Portable Antiquities Scheme blogs

Royal wedding souvenir

April 21st, 2011 by Laura Burnett

With Royal wedding fever all over media I was interested to come across this find which shows souvenirs of Royal weddings are nothing new. It is a silver heart shaped locket found in two pieces with moulded portraits of a crowned Charles II on one side (flanked by the incised initials C/R) and his wife, Katherine of Braganza, (flanked by K/R) on the other. It commemorates their marriage in 1662 and was found near the site of the Battle of Sedgemoor, which took place on 6th July 1685. It is possible that the locket was lost by someone fighting on the side of the King during the battle.

SOM-C6EDD1: Locket commemorating the marriage of Charles II and Katherine of Braganza

Having been through the Treasure process (2004 T247), the locket was acquired by Somerset County Museum (accession number TTNCM 202/2005) and will be on display in the Museum of Somerset when it opens in the summer. Half of a similar locket was featured in the September 2004 issue of Treasure Hunting magazine (p. 17) suggesting it was a souvenir produced in some numbers rather than an individual commemorative item.

A more commonly found item which is also thought to commemorate this wedding is a type of cufflink, found in both silver (LVPL-BF30A6 and PAS-625C72) and cheaper lead alloy copies (LON-306542 and ESS-B32D14). They show either two crowned hearts or clasped hands with a crown above and two flaming hearts below. Although items with this design are thought to have originally been made to commemorate the marriage of Charles II and Katherine of Braganza the design continued in use probably into the 18^th century as a general symbol of love and/or marriage.

Other Royal wedding souvenirs recorded by the PAS include a copper alloy medalet from the wedding of the Prince Regent (the future George IV) and Caroline of Brunswick in 1795: HAMP-0F4355and this Roman Denarius (DUR-3D7720) of Plautilla wife of the Emperor Caracalla minted in Rome 202 AD to celebrate their wedding. For other wedding related finds see this search on our database.

Posted in archaeology, Catherine Middleton, Prince William, Royal, wedding | Comments (0)

The Talbot Vervel

March 18th, 2011 by peter reavill

I have been sent details of this press release from Shropshire Council Museum service about their recent acquisition through the Treasure Act of a silver vervel belonging to the 10th Earl of Shrewsbury – John Talbot. Not only does this release highlight the work of the PAS, and museum but it praises the finder, Frank Taylor, who has a long standing working relationship with the Museum Service which predates the PAS.

Vervel of John Talbot - Earl of Shrewsbury

The release reads:

___________________________________________

Shropshire Council’s museum service has acquired another remarkable find by local metal detectorist, Frank Taylor – a small hoop and shield that gives us a glimpse into the life of the Earl of Shrewsbury around 380 years ago.

It was acquired due to the generosity of the V&A/MLA Purchase Grant Fund and Headley Trust.

Although small, this hoop and shield are inscribed with the name IOHN TALBOT (John Talbot) and the emblazoned with a hound or ‘talbot passant’ which was the family crest of the Earls of Shrewsbury. The design and style of the lettering suggests that the owner was probably Sir John Talbot, 10th Earl of Shrewsbury (1601-54).

Sir John Talbot inherited the title, Earl of Shrewsbury, in 1630, a title somewhat disgraced by the family’s connections with Catholicism and involvement with the Gunpowder Plot. The family owned a significant estate at Pepperhill, Albrighton, not far from the field where Frank made his discovery.

Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for culture and leisure, said:

“Frank Taylor has been very supportive of the museum service for over thirty years and has, with the agreement of the landowners, donated many of his finds. Working with responsible metal detectorists like Frank helps us to research and display fascinating insights into Shropshire’s past. It is crucial to our work.”

Frank took his find to be recorded and identified by Peter Reavill, Finds Liasion Officer for Herefordshire and Shropshire as a vervel. Vervels are small inscribed tags which were worn on a hawk’s leg to attach leather jesses. These tags are often inscribed with the owners name, residence or coat of arms [often the coat of arms was placed on the vervel as not all the locals would have been able to read].

