Two recent discoveries – Britain’s largest hoard of Iron Age gold coins and a series of unusual elite burials – unearthed about 8km (5 miles) apart on opposite sides of Chelmsford, have shed vivid light on the area’s Iron Age importance, and how local communities responded to the turbulent period around the Roman conquest. Carly Hilts spoke to Angus Forshaw and visited a new exhibition of some of the finds.
This early medieval coin hoard was discovered near Maldon in Essex, in January 2025, by a metal-detecting group. Found dispersed across a field, its contents comprise 14 silver pennies, all the Long Cross type of Æthelred II (better known as…
Exploring the archaeology of Sandwich Bay The Nautical Archaeology Society has launched a new project: ‘Coastal Pasts – Connecting Community with Coastal Heritage at Sandwich Bay’. This initiative, largely funded by a recent National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, will create…
Dozens of items from the largest hoard of Iron Age metalwork ever found in Britain have gone on display for the first time at the Yorkshire Museum in York. Carly Hilts visited to learn more about this unique collection.
This early medieval finger-ring was found by a metal-detectorist near Quadring in Lincolnshire, south-west of Boston, in May 2024, and has more recently been declared Treasure. It is made of silver and dates to c.AD 700-1000. The middle of the…
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.
This unusual silver seal matrix dates to the medieval period, but has reused a Roman intaglio as part of its design. It was discovered by a metal-detectorist in September 2024 at Gosfield, north of Braintree in Essex. Oval in plan,…
The first archaeologically focused exhibition to be staged at the Museum of Liverpool explores what Treasure finds from north-west England and Wales can tell us about past and present connections across the region. Carly Hilts visited and spoke to Vanessa Oakden to learn more.
The British Museum has launched a £3.5 million fundraising campaign to acquire a unique pendant associated with Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon, and with the wider political ambitions of 16th-century Europe. Carly Hilts reports.
This past autumn a rare gold shilling – called a thrymsa – was found in a field near Norwich by a metal-detectorist. It represents a completely new type of coin, dated to the 7th century and containing both Christian and…
One of the largest Iron Age hoards ever found in the UK was recently unveiled. Comprising hundreds of metal items, its contents are shedding brilliant light on this period of Yorkshire’s past, revealing how wealthy and well-connected some of its ancient inhabitants were. Carly Hilts spoke to Tom Moore, Emily Williams, Sophia Adams, and Keith Emerick.
Britain’s largest-known coin hoard from the reign of Emperor Nero (AD 54-68) has gone on display at Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum for the first time since its discovery. Known as the Worcestershire Conquest Hoard, the collection of 1,368…
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.
In 2019, a metal-detectorist made a startling discovery while exploring near the edge of a stream near Pulborough in West Sussex: two curved pieces of a golden torc dating to the Iron Age. After being reported to the local Finds…
Llanfair-Mathafarn-Eithaf Community, Anglesey
The latest Annual Report from the Portable Antiquities Scheme reveals that, in 2022, 53,490 finds were recorded by the initiative, including 1,378 Treasure cases – the highest ever reported in a single year. The county producing the largest number of…
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions
ACROSS 8 Egyptian agrarian culture of 4500-3250 BC (8)9 Son of Daedalus in Greek mythology (6)10 Édouard ….. , French archaeologist noted for his work on the Palaeolithic (6) 11 William ….. , British antiquary and author of Avebury (1743)…
An Iron Age hoard consisting of 15 gold coins known as ‘staters’ was discovered in Llangoed Community, Anglesey, by three metal-detectorists between July 2021 and March 2022. This is the first hoard of gold staters to be found in all…
Also recently declared as treasure in Wales was a hoard of Roman coins, found between 2014 and 2022
This Roman finger ring with an engraved intaglio was discovered by a metal-detectorist near Chelmsford in Essex and was recently declared treasure. This style of intaglio is known as a Henig Type II and dates to c.AD 125-175. The band…
Review by Emily A Freeman The term ‘Treasure’ is complicated and has a variety of connotations for those inside and outside the heritage sector. This book of collected papers explores the legal and cultural attitudes towards ‘Treasure’, with many of the…
Among the Welsh finds declared treasure was a 15th-century gold ring belonging to the Bronington Hoard.
A round-up of some of the latest archaeology news in the UK.
A pendant adorned with symbolic motifs linked to Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon was recently unveiled at the British Museum. Carly Hilts spoke to Dr Rachel King and Teresa Gilmore to find out more.
Other Welsh finds declared treasure include several medieval gold rings and silver annular brooches.
This pendant, known as a bulla, was found by a metal-detectorist in the Melton district of Leicestershire in November 2021. It is hemispherical in shape and formed of two plain gold sheets, one formed into a hollow dome and the…
The latest on exhibitions, acquisitions, and key decisions.
Excavation work at Traprain Law, an Iron Age hillfort in East Lothian, some 30km east of Edinburgh, was interrupted by the turmoil of the First World War. Two weeks after work began again on 12 May 1919, George Pringle loosened the soil with the tip of his pick and pulled out a Roman silver vessel. This was the first artefact to be found from what would prove to be the largest hoard yet known of Late Roman hacksilver – silver which has been chopped, cut, and crushed. More than a century later, an equally massive 784-page study has been published that tells us what the hoard represents in terms of the art and lifestyles of people from both sides of Hadrian’s Wall, as Chris Catling reports.
The hoard, which dates from 1000-800 BC, was unearthed in Llanddeusant Community, Carmarthenshire.
Review by Kevin Leahy. This book joins the growing list of publications on the Staffordshire Hoard, but Warrior Treasure is published by Historic England and can be viewed as an ‘official’ popular account. Written by Chris Fern, one of the…
A collection of ten silver coins minted during the reigns of Edward I and Edward II were among the finds.
Most of the hoard was discovered between 2014 and 2020 by a single anonymous metal-detectorist.
Which book of the Bible describes the city of New Jerusalem as having streets 'made of pure gold'?
'The locations of these hoards are being carefully mapped to provide another piece of information in this jigsaw, so these finds are really important.’
The Irish and Manx coins depict the profile of King Sihtric Silkbeard, who served as Norse King of Dublin around AD 989 to 1036.