The 10 greatest discoveries

Finds such as the Chew Valley Hoard, a collection of rare Conquest-era coins, have helped change our perception of Britain’s past

Unburied treasures

From cups to sou- ed, the PAS – run by the British venirs from Hadrian’s Wall to coins Museum and Amgueddfa Cymru- hidden at the height of the Viking National Museum Wales – has wars, the British public has dis- recorded more than 1.5 million covered hundreds of thousands finds. To mark that milestone, we of archaeological finds, many of asked six PAS archaeologists to which have been recorded with the nominate 10 discoveries that they Portable Antiquities Scheme. believe have done most to transform Now, 23 years after it was found- our knowledge of the past…

COMPILED BY MICHAEL LEWIS

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The Chalgrove (II) Hoard consisted of a jar containing 1 A taste of the Bronze Age realms of speculation! 4,957 Roman coins, What we are more confident of including one bearing the The Ringlemere Cup gives us the rarest of glimpses is that the cup was deposited portrait of an emperor of life in Britain more than three millennia ago (perhaps ritually) within a barrow almost lost to history in a prehistoric complex that dates back to c2300 BC, but with activity We know very little about the originally 11cm high with corrugat- on the site going back even further people who occupied the ed sides. I say ‘originally’ because, in time. We also know that the south-east corner of the British when Bradshaw discovered the Ringlemere Cup is one of six Isles 3,500 years ago. Yet a little vessel, it was severely misshapen stylistically similar Bronze Age light was shone onto this distant – presumably after being hit by a vessels that have been discovered world on 4 November 2001, when farmer’s plough. Had Bradshaw across Europe – suggesting that, metal-detectorist Cliff Bradshaw not chanced across the object, it even at this distant point in history, started scanning the fields might have been lost forever. ideas and skills were transmitted of Ringlemere Farm, near So what was the cup used for across the continent. Sandwich in . – and by whom? We can only Yet it is unlikely that the cup What Bradshaw found nestled guess. But a clue is provided by itself was created on the continent. beneath the surface that day is one the fact that it has a rounded base. Archaeologists believe that this of the oldest treasures ever discov- This means that the vessel could cup was probably made locally, ered in Britain. It was a Bronze Age not stand alone, suggesting it maybe fairly close to its findspot The Ringlemere Cup’s gold vessel dated to 1700–1500 might have had a ritual use – per- – all of which means that the rounded base suggests BC, and such was its age and haps it was held or passed around, metalworking expertise required to that it may have been passed MORE FROM US rarity (it is one of only two gold a bit like a modern-day commun- create a high-status object like around like a modern-day Bronze Age cups found in England) ion vessel. Maybe it was made to this almost certainly resided in communion vessel Michael Lewis will be discussing that it was acquired by the carry an alcoholic or herbed drink Bronze Age Britain. Britain’s greatest archaeological . as part of a ceremony – although Michael Lewis, Head, PAS & finds on ourpodcast . To listen, go to The Ringlemere Cup was that is, of course, firmly in the Treasure, British Museum historyextra.com/podcast 3 The face that didn’t fit 2 Following the money West (notably Wiltshire), East Few historians had heard of Domitianus – until a single Anglia and Yorkshire. That is coin suggested he may have been Roman emperor The discovery of thousands of coins perhaps surprising in itself. But, when combined with other suggests that Roman Britain may have forms of evidence, it has helped Back in 2003, a metal-detector- that Domitianus had appeared on very short-lived emperor of the been an agricultural powerhouse cast Roman Britain in a whole ist called Brian Malin was archaeologists’ radars. An identi- Gallic empire, a breakaway state new light. scouring farmland near Chal- cal coin, rediscovered in 2003, that existed north of the Alps The fourth century sees a grove, not far from Oxford, was found in a hoard in France in between AD 260 and 274. A ‘Grots’. It’s not the most Scheme had recorded just over growth of the rural landscape, when he discovered a jar 1900, yet some scholars rejected it general of the same name was glamorous of words. But to 34,000 Roman coins. In the villa construction, the fortifica- containing 4,957 Roman coins as a hoax because there was no involved in a failed revolt in historians of Roman Britain, intervening 15 years, the tion or reinforcement of rural dating to between AD 251 supporting evidence for Domi- Milan in AD 268, but it is unclear it’s a thing of beauty. numbers have grown to settlements like Mildenhall in and 279. The Chalgrove (II) tianus. We now have that evi- if this is the same individual. ‘Grots’ is a term sometimes 320,000 – the largest dataset Wiltshire, and the appearance hoard, as it’s known, was a dence, and it has enabled us to What we do know is that used to refer to the worn and of its kind worldwide. of other objects such as Late significant find but, seemingly, paint a partial picture of this Domitianus became emperor in corroded base-metal Roman But it is where these coins Roman military belt fittings. nothing out of the ordinary – af- little-known emperor. Gaul for a few days or weeks in coins discovered across Eng- have been discovered – every bit Meanwhile, literary sources ter all, more than 600 hoards are Domitianus was, it seems, a AD 271. It was, it appears, land and Wales in their thou- as much as their volume – that highlight the importance of grain known to have been discovered the shortest of reigns – but sands. Every Roman emperor has done most to shape our ships plying their trade between in Britain from this period. time enough, at least, to mint (not to mention almost all understanding of the province of Britain and the Rhine. But then the coins were a few coins! usurpers) issued their own Britannia. In short, the regions that This suggests that the rural taken to the British Museum Sam Moorhead, coinage. This makes Roman have yielded the highest numbers Roman landscape may have to be conserved and national finds adviser,

