| Finding our Past: recent developments Welcome to the fourth newsletter reporting on Finding our Past, the voluntary recording scheme for portable antiquities in England and Wales. The third issue of the newsletter was published in summer 2001. Since then the Scheme has continued to be very successful, despite the influence of foot and mouth disease, which greatly reduced access to farmland for metal detectorists - the main body of finders who record objects with the Scheme - in 2001. The newsletter aims to provide updates on important discoveries and projects that have been recorded or instigated by Finding our Past. It is sent out free of charge to members of the public who have requested information about the Scheme, and is also distributed to regional museums, Sites and Monuments Records, commercial archaeological units and university archaeology departments. National News New HEIRPORT launch pad for archaeological discovery Regional News Dorset: Post-Medieval kiln site discovered |
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New HEIRPORT launch pad for archaeological discovery A new website was launched in early 2001 which allows access to a whole range of exciting information about archaeological finds and sites (see screenshot below). The website is known as a gateway, because it allows users to search across a number of different data sets including the data gathered by Finding our Past. So, for example, you can search on 'Roman coins', and you will be provided with information about examples from a number of sources: the Portable Antiquities Scheme, the Archaeology Data Service and the Royal Commission on the Historic and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS). The website can be found at: http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/heirport In addition to the gateway, the database of objects on the Finding our Past website itself has recently been greatly increased. The database now has records of about 30,000 finds recorded since the Scheme began five years ago, accompanied by over 6,000 images. The database can be found on this website at http://www.findsdatabase.org.uk/ |
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Revised Treasure Act to be introduced The definition of treasure is to be extended to include deposits of prehistoric base metal objects, for instance the early Bronze Age hoard found in Norfolk (described in this newsletter). This will mean that alongside finds of gold and silver, and groups of ten or more base metal coins, important prehistoric finds will also need to be reported as treasure. The review of the Treasure Act also includes new ways of making the processing of cases faster and more efficient, as it was recognised that there have often been delays. This has included the appointment of a Treasure Registrar based at the British Museum. A full copy of the Review of the Treasure Act can be found at http://www.culture.gov.uk/heritage |
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Regional News Dorset: Post-Medieval kiln site discovered A previously unknown post-medieval pottery-manufacturing site has been found near Holnest in Dorset. The landowner reported finding large amounts of pottery during landscaping works and following a visit to the site by local pottery specialist David Dawson and the liaison officer, Ciorstaidh Hayward Trevarthen, it has been identified as a kiln site dating to the late seventeenth to early eighteenth century. Similar pottery has been found on archaeological sites in both Somerset and Dorset, but it has not previously been possible to attribute it to a recognised industry. Archaeologists from Dorset County Council and the Dorset County Museum hope to carry out a fuller investigation of the site soon. |
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Somerset: amateur fieldwalker discovers new Roman site Somerset County Council Archaeology Service has recently carried out fieldwork on a site reported through the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Colin Tarrant, a metal detector user and amateur fieldwalker, brought in around 300 finds from a site near Stretcholt, Somerset. The vast majority of the material consisted of Iron Age and Romano-British pottery. Ciorstaidh Hayward Trevarthen contacted the Archaeology Service who carried out a fieldwalking project on the site assisted by the finder. They hope to follow this up with a geophysical survey, and the finds will also be examined more closely and recorded on the Portable Antiquities database and the Sites and Monuments Record. This is the second time Colin Tarrant has worked with the County Council Archaeology Service, having previously located objects for the excavation of a late Roman settlement site at Bleak Ridge. Although it is often difficult to find money to fund archaeological fieldwork unless archaeological sites are under threat (for instance, if building work is being carried out), finds liaison officers try to ensure important discoveries such as this are followed up with further archaeological work. The aim of this work is to establish the context of the finds being recorded; in this instance, large amounts of Iron Age and Roman pottery may be an indication of a rural settlement, perhaps a villa or small group of dwellings of pre and early Roman date. |
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| Hampshire: an unusual Roman find | |