Emma-Kate Lanyon, Curator with Shropshire Council’s museums service, said:

“In broad terms a vervel fulfils the same function as modern racing pigeon rings. If a valuable bird was lost whilst hunting it could be identified and returned to the owner. Falconry was a sport for nobility and rings similar to this at the British Museum belonged to King Charles II. The discovery of this example in a field in the adjacent parish to the home of the Earl of Shrewsbury fits well with a loss whilst out enjoying the hunt and gives us a glimpse into the life of a family which has been at the heart of political affairs in the county from medieval times.”

Janet Davies, Head of Regional Liaison & Purchase Grant Fund said:

“We were pleased to help the museum acquire this interesting piece. It’s a good example of how modest items are significant in shedding light on life in the past.”

At the moment museum staff are working to develop the seventeenth century displays for the new Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery which is due to open in 2012. Hopefully, the verval will be displayed here as part of the story of Shropshire during this period.

__________________________________

for the full PAS Treasure report see:

http://www.finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/269641

for details of the original press release see:

http://newsroom.shropshire.gov.uk/news/2011/03/museum-service-acquires-historic-find/

Posted in Earl of Shrewsbury, Frank Taylor, Peter Reavill, shropshire museum, Vervel | Comments (0)

Bronze Age Spearhead from Co. Durham

March 17th, 2011 by Frances McIntosh

In January this year a local metal detectorist kindly donated one of his finds to my handling collection to be used on outreach and education events. As it got to the front of my queue of artefacts this week, my volunteer and I set to pinning it down typologically in order to record it.

Initial searches could not find a similar example and so we turned to Dot Boughton, one of the NW FLO’s who has a lot of experience with Bronze Age material. She agreed that the addition of a single side loop was unusual and referred us onto Richard Davis, a Bronze Age spear expert. He very kindly got back to us rapidly with the following information ‘ ’Spearheads with a single loop down the socket are rare. There are only six like this from Britain, none from Ireland. They have a very tight distribution
pattern:-

Medomsley, Durham
Netherby Fort, Cumbria (2)
Snape, North Yorks
Dumfries
Glenkens, Dumfries

They can be attributed to the Penard phase of the MBA, which is now dated 1250-1125BC.

This identification was great, and the location of our spear, in County Durham, fits within the known distribution pattern which is great. It is now recorded on the PAS database as DUR-F54FE1 and only narrowly missed being put in Richard’s new book but it was shown to him too late. It is always nice to get local finds, and to know that it will be available for further study in the future, as well as helping other members of the public get closer to the past.

Posted in archaeology | Comments (0)

Coin finds in Cornwall

March 15th, 2011 by sam moorhead

The nature of the Roman occupation of Cornwall remains elusive, largely due to the scarcity of sites and finds. However, the PAS has played a significant role in the discovery of several new sites, including the fort at Restormel. The steadily growing number of site-finds of Roman coins (now standing at 294) is a highly important dataset. Amongst these coins is a large assemblage from the Hayle area which highlights the importance of this region in the late Roman period. The graph below shows the chronological distribution of coins from before AD 41 (Period 1) to AD 388-402 (Period 21). Hayle is shown against the only other comparable site from the whole of Cornwall, Trevelgue.

Furthermore, the PAS coins overall provide a higher proportion of late Roman coins than is shown by past coin hoards. The PAS data was instrumental for a recent MA dissertation on Roman Cornwall written at Leicester University. It is also important to note that important new Roman discoveries are being recorded with the PAS in Devon and that the work in both counties combined will help to produce a new understanding of the South-West Peninsula as a whole in the coming years.

The graph below shows how the coin profile over time for Cornwall is very different from the national average for Britain. The time periods range from pre-AD 41 (Period 1) to AD 388- 402 (Period 21).