coins a uniquely valuable source don’t necessarily correspond with SCHEME/FLICKR ANTIQUITIES PORTABLE been an important grain bowl in identified – and everything British Museum of information for the evolution those that traditionally come to the late fourth century for the changed. For staring out of Roman Britain from Claudi- mind when we think about Roman armies on the Rhine, a from one of the coins was us’s invasion in AD 43 through ‘Roman Britain’. conclusion almost unreachable an individual that no one to the collapse of the province Take what is known as the This map depicts the distribution of prior to the PAS – and had it not expected to see. He was Those who doubted that more than three centuries later. Valentinianic period (AD 364–378). all Roman coins recorded by the PAS been for the many ‘grotty’ a Roman emperor named there was a Roman What is perhaps most These 14 years in the second half – like those shown right – across Roman coins recorded. Domitianus – and, until emperor called Domitianus remarkable is the sheer number of the fourth century have yielded England and Wales; up to 2005 (in Andrew Brown, assistant then, many historians didn’t were forced into a rethink that have been identified. By high concentrations of coinage in blue) and to date (in red) finds adviser and treasure even believe he existed. when this coin emerged

2005, the Portable Antiquities the rural landscapes of the South SCHEME ANTIQUITIES MUSEUM-PORTABLE ALAMY/BRITISH curator, British Museum This wasn’t the first time from the Oxfordshire soil → 62 63 The 10 greatest discoveries

Some of the Viking silver ingots, jewellery and Anglo-Saxon coins 4 Northern exposure buried near modern-day Watlington, probably by a The Staffordshire Moorlands Pan is a remarkable member of the Viking souvenir of life guarding Hadrian’s Wall Great Army

For 300 years after its inception in AD 122, crafted to celebrate the wall’s Hadrian’s Wall was the most monumental existence. Around its rim are element of a grid of garrisons and roads that inscriptions naming the four forts on the formed Roman Britain’s northern frontier. western end of Hadrian’s Wall – Bow- This mighty piece of Roman engineering would ness-on-Solway, Drumburgh, Stanwix and have made quite an impression on the many Castlesteads – each of which is placed, we’re The pan name-checks four forts on the soldiers from across the empire who travelled told, “on the line of the Wall of Aelius”. The pan western end of Hadrian’s Wall, as well as north to man it. We know this from the letters even name-checks its likely owner, one Draco. its likely owner – a man named Draco and diary entries they wrote recording their To the veterans who took such items home – of experiences. We also know it from the works of which Draco was perhaps one – the sequence art they commissioned as souvenirs of their of garrison names recalled a route endlessly handle and base can detract from its beauty. time on the empire’s edge – the most striking marched from the Solway flatlands west of And you can see it for yourself at one of surviving example of which is surely the Carlisle to the Pennine hills. the three museums at which it is on rotational Staffordshire Moorlands Pan. Beneath the text are swirling polychrome display: Tullie House Museum (Carlisle), Discovered by detectorists at Ilam in the enamel circles, a decorative technique originat- the Potteries Museum (Stoke-on-Trent) Peak District in June 2003, this artefact is one ing in northern Europe but favoured by military and the British Museum. of a group of enamel-decorated pans that were consumers. Not even the loss of the pan’s Sally Worrell, national finds adviser, UCL

