50 Finds from Buckinghamshire: objects from the Portable Antiquities Scheme

This article is from Current Archaeology issue 379

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In this latest book in the 50 Finds series, Arwen Wood, Finds Liaison Officer for Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes, presents Britain’s history through the objects found across the county and recorded with the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS). Sadly lacking in standing archaeological remains, Buckinghamshire is sometimes thought of as a region that people in the past simply passed through, rather than a place where things happened. However, the abundance of finds recorded through the PAS shows just how untrue this is, and the 50 objects presented in this book reveal a county with a rich human history. Far from being merely an intermediate location, Buckinghamshire’s position near London and bordering five other counties has placed it at a key point on many networks throughout history, from Roman roads to canals built during the Industrial Revolution. This contact with other regions around Britain and further afield is reflected in the objects discovered here, from an early coin issued by the Cantiaci tribe in the south-east of England and exchanged across the country, c.80-50 BC, to an Anglo-Scandinavian-style silver strap end (c.AD 800-900) influenced by designs from across the North Sea.

50 Finds from Buckinghamshire: objects from the Portable Antiquities Scheme, Arwen Wood, Amberley Publishing, £15.99, ISBN 978-1445695778

Review by AB.