hoard.
A further sweep of the area some days later, using a more powerful detector, resulted in the finding of one further ingot and part of a sword handle, bringing the total number of artefacts recovered to 15. These were all found within the ploughsoil, which consists of a heavy grey clay no more than about 30cm deep. The finds were distributed across a roughly crescent-shaped area about 15m by 10m across, and clearly represented a hoard that had been dispersed by the action of the plough.
Given the possibility that further artefacts might remain to be recovered, and in the hope that part of the hoard might remain in situ, an excavation of the findspot was organised. This took place on the weekend of 1 st to 2 nd March, and was led by Andrew Richardson and Simon Mason of KCC Heritage Conservation. Stuart Cakebread, SMR officer with Heritage Conservation also assisted, along with volunteers from KCC, Maidstone Area Archaeological Group, the North Downs Young Archaeologists Club, the Lenham Archaeological Society and Giles Guthrie, curator of Maidstone Museum . David Button also took part, along with fellow detectorist Terry Bodily. The excavation was filmed by the BBC as part of their forthcoming new series Hidden Treasures.
An area 4m by 4m (Trench 1) was excavated by hand in the centre of the zone where most of the finds had been made, but no further artefacts were recovered from this trench, and no features were noted. A test hole that was sunk to confirm the depth of the ploughsoil did however reveal a small gully, and this hole was therefore enlarged to investigate this (Trench 2). Sweeps across the general area by the four metal detectorists present (David Button and Terry Bodily, and Gill Davies and Lesley Feakes of the Lenham Archaeological Society) revealed only a few finds, notably a silver coin of Elizabeth I in very good condition, but no further Bronze Age artefacts were found until about 3pm on Saturday 1 st , when Gill Davies located a socketed axehead downhill from the scatter found previously. Four further finds were then located in a very concentrated area, and more signals were noted. It seemed probable that the source of the hoard, or indeed a second hoard, had been located, and the following day a trench (Trench 4) was opened around the area of these finds. In addition, an area adjacent to Trench 1 was opened in the hope that more material might be recovered from this (Trench 3). In the event, no further Bronze Age artefacts where recovered from the area of trenches 1 and 3, but the articulated burial of a small horse, associated with prehistoric pot sherds and an iron object, was located. Trench 4, however, revealed three ingots and an axehead which had been disturbed by ploughing, distributed around an in situ group of metal work. The latter consisted of three socketed axeheads, all placed vertically, blade downwards, with a complex of ingots, spearheads and a blade wedged in between them. These were recorded and photographed before lifting, and the soil from the small pit that they were placed in was collected and bagged for later analysis. It was not until about 8pm on the Sunday night that the hoard was eventually lifted, and the excavation could not have continued without the assistance of local man Mr Gordon Reeves, who kindly provided lights and a generator.
A total of 35 late Bronze Age metal artefacts have now been recovered from the site, comprising 12 axeheads or parts of axeheads, 6 lengths of blade, 2 spearheads, 2 sword/dagger handles and 13 ingots. The finds are comparable to the material recovered from the Monkton hoard in Thanet, and fall within the Carp's Tongue Complex industry, which dates to the very end of the Bronze Age, circa 920-800 BC. It is hoped that further fieldwork on the site will be carried out in the near future, and it is expected that the finds will eventually be acquired by Maidstone Museum under the Treasure Act. The finds were declared Treasure at a coroner's inquest in Maidstone on 2 nd April 2004 , coroner Roger Sykes declaring that on the balance of the evidence presented he considered the finds to constitute two separate hoards.
Since March 2003 several small hoards comprising mainly or solely pieces of cast copper bun ingot' have also been recorded in east Kent . At Chislet Graham Healy located two groups of material which probably represent parts of dispersed hoards. One group consisted of several pieces of bun ingot only, whilst the other group comprised a spearhead and a few pieces of ingot.
Lenham
At Lenham Mrs Gill Davies located a hoard of bun ingots, along with some small pieces of copper alloy slag or casting waste that are probably associated. At the time of writing no manufactured artefacts had been found at this site, though of course this remains a possibility. Nonetheless, the find was reported to the Kent FLO and duly reported to the Coroner as potential treasure, since it does fall within the scope of the extended Treasure Act, the bun ingot fragments being clearly of prehistoric date, and there being more than one piece.
Evidence of another hoard from Lenham was provided by one finder in the form of a photograph. This shows three socketed axeheads (one complete, one broken and the blade of another), 18 pieces of cast copper bun ingot. These finds were made prior to the extension of the Treasure Act, and the land is no longer accessible to the finder for metal detecting. However, it is hoped that a full record of the existing finds can be made in due course.
Ringlemere
Evidence of a similar hoard also came to light at Ringlemere Farm, during metal detecting by Cliff Bradshaw, finder of the Ringlemere Cup, who was working in conjunction with a fieldwalking survey by the Dover Archaeology Group. A fragment of socketed axehead was found along with a group of bun ingot fragments and some copper alloy waste, again dispersed in the ploughsoil. It is hoped that geophysical survey will determine whether any of the hoard remains in situ .