| An interesting find recently recorded by Sally Worrell is a Roman copper-alloy razor or spatula handle in the form of a bust of Minerva. The figure has waved hair and wears a high Corinthian helmet with a large crest of moulded plumes on a rod-like support. She is depicted draped, wearing the aegis, a protective garment covering her shoulders and upper body with an abraded Gorgon's mask on the chest. She also holds an object of unknown form in her left hand. The figure is set upon a triangular pedestal that has a slot to take the iron blade, no traces of which now survive. While not very common, a number of Minerva handles have been found at sites in Britain and in the north-western provinces, namely the Low Countries, France, Germany, Austria and Italy. The most complete example was found at Ospringe, Kent. It has a long, expanding blade with a straight edge, resembling a chisel. Interpretations of the function of these objects include their use as razors or as spatulas for spreading wax onto writing tablets, although other possibilities may include a religious function. Minerva was the goddess of war, arts, crafts and wisdom as well as being associated with healing. She was a well-known goddess in the Roman period, with images of Minerva and other deities known particularly from portraits on coins and gemstones. Minerva busts were also used as furniture adornments, and occasionally as the tips for sceptres. |
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| North Lincolnshire: detectorists and farmers co-operate over foot and mouth | |
| Marina Elwes reports that the county stayed free of the foot and mouth disease, but local metal detector users showed their solidarity with the farming community by staying clear of the land in order to stop the infection spreading. Farmers very much appreciated that show of support. Towards the end of 2001, metal detector users were able to continue their survey work on local sites, an initiative which Marina and Kevin Leahy of Scunthorpe Museum are encouraging. The Scunthorpe Club has thus been able to resume its survey of a local estate, and the plotting of their finds has resulted in some unexpected find concentrations. |
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| Because of the reduction in the number of new discoveries made last year, Marina Elwes has had the chance to look at some old collections and as a result, some stunning material was recorded. This has included a padlock in the shape of a lady's head which is a rare and fine example of early medieval applied art (figure 2). The backward sloping eyes almond shaped eyes suggest a date in the eleventh to very early twelfth century AD.
Marina has also been able to instigate archaeological work as a result of metal detector finds she has recorded. For example, a find of Roman brooches by a metal detector user has led to a developer-funded excavation ahead of a housing development. This has uncovered the remains of an Iron Age domestic settlement, Roman industrial remains and a dozen roman burials. |
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| Suffolk: possible Early Bronze Age copper-alloy arrowhead found | |
| A possible Early Bronze Age copper-alloy arrowhead has been found in west Suffolk. Such finds are extremely rare: only eleven previously recorded examples were found in the local Sites and Monuments Record, four of which, like this new example, have tangs rather than sockets. This evidence can be used to re-examine our ideas about the replacement of flint arrowheads by ones made from metal during the Bronze Age. |
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| Arrowheads are a particularly interesting artefact type. It used to be thought that they went out of use at the end of the Early Bronze Age, when metal spearheads and bladed weapons took over. One explanation for this has been that arrowheads were used for warfare, rather than for hunting, and that there was a change in the methods of fighting which rendered arrowheads redundant. This possibility, however, is based on scanty evidence: arrowheads have indeed been found embedded in human bodies and in defensive structures, but they have also very occasionally been found in animal remains. And most would have been recovered by a successful hunter. |
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| The dating evidence for this new arrowhead is twofold. Firstly, although it is very flat, it otherwise copies the form of an Early Bronze Age flint arrowhead of Green's type Sutton C (Green, H S 1980, The flint arrowheads of the British Isles). Secondly, only one face has bevelled edges around the notches, implying that it has been cast in a very simple one-piece mould. The one-piece mould technique is well known from other Early Bronze Age objects, but it goes out of use in favour of more elaborate techniques at the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age. |  |
| The other copper-alloy arrowheads known from Britain and Western Europe confirm that arrowheads in fact continued to be used throughout the Bronze Age. The new Suffolk find may be the earliest yet, showing that flint and copper-alloy arrowheads were certainly in use at the same time. The number of copper-alloy arrowheads now recognised from Suffolk seems at first sight remarkable. O'Connor, writing in 1980, (Cross-channel relations in the later Bronze Age) knew of four tanged and one socketed copper-alloy arrowhead from the whole of Britain. Stuart Needham of the British Museum has records of additional finds from other areas of the country, and says that this is an area where much fruitful research could be conducted as it is generally poorly understood. The fact that five tanged and seven socketed arrowheads are now known from Suffolk suggests not only that arrowheads did not go out of use during the Bronze Age, it also reminds us that a search through Sites and Monuments Records can be very productive. |