One of the 13 ‘Two Emperors’ coins found in the hoard. It copies a Roman coin but is, perhaps, intended to show an alliance between Alfred and Ceolwulf II of Mercia A sheet gold plaque (left) and a section from the cheek plate of a helmet (below) discovered in the 6 Alfred the Great strikes back Staffordshire Hoard, which showcased the early Anglo-Saxons’ The Watlington Hoard is evidence of the struggles between artistic exuberance Vikings and Anglo-Saxons as the tide turned in Alfred’s favour

The late ninth century was a time discovery that sheds light on this thing: a recognition of the benefits of great tumult in Britain. In Eng- moment in history. of economic cooperation. land, the Viking ‘Great Army’ The find, known as the Watling- and Mercia had issued 5 Anglo-Saxons seize the spotlight conquered the kingdoms of ton Hoard, is made up of Viking coins using shared designs since style of the coin design and the Northumbria and East Anglia, silver jewellery and ingots, plus the 860s, an alliance that the coins names of moneyers reveal a great The discovery of the Staffordshire Hoard propelled early and seized control of much of 203 silver coins. It is the first large show continued under Alfred and deal about the chronology of the medieval England into the nation’s consciousness Mercia. Then, in the mid-870s, it Viking hoard from the Upper Ceolwulf, even if historical docu- coin production and the mints turned its sights on Wessex. Even Thames Valley, made even more ments said otherwise. where they were struck, probably the soon-to-be great King Alfred significant by the presence of the The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle at Canterbury, and Win- Some finds add a few brushstrokes to our representation of a Jewish priest’s crown, and was forced into hiding on the coins. These consist mainly of rare (written in Wessex from the 890s) chester, with another in Mercia. understanding of a historical period. the Staffordshire helmet, pieced together Somerset Levels. pennies of Alfred the Great described Ceolwulf as “a foolish The Watlington Hoard (now on Others, like the Staffordshire Hoard, from hundreds of precious fragments – the But, in 878, Alfred emerged (reigned 871–99) and Ceolwulf II of king’s thegn”, a puppet of the display at the Ashmolean Muse- change the picture completely. world saw the craftsmanship and sheer from Athelney, defeating the Mercia (874–c79), produced using Vikings. Historians now see him um) may bring to light new knowl- Detectorist Terry Herbert’s discovery of exuberance of Anglo-Saxon art. Vikings at the battle of Edington. the same design for both kings. differently, accepting him as the edge about Alfred and Ceolwulf, 4,600 fragments of seventh-century war- The Staffordshire Hoard – parts of which The Viking leader, Guthrum, sued Two-hundred of the pennies king of the Mercians, with the but the chances are it was buried gear and other objects in a field near the are on display at the Birmingham Museum for peace with Alfred and agreed belong to two joint designs: the coinage an important part of his by a member of the Viking Great village of Hammerwich in 2009 was the & Art Gallery and the Potteries Museum, seventh-century finds – entirely absent? to leave Wessex. After spending Cross-and-Lozenge (of which there rehabilitation. The coins indicate Army as it made that journey to find of a lifetime. But it was a lot more than Stoke-on-Trent – raised many questions, Attempting to get to the bottom of these the winter of 878/79 in Cirencester, are 187) and the Two Emperors (of that Alfred and Ceolwulf’s pennies East Anglia. In fact, the hoard may that. It turned the early Anglo-Saxon of course. Was it buried as loot, or hidden puzzles will only increase our fascination the Vikings headed to East Anglia which there are 13). Depicting two were probably struck in large have been part of the peace deal period, swathes of which have long been for security? Could it have been a ritual with this remarkable find, and the period in to settle, probably taking a route rulers below an angel, it is the numbers, too, so this was no struck between Alfred’s Wessex shrouded in obscurity, into a topic of offering? Why is feminine jewellery – the English history that produced it. along the Icknield Way in southern latter design, copying a late fleeting alliance. and Guthrum’s Vikings following genuine public interest. Suddenly – thanks gold object most commonly recorded by Kevin Leahy, national finds Oxfordshire. It was here, near to Roman gold coin, that has attract- This is not the only way in the great clash at Edington. to exquisite pieces such as a possible the Portable Antiquities Scheme among adviser, PAS the small town of Watlington, that ed the most attention. But both which the coins are important: John Naylor, national finds

