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UK Citizens Found More Buried Treasure Than Ever Last Year, Including an 1,100-Year-Old Brooch and an Ancient Gold Ring

by admin
Mar 30, 2020
artnet

As more people around the world
are shuttered indoors, those lucky enough to have a backyard might
want to consider taking up metal detecting.

Members of the UK public
uncovered a record number of historic discoveries last year,
according to a new report from the British Museum.Amateur treasure
hunters registered a whopping total of 81,602 finds with the
British Museum’s portable antiquities program in 2019, including
some 1,311 high value pieces of treasure.

“These discoveries by the public
are vital for advancing our understanding of Britain’s diverse
history,” British Museum director Hartwig Fischer says in a
statement. Fischer added that it is “incredibly encouraging” that
so many finds were recorded voluntarily with the museum.

Official “treasure” is generally
defined as gold and silver objects that are more than 300 years
old, as well as groups of coins and prehistoric metalwork. Among
the most significant discoveries is a medieval brooch uncovered
after a dump truck made a delivery of soil in Norfolk. The rare
1,100-year-old brooch was found in an excellent state of
preservation.

Early Medieval silver and niello brooch from Great Dunham, Norfolk c. AD 800 - 900. ©The Trustees of the British Museum.

Early Medieval silver and niello brooch
from Great Dunham, Norfolk c. AD 800 – 900. ©The Trustees of the
British Museum.

Elsewhere, someone uncovered an
Iron Age drinking set in Kent. The 2,000-year-old set of vessels
included a bucket decorated with mythical creatures and a strange
humanoid face.

Other treasures include Roman
coins and Bronze Age jewelry. Nearly all of the items—some 90
percent—were discovered by metal detectorists. The new report also
highlights that 399 of the 1,266 treasure finds that were reported
in 2017 have been acquired by museums, 92 percent of which were
local museums.

“I am very pleased that a record
number of treasure finds have been unearthed and it is brilliant
that they will now go on display in local museums across the
country,” Caroline Dinenage, the UK’s minister of state for digital
and culture, says in a statement. “Each one of these valuable
discoveries tells us more about the way our ancestors lived and I
want to congratulate all those who played a part in helping uncover
more about our shared history.”

See more images of the astonishing discoveries below.

 

 

Copper alloy fitting from bucket, in the shape of a human face, from Lenham, Kent. Iron Age c.50 BC. ©The Trustees of the British Museum.

Copper alloy fitting from bucket, in the
shape of a human face, from Lenham, Kent. Iron Age c.50 BC. ©The
Trustees of the British Museum.

Copper alloy radiate coin of Emperor Carausius from Headbourne Worthy, Hampshire. Roman Britain AD 286 – 293. ©The Trustees of the British Museum.

Copper alloy radiate coin of Emperor
Carausius from Headbourne Worthy, Hampshire. Roman Britain AD 286 –
293. ©The Trustees of the British Museum.

Gold arm ring from St Bees, Cumbria. Bronze Age c. 900 – 700 BC. ©The Trustees of the British Museum.

Gold arm ring from St Bees, Cumbria.
Bronze Age c. 900 – 700 BC. ©The Trustees of the British
Museum.

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