Finally, Cornwall has produced a number of Late Roman and Byzantine coins from the Eastern Mediterranean. This does suggest sea trade coming out of the Straits of Gibraltar and across the Bay of Biscay to Cornwall. What is really interesting is that such coins are also being found on the Isle of Wight – in fact, the PAS is showing that Cornwall and the Isle of Wight share much more in common than we previously thought.

Posted in General | Comments (0)

Three Coin Hoards from North Shropshire

February 28th, 2011 by peter reavill

Recent Treasure Finds from Shropshire

Treasure Inquest in Wem, Shropshire.

28^th February 2011

Mr John Ellery, Coroner for North and Mid Shropshire held an inquest today into three separate cases of Treasure recently discovered in North Shropshire. Unusually all these cases related to discoveries of coin hoards dating from the 13^th – 17^th Centuries.

A further discovery at Baschurch, Shropshire.

The initial Baschurch Hoard was reported in 2007, being declared as Treasure in 2009. The Baschurch totalled more than 190 coins from the reign of Henry III. They were deposited in a leather bag sometime after 1265 AD. The hoard was placed on the headland of a field and modern ploughing has spread some of the coins into the adjacent field. The original findspot was excavated in 2007 and all the coins from the main group were recovered and declared treasure. Shropshire County Museum Service acquired the hoard late in 2010 after receiving grants from The V&A Purchase Fund, The Headily Trust and a generous donation from both the Friends of Shrewsbury Museum and The Shropshire Archaeological and History Society.

Mr Ellery heard today of recent discoveries of further groups of medieval pennies from the Baschurch Hoard (2008-T774). This group under inquest represent three significant finds of medieval pennies from the site during 2008 and 2009 totalling a further 35 coins. Dr Barrie Cook (Curator of Medieval and Early Modern Coinage at the British Museum) in his report for the coroner wrote:

All of the new finds are completely consistent with the original ones, which – since the hoard was so unusual – make it certain that they all form part of one single deposit. The highly unusual aspects of the earlier groups are all in evidence among the newer finds: the dominance of Shrewsbury mint coins … and the same disproportionate representation of the four Shrewsbury moneyers [Nicole, Lorenz, Ricard and Peris]. …

All the new finds confirm the impression of the earlier finds in that The hoard probably represents a core of material initially acquired straight from the Shrewsbury mint and exchange… That the find-spot of the hoard is so close to Shrewsbury itself, might suggest that this portion might well have remained in the possession of one original owner. New coins were subsequently added to the Baschurch hoard, either occasionally or else in one batch during the issues of class Vg (1258-65).’

The Baschurch find as a whole, therefore, consists of coins of good silver that would have been in circulation together in the mid to late 1260s. The preponderance of Shrewsbury mint issues makes it essentially impossible that the coins represent anything other than a savings hoard of some kind, since it bears little similarity to the general currency of mid 13^th century England.

Shropshire County Museum Service are hoping to acquire this further group of coins for display at the Music Hall. The original find of coins is currently being conserved and a small selection of these will be displayed at Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery (Rowley’s House) in the near future.

The third and largest group of coins

Full records, images and further information on the Baschurch Hoard can be found at:

http://www.finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/431149

http://finds.org.uk/blogs/themarches/2010/08/03/medieval-shrewsbury-coin-declared-treasure/

A late medieval coin hoard from the Oswestry Area.

Hoard of Groats

This second coin hoard was discovered in the Oswestry area by metal detector user Marie Hunt in April 2010 (2010- T321). In this group there were 21 coins with a combined value of 6 shillings and a penny. This most probably represents a large purse loss or possibly a small deliberately hidden savings hoard. In its day it would have represents almost 4 weeks wages for a skilled craftsman. Again Dr Cook examined the coins at the British Museum and in his report for the coroner wrote:

Three denominations are present: 17 examples of the groat of fourpence, one half-groat and three pennies … Most of the coins are from the reign of Edward III, with the three pennies earlier in date, from the coinage of Edward I and II, from after the re-coinage of 1279. There is a single coin of Henry V (1413-22). After 1279 there was no general re-coinage in medieval England, so the presence of this range of coins in a single deposit made in the 15^th century would not in itself be unusual