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Yorkshire: new sites found in the parish of Brayton In Yorkshire, data collected by the Finding our Past scheme and information held on the Site and Monuments Record have been used together for the first time to study one particular parish, Brayton in North Yorkshire. Records of the finds made by one metal detectorist in Brayton over the last ten years have been put together with antiquarian, documentary, aerial and map evidence to yield tantalising results. Romano-British finds and Roman coins have helped to date cropmarks and features seen from the air. We can now say that these features are probably Roman, something that was suspected but not proven prior to the Finding our Past scheme. It is a priority of the Portable Antiquities Scheme as a whole that all information gathered is passed to local Sites and Monuments Records (SMRs). SMRs are the key record holders of information about the historic environment. By adding data about finds assemblages to them, features of the historic landscape recorded on SMRs - for instance, crop marks - can be far more fully understood. Assemblages of finds in their own right can also provide an indication of previously unknown sites. Finders are encouraged to use SMRs to more fully understand their own discoveries and how they add to our understanding of the historic environment at a local level. It was found that the two hoards had been buried near to a Roman road which runs through the area. Examination also suggested that the two pots had been buried at different times. The earlier hoard, comprising a total of 976 denarii, radiates and a large number of nummi, contained only one coin (a nummus of Constantius II as Augustus) post-dating the abdication of Diocletian and Maximian in AD 305. The second parcel comprised 924 nummi. These were almost exclusively reduced issues of the family of Constantine the Great, with the latest coins struck in the mid 320s AD. The hoards have now been declared Treasure under the Treasure Act of 1996 and are currently awaiting valuation. |
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A rare inscribed Saxon silver strap-end is to form the centrepiece of a new 'Finding Our Past' exhibition at Daventry Museum in early 2002. The strap-end was found by Mr M Schollar of Northamptonshire, and acquired by Daventry Museum as part of the Treasure process. |
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| The strap-end dates from the eighth century AD. It has traces of gilding, is broken off at both ends, and originally took the form of two flattened spatula ends separated by a narrow ribbed waist. The split end has two incised arcs which seem to represent a highly stylised version of the acanthus leaf often seen on strap-ends of the middle Saxon period, and is framed by an incised line. Within the field defined by the incised line is a single 'T' rune. The opposite end has lost any terminating feature it originally had, but has a clear 'H' rune, and the remains of a possible 'I' rune where the plate is broken away. The back is plain, apart from the ribbing at the waist. Experts from the British Museum think that the runes form one half of a personal name. |  |
| The strap-end will be joined by a number of other finds made by members of the public in the Daventry district area, loaned to the museum for the display. It is anticipated that the exhibition will run for about six weeks, offering local people the opportunity to come and see the finds unearthed by their friends and neighbours. For more information, please contact Rhiannon Harte (details at the back of this newsletter). | |
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| The second of a regular finds day at Dartford Borough Museum (held on the first Thursday of every month) drew dividends when a local detectorist, Scott Mitchell, brought in an attractive copper alloy, gilt, Anglo-Saxon saucer brooch. The 6th century brooch (Figure 5), measuring between 32mm and 33mm in diameter (and with a depth of 12mm) is cast and has a 'five-running-spiral' cast motif, complimented by a central five-sided 'boss' and five pellets on the outer edge. The pin is missing, but most of the catch and hinge survive. The brooch has some damage to the rim, but is otherwise complete. Tania Dickinson of the University of York has identified the brooch to Dickinson's 1991 Group IIB2, represented otherwise only at Alfriston, Sussex: most similar to that in Alfriston grave 87. |  |
| This find comes at a time when Anglo-Saxon brooches are the topic of much study. On Saturday 22nd August 2001, the Kent Anglo-Saxon Brooch Project was launched by local archaeologist Keith Parfitt, in one of a series of fascinating talks which explored the archaeological landscape. The aim of this project is to help archaeologists and historians better understand the links between the kingdom of Kent and the Anglo-Saxon homelands. Detectorists have the opportunity to help this important research. Both Keith Parfitt and Dr Martin Welch (Institute of Archaeology, London) would be extremely grateful for any details of Anglo-Saxon brooches found in Kent. Finders are asked to provide a drawing or photograph (both front and back) of any Anglo-Saxon brooches they have found, including measurements (length, width, depth and weight) and forward these, together with details of the findspot (including National Grid Reference) to Michael Lewis (contact details at the back of this newsletter). A finds recording form on which details of brooches can be entered can be downloaded from the NCMD Southern Region website. |
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| A large weapon-dominated Late Bronze Age hoard has recently been found in central Norfolk (Figure 6). It comprises 80 pieces, which include nine complete socketed gouges, eight complete socketed spearheads, two complete socketed axes, a fragment of an axe mould, many substantial fragments of weapons (including a knife, a sword, and a rapier), three casting sprues, three pieces of bronze lump, two sword chapes, a fragment of button, and many smaller fragments. |  |
| The finder, Dr Andy Carter, found the hoard while searching the field for evidence of Saxon activity after being advised by Dr Andrew Rogerson that lots of Saxon pottery had been found by field walkers on the site many years earlier. | |