Crundale
In September 2003, Jim Bishop commenced a search with a metal detector on farmland at Crundale. Among a number of finds made during the course of the day were a fragment of copper alloy blade and a spear tip. These were clearly of Bronze Age date, and suggested the presence of a dispersed hoard in the vicinity. However, the objects were found some distance away from each other and at that point it was not clear that they could be considered to come from the same context. A further search located a third Bronze Age fragment, part of a sword blade. These objects were subsequently shown to the FLO for Kent . The finder returned to the site in December, and investigated a large signal, roughly in the middle of the area between the findspots of the three Bronze Age objects. This signal proved to be a large Late Bronze Age metalwork hoard, which the finder then excavated.
Figure 3:The Crundale Hoard
The recovered hoard consists of 185 pieces of metalwork, comprising both largely complete objects and fragments. Apart from the three objects found in September, all the finds came from the same context, a shallow pit just below the ploughsoil. According to the finder, the pieces of cast copper cake were mainly deposited in the bottom of the pit, with the other artefacts mixed above. The first object found during the excavation of the main hoard was the complete razor'. The composition of the hoard breaks downs as follows:
- Axeheads (including fragments of)- 48
- Sword or dagger fragments- 33
- Cast copper cake fragments- 33
- Spearheads (including fragments of)- 14
- Rings- 4 Razors (including fragments of)- 3
- Gouges 2 Other objects and fragments- 42
- Objects inserted into sockets- 6
The high proportions of axeheads, short lengths of sword and dagger blade, fragments of bun ingot and spearheads, are typical of late Bronze Age metalwork hoard's from the south east of Britain . It is hoped that some fieldwork at the site can be arranged in order to provide this important find with a more detailed context.
Further work has been undertaken on the Hollingbourne LBA hoard, both on the metalwork and at the site itself. The finds were examined by Martyn Barber and were referred to by him in his recent book on bronze and the Bronze Age (Barber 2003). A report on the metalwork from the site has now been prepared by Sally Worrell, PAS Finds Advisor for Prehistoric and Roman artefacts, and on the basis of this and evidence from Kent FLO Andrew Richardson the Hollingbourne finds were declared Treasure by Mid-Kent Coroner Roger Sykes on 2 nd April 2004. It in fact seems probable that two distinct hoards, albeit of the same period, were located at Hollingbourne, and the Coroner's findings supported this interpretation. At the site itself a magnetometer survey, funded by the BBC's Hidden Treasure series, was carried out by GSB. This located a number of possible archaeological features, including possible pits and circular features. It is hoped that future fieldwork will allow the investigation of these.
Conclusions
All of the hoards referred to above would have traditionally been described as Founder's Hoards', seen as representing collections of scrap metal stored by a smith and intended for recovery. This interpretation has been subject to challenge by several scholars in recent years (see for example Barber 2003). Although clearly such hoards have reference to metalworking and smiths, it is by no means certain that the composition of the hoards is random, or that they were deposited with the intention of recovery. At Hollingbourne the in situ finds appeared to show evidence of deliberate and careful placing (although an alternative view is that their position was due to them being deposited in a narrow sack or bag). There are certainly examples of deliberate breakage and damage within the Crundale Hoard that are hard to reconcile with a simple interpretation of the material as random scrap. In one instance objects have been inserted into the socket of a broken axehead, which has then been squeezed tight to hold them in. In another case, several objects have been forced tightly into the socket of a spearhead. The impression is one of deliberate acts of destruction and breakage on the objects, in order to put them beyond use, rather than objects having become broken or worn through everyday use. However, detailed analysis by specialists will be required to confirm this impression.
Since the beginning of 2003 then, a total of 8 Late Bronze Age hoards have been recorded in Kent (all cases were from east Kent ). These are summarised in Table I below. The figures represent fragments rather than object, except in cases where fragments clearly come from the same object, in which case the object is counted as one. The Crundale and Hollingbourne II, and probably Hollingbourne I, hoards can be considered to have been fully excavated and therefore to represent more or less the complete assemblage that was placed in the ground. On the other hand, whilst the other hoards may represent complete assemblages, it is equally likely that they have only been partially recovered and that considerably more material from each awaits excavation. Whatever the case, these finds represent a significant addition to the known corpus of Late Bronze Age material from Kent and the Portable Antiquities Scheme, in conjunction with the extended Treasure Act, has proved instrumental in ensuring that these important finds are fully recorded.
| HOARD | National Grid Reference | Axeheads & fragments | Spearheads & fragments | Sword & Dagger fragments | Bun Ingot | Other Objects | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chislet I |
TR21656230 | - | - | - | 6 | - | 6 |
| Chislet II | TR21806237 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |||
| Crundale | TR06654978 | 48 | 14 | 33 | 33 | 57 | 185 |
| Hollingbourne I | TQ852535 | 5 | - | 7 | 3 | - | 15 |
| Hollingbourne II | TQ852535 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 10 | - | 19 |
| Lenham I | TQ8951 | 3 | - | - | 18 | - | 21 |
| Lenham II | TQ92455100 | - | - | - | 11 | 2 | 13 |
| Ringlemere | TR294568 | 1 | - | - | 7 | 6 | 14 |
| TOTAL | - | 63 | 17 | 41 | 91 | 65 | 277 |
References
BARBER M 2003 Bronze and the Bronze Age. Metalwork and Society in Britain circa 2500-800 BC. Tempus.
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