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Ongoing conservation efforts on the Peebles Hoard – a collection of rare Bronze Age artefacts dating to c.1000-800 BC (see CA 417 and CA 418) – have revealed new details about its composition.
The hoard was discovered by a metal-detectorist in the Scottish Borders in 2020. It was subsequently block-lifted and carefully excavated under laboratory conditions at the National Museums Collection Centre in Edinburgh, where it was found to contain over 500 bronze and organic objects. Early on, the exceptional nature of the hoard was recognised, with some of its items having no known archaeological parallel anywhere in the world. Other intriguing aspects included two ‘rattle pendants’, which are otherwise completely unknown from Scotland, but are more commonly found in Denmark, northern Germany, and northern Poland, and items found to be made using ‘lost-wax casting’ – a technique rarely seen in Bronze Age Britain, with these objects representing some of the earliest evidence of its use in Scotland.
Conservation has now revealed further unusual elements of how the hoard’s contents were treated during production. After the initial excavation, documentation, and analysis were completed, the cleaning process began, with conservators carefully removing thousands of years of dirt and corrosion to reveal the artefacts’ original surfaces. Although this whole process is estimated to take up to three years to complete, it has already revealed new details: bronze artefacts from this period are usually a deep golden colour, reflecting their alloyed composition of copper and tin. The conservation of the Peebles Hoard objects, however, has shown that they are more silver in appearance – a colour that was virtually unknown during this period in Britain. Subsequent compositional analysis of the objects has shown that this unusual colour is the result of high levels of tin on the surfaces. It is thought that this was done deliberately through a specific enrichment technique that could only have been achieved by highly skilled craftspeople. As conservation continues, further details remain to be uncovered – watch this space for updates.
Text: Kathryn Krakowka / Image: National Museums Scotland