| Several of the objects had been found scattered in the plough-soil of a small area of the field (which alerted him to the possibility of a hoard) but the majority of the hoard came from a hole 320mm deep x 350mm square. Dr Carter described removing what looked like a large hedgehog from the hole - it was in fact a lump of clay with gouges and spears sticking out in all directions. More small fragments lay across the base of the hole. He realised afterwards he should have informed Norfolk's archaeologists before removing the contents and took Katie Hinds back to the site so she could record the information before the hole was filled in. |
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| The hoard probably dates from the end of the Late Bronze Age, and its Carps Tongue elements suggest a seventh century BC date. Though Late Bronze Age hoards are not uncommon in Norfolk, few are as large and varied as this one. A full report is being undertaken by Katie Hinds. | |
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During the summer a West Midlands metal detectorist visited Angie Bolton to record and identify some objects. Within a large plastic box the finder revealed a nearly complete Anglo-Saxon hanging bowl which he had discovered in Lincolnshire (Figure 7). For the finds liaison officer, this may well be a once in a lifetime object to record. The exterior of the bowl has a wide flat base with a central depression, beneath which the external basal disc is attached. The sides of the bowl in profile are hemispherical in shape. The bowl is in a fragile condition, particularly the base. The basal mount is decorated with millefiori enamel. There are seven red enamelled pellets surrounding an eighth central red pellet. These pellets are surrounded with alternative dark and light coloured enamel radiating from the central red pellet. The colours may possibly be blue and yellow (which may have originally been white). Millefiori enamel is produced like a length of seaside rock: slices are cut and placed on the mount, then heated so that they fuse with the metalwork. This creates the small, detailed and multi-coloured decoration. The basal mount was the only mount, which remained attached to the bowl. On the exterior there are marks which show where other different shaped mounts were at one time fixed. The finder found two of these mounts and noted how they were placed neatly under the bowl before becoming buried. The other mounts were seemingly not buried with the bowl and were never found. Small details such as where the mounts were placed are important, as they greatly enhance our understanding of how the bowl was buried. The bowl has been examined by both Susan Youngs of the British Museum and Helen Geake, Suffolk finds liaison officer. The bowl has a final journey to make, to Lincolnshire Museum as the finder and landowner have generously allowed the museum to acquire the bowl, so that it can be put on display. |
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Wales: copper alloy tumbrel from Anglesey In April of 2001 a copper alloy tumbrel (a coin balance) was found by a metal detectorist near Foel Farm Park on the Menai Straits, Anglesey. The find was promptly reported to Kate Geary of the Gwynedd Archaeological Trust for the purposes of recording under the Welsh pilot of the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Tumbrels are a distinctive form of coin-balance (Figure 8). They were held either vertically or fixed into a table, bench or the ground, their balance arm being used to check the weight of a specific coin type. It has been suggested that the vertically slotted socket of the foot is a relatively late feature that may have been used to check the thickness of Long Cross pennies. Tumbrels have previously been discovered in England, Scandinavia, Syria and Turkey: however, the Foel Farm Park balance is the first recorded example from Wales. Excavated examples have been recovered from contexts ranging in date from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries. However, the vogue of the type may extend beyond this date range as functioning examples are recorded as balancing weights of approximately 12 grains (about 0.78 grams) to about 22.2 grains (about 1.4 grams) which are comparable with silver pennies issued between 1279 and 1526. Unfortunately, the loss of the end of the balance arm of the Foel Farm Park tumbrel means that it is not possible to calculate the weight at which it balanced. However, its form is closely paralleled by a complete example reportedly from Stourbridge Fair, Cambridgeshire, which balances weights which are consistent with the reduced issues current between AD 1351 and AD 1412. Tumbrels were probably used to check against clipped or light coins, although they could also have been used in a mint to establish which blanks could be struck and which rejected. It has been noted that the use of tumbrels was in theory restricted to mint officials as emphasised by a statute of Edward I of 1292 that recommended that tumbrels bear the King's stamp. Although not common finds, that they were also used illegally by private individuals is suggested by both the laws restricting their use and several religious treatises. Tellingly, none of the known examples of copper alloy tumbrels bear an official mark or stamp and it is unlikely that any of the examples made from bone were used in an official capacity. It is not obvious how a damaged tumbrel came to be deposited near Foel Farm Park. There are no known medieval sites, such as secular settlements or religious establishments, in the immediate vicinity of the find spot, although its location is close to the landing ground of the Caernarvon / Tan Y Foel ferry and activity associated with this site may provide a plausible explanation for how the tumbrel came to be deposited. |
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The Portable Antiquities Scheme
Newsletter 4 Spring 2002
