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Two decades before Boudica led the Iceni in rebellion against the forces of Rome, there was Caratacus. He and his brother Togodumnus were co-rulers of the Catuvellauni (an Iron Age people whose lands lay in the south and east of England), and together they led the resistance against Claudius’ invasion of AD 43. The pair achieved early successes through guerrilla tactics but, the Roman historian Cassius Dio writes, when they made a more formal stand at the Battle of Medway, the result was a crushing defeat. Togodumnus was killed, Dio writes (though some modern scholars suggest that he survived and submitted to Roman rule, becoming the similarly named client king mentioned by Tacitus; if so, he was richly rewarded as this figure is commonly associated with Fishbourne Palace in West Sussex), while Caratacus fled west to find refuge among the Silures of south-west Wales. Evidently undismayed by this set-back, he then reappears in written sources (this time, by Tacitus) at the head of British forces opposing imperial incursions into Wales c.AD 50. Again Caratacus was defeated, and again he escaped into exile, this time heading north into the territory of the Brigantes (in what today is Yorkshire). Unfortunately, their queen, Cartimandua, had already made an alliance with Rome, and promptly handed Caratacus to his pursuers. Tacitus tells us that Caratacus and his family were paraded through the streets of Rome as living spoils of war, but after he impressed the Emperor Claudius with an impassioned speech they were allowed to live freely in the city. It is an undeniably dramatic story – and one that might also find material expression in a collection of 35 coins that is currently on display in Treasure: History Unearthed, an exhibition running at the Museum of Liverpool (see ‘Further reading’ below).
The coins in question belong to the Malpas Hoard, which was found by a metal-detectorist in Cheshire in 2014. Ranging in date from 134 BC to AD 50, they include silver denarii from the Roman Republic and the early Empire, as well as seven gold staters representing two British Iron Age tribes. These are the Corieltauvi, northern neighbours of Caratacus’ people who lived in what is now Lincolnshire and Leicestershire, and the southwestern Dobunni, whose lands lay between the Catuvellauni and the Silures. Might this mix suggest a link with the events described above? The Roman coins are all early, pre-dating the Claudian invasion and probably brought to these shores by soldiers; the latest is a coin of Tiberius (r.AD 14-37). Meanwhile, the Iron Age staters span c.AD 20-50, bringing the hoard’s likely burial date within range of Caratacus’ final defeat and capture. Given that the cache was found on a direct route between North Wales and Yorkshire, could they have been hidden by a member of Caratacus’ entourage as they fled north?
Ultimately, we cannot know, but it is an appealing interpretation – and this narrative, which is presented in the exhibition via a voice-over by Dr Sam Moorhead (formerly National Finds Adviser for Iron Age and Roman coins at the British Museum) highlights how finds like this can spark illuminating conversations about the past. When Treasure finds appear in the popular press, coverage often emphasises their glittering appearance or their modern monetary value but, as the Museum of Liverpool’s displays eloquently attest, they represent something far richer: a source of stories about long-vanished communities, and a past that belongs to us all. These stories can only be understood, however, if such finds are properly and promptly reported, allowing their wider context to be revealed through methodical excavation. For almost 30 years the Portable Antiquities Scheme has been working to document archaeological discoveries made by members of the public in England and Wales (Scotland is covered by the Treasure Trove Unit), and the Scheme’s Finds Liaison Officer for Cheshire, Greater Manchester, and Merseyside has been based at the Museum of Liverpool since the initiative’s outset. Treasure: History Unearthed draws on this long relationship, highlighting the way that responsible metal-detecting can enrich our understanding of the past, and how evolving legal protections have shaped our ability to preserve this knowledge. Its displays bring together finds from north-west England and Wales, combining artefacts from the museum’s own collections with loans from national and local institutions to illuminate episodes of the region’s past across 5,000 years of history.
Valuing the past
Sometimes the story of how a hoard was found is as interesting as that told by its contents. In the exhibition, the Malpas Hoard is displayed close to another Roman find from Cheshire, this time dating to the later 3rd century. The Agden Hoard was discovered in 1957 by Siegfried Froehling, a former prisoner of war who had been employed on a local farm since the end of the Second World War. When his plough clipped the top of a buried pot, more than 2,500 coins were spread across the field in which he was working; once recovered, they proved to be radiates of c.AD 251-274. Radiates were usually made of silver, but these examples date to a period of economic and political upheaval called the Crisis of the Third Century, when the Gallic Empire (comprising the provinces of Gaul, Britain, and Hispania) broke away from Rome and inflation ran rampant. The precious metal content of radiates was gradually reduced (a process called ‘debasement’), and by the time the Agden Hoard coins were struck, they were made from copper-alloy. This would have not only affected their value at the time; it also meant that when they were rediscovered they did not qualify as Treasure under legislation of the time (Treasure Trove, which was replaced by the Treasure Act in 1996, stipulated that finds needed to be of gold or silver to meet this threshold). The hoard was therefore returned to Siegfried, who donated it to the Grosvenor Museum in Chester.