BRITISH MUSEUM-PORTABLE ANTIQUITIES SCHEME ANTIQUITIES MUSEUM-PORTABLE BRITISH SCHEME/PA-IMAGES ANTIQUITIES MUSEUM-PORTABLE BRITISH detectorist James Mather made a types essentially suggest the same differences in inscriptions, the adviser, Ashmolean Museum → 64 65 The 10 greatest discoveries

7 The price of change 9 Mud, blood and martyrdom The pilgrim badge depicts the killing of Thomas Becket – “in The Chew Valley Hoard is a time capsule from those turbulent few years The depth of devotion to the cult of Thomas Becket many ways, the 9/11 of its day” when William the Conqueror’s new regime was at its most vulnerable was revealed by a find on the banks of the Thames

The Norman Conquest is one of available for study hugely, dou- II’s coins and the reverse (tails) In 2016, Tony Thira was mudlarking along the The killing of such a high-ranking ecclesias- the most famous examples of bling those for Harold and increas- of one of William’s. Using coin Thames foreshore when he chanced upon a tic in his own cathedral, on the apparent orders regime change in medieval Eu- ing by five times those for William. dies from different issues medieval badge, seemingly of St Thomas of King Henry II, shocked all of Christendom – it rope. But how great was the The size of the find is key to our (known as ‘muling’) is a rare (Becket) of Canterbury. On the face of it, was, in many ways, the 9/11 of its day. As rupture that followed William the understanding of the transition find in this period, and might there was nothing particularly extraordinary Geoffrey Chaucer recounts in hisCanterbury Conqueror’s victory at Hastings? from Anglo-Saxon to Norman rule. reflect a paucity of new dies about his find: pilgrim badges are not Tales, pilgrimage to holy places became a Following the discovery of 2,581 With such a large sample size we’ll or an attempt to (illegally) cut excessively rare discoveries, and the Portable phenomenon in the Middle Ages, with people silver pennies and halfpennies in be able to compare England’s costs when William’s issue Antiquities Scheme has recorded many of all backgrounds travelling sometimes great Somerset last year, we are now in coinage each side of the Conquest was introduced, by reusing an souvenirs associated with St Thomas. But distances. Soon the cult of Becket was drawing a better position to answer this – where it was minted, the names old die. Another coin reuses a die the pristine condition in which this fragile hundreds of pilgrims to the spot where he died. much-debated question. of the moneyers who produced of Edward the Confessor, with one badge emerged from the Thames mud – Pilgrim badges are a testament to Buried in the chaotic early years them, the numbers of dies used of William’s dies. The Chew Valley hoard contained where it had lain for perhaps 700 years – this practice. They were not only proof of of William’s reign, the Chew Valley – and explore exactly how radical These oddities aside, the more than 2,500 coins minted for marked it out as special. pilgrimage, but people believed that they Hoard is the largest ever recovered change was after 1066. Chew Valley hoard provides Harold II (top) and William the The badge, which probably dates to turned into a kind of lucky charm once they’d from this period in English history. As well as opening a window a remarkable glimpse into a Conqueror. It may have been the 14th or 15th century, appears to depict touched holy relics. Illustrations show people Its contents, divided between on the late 1060s, the Chew Valley turbulent moment which had buried during the insecurity Becket’s murder in Canterbury Cathedral in wearing badges on caps, but they might have Harold II’s only issue and the first Hoard also threw up some surpris- long-reaching effects on England’s and insurrection following the 1170. It’s believed that four knights struck the been worn anywhere. Some were fixed to coin-type of William’s reign, es – including two coins using the state and society. Norman Conquest blows that sent Becket to his grave, though books, others hung up around the home. increase the number of coins obverse (heads) of one of Harold John Naylor the badge has room for just one – and, if you The basic principle was that if you touched look closely, you can see the hand of God the badge its spiritual qualities would be descending over the archbishop at the point passed on to you too. of his martyrdom. Michael Lewis