However, the weight of the coins present gives an interesting picture. Although there was no re-coinage between the reigns of Edward III and Henry V, there was a reduction in the weight standard in 1412 from one based on the penny of 18 grains to one based on the penny of 15 grains. Silver coins circulating after that date are usually clipped down to the new level, yet, although several of the groats of Edward III in this group are indeed clipped, the group nonetheless has a mean weight of 3.99g, 85% of the pre-1412 standard for the groat, but 102% of the post-1412 standard. It looks as though the group represents an assembly of material withdrawn from currency relatively soon after the 1412 reform, perhaps quite early in Henry V’s reign, before the full impact of the change had been absorbed within the currency. It is the case that the bulk of Henry V’s silver coinage was produced between 1413 and 1417. An alternative is that it represents a small selected group of relatively good weight coins. Either explanation is conceivable.

The Oswestry coins are all of good silver and were likely to have been deposited together on one occasion, probably c. 1415.

The Powysland Museum, Welshpool has expressed an interest in acquiring these coins for display.

Full records, images and further information on the Oswestry Hoard can be found at:

http://www.finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/431153

http://www.powys.gov.uk/index.php?id=2117&L=0

http://www.finds.org.uk/medievalcoins/articles/page/valuesedwardIII

A Coin hoard from the reign of Charles I from the Oswestry Area.

The final group of coins under inquest was again found by Marie Hunt in July 2010. They were found in the Oswestry Area and were examined by Dr Cook at the British Museum. They are unusual in that they include a silver gilt medal commemorating the marriage of Charles I. In his report for the coroner Dr Cook wrote:

I have examined a group of silver items reported found at Oswestry, Shropshire. Six of these are coins of the English monarchs Elizabeth I, James I, and Charles I and consist of two sixpences of Elizabeth, two pennies of James and two pennies of Charles … The wear and clipping visible on the coins of Elizabeth makes it probable that they had experienced considerable currency. This would certainly be compatible with the idea that they represent 17^th century deposits: huge quantities of Elizabethan coinage circulated throughout the 17^th century, sixpences above all. It is therefore likely that the Oswestry coins represent a single body of material deposited on one occasion, probably in the early 1630s. The group is also likely to have included the silver medal, since its date is a good match to this scenario. It is not normal to find medals with coins in this way, but a possible explanation is that this small one served as a pocket piece, carried around for luck, as a symbol of loyalty or as even a marital memento, since it commemorates a marriage.

The silver-gilt medal commemorates the marriage of King Charles I to the French princess Henrietta Maria, 1625. These were struck and issued in large quantities. The obverse (head) depicts the portraits of Charles I and Henrietta Maria, under rays from heaven, whereas the reverse shows Cupid with flowers and references the union of the roses of England and lilies of France. The inscription is a modified quote from Virgil’s Aeneid FVNDIT.AMOR.LILIA.MIXTA.ROSIS./.1625. (Love pours out lilies mingled with roses)

Again it is hoped that will acquire the coin group for display in the Powysland Museum, Welshpool.

Full records, images and further information on the Oswestry Hoard can be found at:

http://www.finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/431164

http://www.powys.gov.uk/index.php?id=2117&L=0

More information about the Portable Antiquities Scheme and Treasure as well as Medieval and Post Medieval coins can be found at

http://www.finds.org.uk/treasure

http://www.finds.org.uk/medievalcoins

Peter Reavill

February 2011

Posted in barrie cook, baschurch, coin hoard, Finds Liaison Officer, Hoard, marie hunt, oswestry, Peter Reavill, Portable Antiquities Scheme, powysland museum, Shropshire, shropshire museum | Comments (0)

Comment on PAS shines at Current Archaeology 2011 by Anna Booth

February 27th, 2011 by Anna Booth

I’m so pleased about the Rescue Excavation Award, but must just acknowledge Alan Graham, who led the excavation of the Frome Hoard. He was the brains behind the whole operation and we couldn’t have done it without him!