Legal interpretations of Treasure have developed over the centuries (see http://www.finds.org.uk/treasure for the most up-to-date definition, as well as the obligations of finders), and when you stand before the Mold Cape, a stunning Bronze Age find from Flintshire, in the exhibition, it is staggering to think that it, too, was not classed as Treasure at the time of its discovery in 1833. As well as requiring precious metal, Treasure Trove law also dictated that an object had to have been buried with the intention of future recovery to qualify, meaning that grave goods like the Cape were exempt. It was found on top of a skeleton, together with hundreds of amber beads, by workmen who had dug into a Bronze Age barrow in search of stone to quarry. What they found instead was one of the finest examples of prehistoric sheet gold-working yet found in Britain, skilfully beaten out of a single gold ingot and intricately decorated to represent folds of cloth and strings of beads.
At the time of its discovery the Cape was in a fragmentary state (rows of small perforations suggest that it may have originally had a leather backing, long-since decayed), and the workmen divided pieces of the gold sheet between themselves and the farmer on whose land the mound stood. The associated human remains and most of the beads were lost at this time, and we only know of their existence thanks to a description written by the local vicar. Fortunately, this account came to the attention of the British Museum which, in 1836, set out to purchase surviving portions of the Cape; since then, it has been painstakingly restored to its former glory. But who would have worn such an ornate item? Nineteenth-century attitudes towards gender saw it interpreted as belonging to a high-ranking man, but its small size suggests that it was more likely intended for a petite woman or even a teenager. It is unlikely to have been for everyday wear, as its close-fitting form would have restricted the movement of its wearer’s arms, but it could have been brought out for special occasions.
Thought to date to c.1900-1600 BC, the virtuosic artistry of the Mold Cape, together with the now-lost amber beads which would have come from the Baltic, speak of a sophisticated and well-connected society. Bronze Age North Wales was also home to the Great Orme copper mines (located near Llandudno, about 30 miles from Mold), one of the largest extraction sites of its kind in Europe, which saw a particular boom in 1600-1400 BC when its copper travelled as far as Brittany and the Baltic (CA 359). The enduring importance of these mines might be reflected in another find which features in the exhibition. In 1898, local boys were exploring near Pigeon’s Cave on the north side of the Great Orme when they discovered a small hoard of Late Bronze Age (1000-800 BC) metalwork. Comprising two gold hair ornaments known as lock-rings, as well as a bronze palstave axehead and a socketed implement interpreted as a leatherworking awl, these items did not appear to form part of a grave. Instead, they might represent a votive gift, perhaps intended to ensure the continued success of the mines.
Political insights
Treasure finds are, of course, not only discovered in remote or rural environments like those described above. The displays also include the Castle Esplanade Hoard, which was discovered by workmen digging a trench for an electricity cable close to Chester Castle in 1950. Its contents include ingots and pieces of hacksilver (jewellery cut up as bullion), as well as over 300 silver pennies spanning the first half of the 10th century. Minted in diverse locations including Chester, York, and Oxford, the coins include issues of numerous Anglo-Saxon kings: Edward the Elder (r. 899-924); his sons Æthelstan (r. 924-939), Edmund (r. 939-946), and Eadred (r. 946-955); and Edmund’s sons Eadwig (r. 955-959) and Eadgar ‘the Peacemaker’ (r. 959-975).
Together, they offer an interesting insight into the turbulent political landscape of the time. All of the men represented in the hoard are descendants of Alfred the Great (Edward the Elder was his son, the others his grandsons and great-grandsons), whose famous victory at the Battle of Edington in 878 halted a seemingly unstoppable Viking army that had annexed vast swathes of England. Edward the Elder began the process of reconquering Danish-held territories (with the help of his sister Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians), and in 927 Æthelstan completed the job, becoming the first Anglo-Saxon king of all England. This did not put a permanent end to Anglo-Scandinavian hostilities, however. The Vikings wrested back control of York in 939, and Northumbria was repeatedly ruled by Norsemen until Eric Bloodaxe was expelled in 954. There was a lull in raiding under Eadgar, the final king to appear in the hoard, but attacks resumed soon after his death, accelerating during the reign of his son Æthelred II (‘the Unready’; r.978-1013 and 1014-1016), and culminating in Cnut’s conquest of England in 1016 (CA 321). The hacksilver within the Castle Esplanade Hoard is characteristic of Viking loot – could its contents represent the spoils of renewed raiding in the later 10th century?
