HOARD

Interim information on the hoard for the PAS & Treasure Annual Report launches in March 2020:

This hoard comprises a copper alloy bowl, the fittings from a copper alloy bucket, and part of a clay pot. Buckets such as this one are usually found in high-status cremation graves from the mid-first century BC, alongside other pots, jugs and pans. These were drinking sets, used for serving mead, wine or beer at feasts. Perhaps the deceased hosted such feasts in life, or maybe this was a way for the living to share the funeral feast with them. Several such graves are known in Kent, and they are also found on the near-continent. Buckets like this are rare finds and, although very fragmented, the decoration on this piece is unusual. It consists of pairs of hippocamps (creatures with the head and forelimbs of horses, and a fish-like tail) facing one another, with an animal such as a deer or small horse lying on its back between them, legs kicking in the air. Behind the right-hand hippocamp stands a hook-beaked bird-like creature with talons outstretched. The bucket's handle fittings take the form of a humanoid face with lentoid eyes, prominent nose, pronounced chin, and swept back hair. The two faces are slightly different. One has dotted decoration along the mouth, brows, and hairline, and around the back of the neck. The other is plainer, with a slimmer jawline. Close examine of the fittings can help us to understand the life of the bucket. The plainer mount appears rather more worn, and the attachment mechanism has also been repaired, with new holes pierced to reattach it to the bucket. It is tempting to suggest that the additional wear may be due to the head becoming become detached, and circulating separately for some time before it was eventually fixed back on. This was clearly a cherished and much-used object.