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

PAS shines at Current Archaeology 2011

February 26th, 2011 by Ian Richardson

This weekend, for the third year out of the last four, the British Museum plays host to the annual Current Archaeology Conference. The conference is well-known for the breadth of topics covered and the diverse array of talented speakers taking part simultaneously across two lecture theatres. It also bestows its own unique set of reader-chosen awards, and the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) featured heavily in those given out this year.

Saturday’s papers featured several appearances by members of the PAS, the co-hosting organisation. Rob Collins, Finds Liaison Officer for the North East region, served as co-chair for the popular morning session on Hadrian’s Wall. Roger Bland, Head of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, chaired the specialist afternoon session on recent finds of Treasure, which saw talks given by the PAS’s Sam Moorhead (on the Frome Hoard), Ian Richardson (on the Hackney Double Eagle coins) and Laura McLean and Stephanie White (on the Burnham on Crouch Bronze Age Hoard). The British Museum’s Nick Ashton (Dept. of P&E) also delivered a fantastic account of the current work on the evidence for Britain’s oldest humans at Happisburgh, Norfolk, and Ian Leins (Dept. of C&M) anchored a prominent session on Britain’s Iron Age Celts.

Throughout the day, the tireless work of conference facilitator Philippa Walton kept things running smoothly and on time. In the large foyer of the British Museum’s Clore centre, amongst the collection of book and package-tour retailers, and the various other heritage advocacy groups, Wendy Scott, Adam Daubney, Stephanie Smith, Ros Tyrell, Danielle Wootton and Erica Darch manned the PAS desk and handed out numerous flyers and copies of annual reports to interested visitors.

The highlight of this first day’s events was the handing out of the Current Archaeology awards for the most outstanding work of the last year. The PAS made out fantastically well against stiff competition, with Sam Moorhead taking home the gilded trowel for Archaeologist of the Year for his work as a National Finds Advisor on Roman Coinage and in particular for his involvement in work on the Frome Hoard and for his publication of the popular ‘AD410: The Year that Shook Rome’. Sam’s acceptance speech attempted to deflect attention away from himself and he claimed his role with the PAS automatically exposed him to the type of popular interest stories that most archaeologists would not have the privilege of working on, but those voting had already taken that into account when making their decision. Sam also graciously led everyone in a toast to our recently departed colleague, the irreplaceable medieavalist Geoff Egan. The Excavation of the Frome Hoard received an award itself, for ‘Rescue Excavation of the Year’ and Sam Moorhead accepted that trophy on behalf of colleagues Anna Booth, Katie Hinds. Steve Minnit and the finder of the hoard, Dave Crisp.

Taking advantage of a unique opportunity to capture several hundred archaeologists together in one space on a Saturday evening, the organisers of the Current Archaeology conference treated all those present to a once-in-a-decade appearance by the (in)famous rock band ‘Timothy Darvill and the Standing Stones’. Displaying a surprising range of musical knowledge, the group (led by early morning presenter and lead guitarist Professor Timonthy Darvill of Bournemouth University) crooned away to songs from some of the industry’s best-known talents, from Elvis Prestly to CCR, the Beatles to the Rolling Stones, Blondie to the Kaiser Chiefs. What better way to end the evening than to pogo along with fan Julian Richards to ‘I Predict a Riot’? (Yes, we are geeks…)

Posted in British Museum, Sam Moorhead, Treasure | Comments (0)

CASPAR seminar series

January 7th, 2011 by daniel pett

The Centre for Audio-Visual studies and practice in Archaeology is holding an inaugural series of seminars at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL, 31- 34 Gordon Square on Monday afternoons, starting this coming week. The programme is quite varies and the following speakers are booked to speak:

10 Jan Broadcast archaeology Michael Wood (Story of England, BBC) & Ray Sutcliffe (Chronicle)

17 Jan Producing archaeology on TV Charles Furneaux (Kaboom Film and Television)

24 Jan Archaeology and radio Ben Roberts (The British Museum)

31 Jan Using digital technology to visualise the past Tom Goskar (Wessex Archaeology) and Stuart Eve (UCL)

7 Feb The Google ancient places prokect Leif Isaksen (University of Southampton)

21 Feb Archaeology, television and the public Tim Schadla-Hall & Chiara Bonacchi (UCL)

28 Feb Developing digital communities Andy Bevan and Lorna Richardson (UCL)

7 Mar The Portable Antiquities Scheme Dan Pett (The British Museum)

14 Mar Archaeology, videogames and the public Andrew Gardner (UCL)

21 Mar Where do we go from here Don Henson (Honorary Director of CASPAR)

Enquiries to: Tim Schadla-Hall t.schadla-hall@ucl.ac.uk or Chiara Bonacchi chiara.bonacchi@gmail.

All seminars in room 612 and everyone is welcome. A drinks reception follows each seminar.

Posted in British Museum, digital technology, Education | Comments (0)

King’s Head Strap Clasps or Buckles

January 6th, 2011 by tgilmore

It can be quite impressive how one find can spark a level of interest in a type that previously seemed relatively dull and ordinary.

A couple of months ago, I was pleasantly surprised to have a small face staring back at me from within that batch of finds received to be recorded. That face, with two beady eyes, a slit mouth and spiky hair was recorded as WAW-2C1F52, a cast copper alloy two part folding strap clasp, dated to the 14^th Century.

From the published literature, (Egan and Pritchard, 2002, Dress Accessories, #568) and Meols, #721, this particular type of strap clasp would seem relatively scarce. However several searches on the PAS database turned up over 100 examples. So perhaps they are not as rare as the published literature would lead us to believe.

The examples from the PAS database appear to fall into 6 main decorative types:

A Crowned Head (which lead to their nickname as “King’s Head Buckles”);

ESS-6E39D5

A Mitred Head (imitating a bishop as opposed to a King);

BERK-CEEEB7

a Plain head;

WAW-2C1F52

a Head and Shoulders type;

DENO-1CFB90

a Zoomorphic or Animal head variant

NCL-730447

and a Geometric designed type.

NMS-E21D84

The majority of these examples exist just as the frame of the clasp, or as partial remains of the frame, but some still retain the strap plate. Some even have a pin present, suggesting that they operated as a buckle as opposed to a clasp. The difference between a buckle and a clasp in this situation is the presence or absence of a pin, which means in the absence of a strap plate, or evidence on the frame, then it is hard, if not impossible to determine if a particular example operated as a clasp or a buckle. However it is worth noting that the frame seemed to function for both purposes. It is still unknown exactly how this type operates as a two part folding strap clasp. Further research, including examination of iconographic sources (e.g. paintings and memorial brasses) will have to be done.

They appear to be mainly central and south east in geographical distribution, with Lincolnshire and Norfolk having significantly more examples than other counties.

More work needs to be done to locate more stratified examples, to confirm that the dating is 14^th Century. The unstratified material from the PAS database would suggest that there should be significantly more examples out there than the excavated examples suggest, just that no one has really considered them important enough to examine.

Therefore, if anyone comes across any further examples, I would be very interested to hear about them. My email address is teresa.gilmore@shropshire.gov.uk.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Comment on Geoff Egan joins the PA&T Staff at the British Museum by Ian Richardson

January 6th, 2011 by Ian Richardson

Thanks for getting in touch Deb and sharing the heartwarming story about Geoff. I shall always remember Geoff’s complete lack of pretention in all his conversations with me, despite the fact that his sentences were so peppered with historic and literary references that he caused me to constantly rush to consult Wikipedia. He was a very wise man who was a joy to spend time with, and we all miss him.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

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