Incredibly, much of the Vale of came from Ireland – and, as for 8 All the world in a cup York Hoard fits into its little its 600 or more Anglo-Saxon, Viking treasures from Ireland to Afghanistan silver-gilt cup. Yet this is a Carolingian and Islamic silver treasure that punches way above coins, they were minted as far 10 The mark of death? were hidden – possibly from advancing its weight. That’s because, afield as Afghanistan. Anglo-Saxons – in the contained within its gold and The hoard was found by How a discarded boar badge helped inspire a rethink on Richard III’s final moments silver arm-rings, jewellery, father and son David and ingots, coins and the cup itself Andrew Whelan near Harro- is the story of the Vikings’ gate in 2007. What the Richard III has been associated boar-motif, have over the years and led to a reassessment of elaborate and wide-ranging trade Whelans found was, historians with the emblem of a boar for been recorded with the Portable the course of the clash. Indeed, links – all embellished with a believe, buried not long after centuries – and not always in a Antiquities Scheme. None, some people now think that the good bit of thieving. 927, when King Æthelstan way the Yorkist king would have however, are more significant – badge identifies the actual spot The Vale of York Hoard featured The hoard contained treasures seized the kingdom of North- enjoyed. In his play of 1593, or evocative – than a silver-gilt where King Richard perished, everything from a gold arm-ring from across the known umbria, forming the first united Richard III, William Shakespeare livery badge in the form of a boar but that might be reading too to silver ingots. Much of it world. The cup was English kingdom. This dating has the Earl of Richmond declare found at the site of the battle of much into it! was packed into a probably looted may give us a clue as to why the king a “wretched, bloody, Bosworth, where Richard so Michael Lewis silver-gilt cup – shown from a church in the hoard was buried in the and usurping boar, That spoiled famously lost his life. right and, inset left, Carolingian first place. Was it deposited your summer fields and fruitful Although broken, the badge after conservation France, much here by Vikings for safe-keep- vines.” It was a description It’s believed that the Bosworth (which is now on display in the of its jewellery ing as the English drove them that helped secure Richard’s boar badge was dropped by a Bosworth Battlefield Heritage WEBSITE To find out more from the kingdom? place in infamy. member of Richard III’s personal Centre) must have been lost on the about the Portable Kevin Leahy Shakespeare may have applied household not far from the spot spot by a member of the king’s Antiquities Scheme, and the Code of more than a little artistic licence where the king died in battle personal household. It was discov- Practice for Responsible Metal- when describing Richard’s life, but ered during a metal-detecting detecting, go to finds.org.uk there’s no denying that this survey to better place the animal was indeed the king’s location of the battle – and emblem. It is known that, (along with other WATCH You can catch up with in 1483, boar badges evidence as part the BBC Four comedy were made for of the 2005–09 series Detectorists, starring Richard’s coronation survey) Mackenzie Crook and and also the investi- it has moved Toby Jones, on BBC iplayer. ture of his son, Edward, the epicentre of Go to bbc.co.uk/iplayer as Prince of Wales. the battle about A number of boar-shaped 3km from where With thanks to Gareth Williams, PORTABLE ANTIQUES SCHEME/BRIDGEMAN ANTIQUES PORTABLE GETTY IMAGES/PORTABLE ANTIQUITIES SCHEME ANTIQUITIES GETTYIMAGES/PORTABLE objects, as well as items with the previously thought, Neil Wilkin and Richard Abdy

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