The Knutsford Hoard. Image: Museum of Liverpool
Unsurprisingly, given the intensity of Scandinavian activity in the north of England, numerous Viking Age hoards have been discovered across this region. Their contents testify to how wide-ranging and interconnected the Viking world was, as is demonstrated by three north-western examples in the exhibition which have recently undergone scientific analysis at the University of Liverpool. The first of these is the Cuerdale Hoard, which was discovered in the 19th century by labourers working to repair an eroding embankment beside the River Ribble in Lancashire. What emerged from the soil was the largest Viking silver hoard yet found in all of Western Europe, comprising around 7,500 coins and another 1,100 pieces of bullion including finger- and arm-rings, ingots, and brooches, all buried c.905.
As a Victorian find, the Cuerdale Hoard did not enjoy the same legal protections as modern discoveries, and its contents were divided between 170 people and many museums. By contrast, the other two hoards in the study, both from Cheshire, were discovered by metal-detectorists in 2004 and 2011 respectively, and have remained intact. The Huxley Hoard’s 21 carefully folded arm-rings and single silver ingot were found alongside the remains of a lead container, and were most likely buried c.AD 850-950. The Silverdale Hoard, meanwhile, was probably buried c.AD 900-910. Again accompanied by a lead container, it comprises arm- and finger-rings, ingots, hacksilver, and 27 coins including a penny of a previously unknown Viking ruler of Northumbria called Harthacnut.
Treasure finds represent a source of stories about long-vanished communities, and a past that belongs to us all.
Samples taken from ingots in all three hoards have undergone isotope analysis by Dr Matthew Ponting, revealing that some of the silver that was melted down to create them came from coins of the Islamic world. Dirhams are known to have flooded into Viking Age Britain via lucrative trade routes known as the Eastern Way. Evidence of commercial connections does not mean that their origins were benign, however; contemporary written sources tell us that a key commodity exchanged for Islamic silver was human beings who were captured during raids and sold into slavery. The number of dirhams found in hoards across Britain testify to the scale of this trade – but it is becoming increasingly clear that these practices were even more prevalent than is indicated by intact coins alone. As more and more ingots are analysed (see CA 427 for Dr Jane Kershaw’s research on the Bedale Hoard, which was found near York), they reveal vast numbers of additional dirhams hiding in plain sight.
Lost and found
As well as highlighting the work of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, the exhibition also includes finds excavated by the Museum of Liverpool’s in-house archaeology team as part of this process. One of these is the Knutsford Hoard, a later 2nd-century collection of 103 Roman coins, two silver-and-carnelian rings, and three silver-gilt trumpet brooches (CA 404). Its contents – which include coins of 24 emperors as well as a late Republican denarius of Mark Anthony – had been scattered after the pot in which they were stored was struck by a plough. Crucially, however, the metal-detectorist who found elements of the hoard in 2012 immediately reported his discovery to the proper authorities, meaning that a systematic investigation was able to recover the remaining artefacts and pin down their original burial place.
The vast majority of metal-detectorists are similarly responsible, the exhibition team are keen to emphasise, but vital archaeological information is also being lost to the unlawful actions of others, known as nighthawks. The displays include a case study from Beeston Castle in Cheshire, which is cared for by Historic England. Alarms were raised when a number of holes were found to have been dug at both this site and another Historic England property, Roche Abbey in South Yorkshire. A collaborative investigation, dubbed ‘Operation Roundhouse’ and involving Cheshire Police, Historic England, and South Yorkshire Police, swung into action in December 2019, and the first arrests were made on New Year’s Eve. Seized mobile phones revealed the existence of a nighthawking gang, and forensic evidence including soil analysis helped to put them at the scene. Five men were ultimately brought before Chester Magistrates’ Court, where they were fined and given five-year Criminal Behaviour Orders banning them from entering any historic site in England or Wales. Their unlawfully excavated artefacts – including two Bronze Age axe heads from Beeston Castle, which are displayed towards the end of the exhibition – were recovered before they could be sold, but, while the objects themselves were saved, details of their archaeological context were lost forever.
It is not only ancient stories that are explored in Treasure: History Unearthed. Visitors to the displays will notice that all of the interpretative boards are in both English and Welsh, reflecting the fact that cultural heritage from both nations is on show, as well as the latter’s long-standing links with Liverpool. Large-scale migration in the 18th century meant that, by 1813, some 10 per cent of the city’s residents were Welsh, earning Liverpool the nickname ‘capital of North Wales’. Welsh architects and builders shaped the city that we see today, constructing churches, chapels, and terraces, including, most famously, Toxteth’s 16 ‘Welsh Streets’, which are named after towns and villages in Wales (including Madryn Street, where Ringo Starr was born). As well as including dual-language captions, the exhibition team have held outreach events both locally and in Wales, emphasising how archaeology can connect communities, and how heritage belongs to us all.
Further information: Treasure: History unearthed is at the Museum of Liverpool until 29 March 2026. See http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/whatson/museum-of-liverpool/exhibition/treasure-history-unearthed for more details.
Source: Vanessa Oakden is Curator of Regional and Community Archaeology at the Museum of Liverpool.
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