LONDON.- The British Museum today revealed that the number of Treasure discoveries made by members of the public has hit a record level for the second year running. The provisional number of Treasure finds – generally defined as gold and silver objects over 300 years old, or groups of coins and prehistoric metalwork – in 2017 is 1,267 across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Some 78,000 archaeological items were recorded on a voluntary basis with the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) in 2017 – which includes treasure finds – totaling 79,353 new recorded entries on the PAS database. 93% were found by metal detectorists. Norfolk was the county which produced the most finds, followed by Lincolnshire and Suffolk. There are now over 1.3million objects recorded by the PAS on its database and freely accessible to the public. The PAS scheme is managed by the British Museum in England and the Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales.
The Treasure Annual Report 2016 and Portable Antiquities Annual Report 2017 were released today at an event at the British Museum and announced by Michael Ellis MP, Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism. The reports also highlights that 363 of the finds of Treasure in 2016 have been acquired by museums, so that they can be seen and enjoyed by the public. The vast majority of these (91%) are acquired by local museums and it is hoped that many of the record breaking discoveries in 2017 will also end up in public collections The reports also reveal that the number of Treasure cases from Wales (40) is the largest amount in a single year since the inception of the Treasure Act in 1997.
Some of the most significant recent Treasure finds include a Bronze Age gold bulla and also gold lock rings sealed in lead. Found in the Shropshire Marches, these 3,500 year-old items are exquisite examples of workmanship which suggest the area in which they were found was used for rituals. Another find is an incredibly rare survival of a 375-year old silver pocket watch. The complex instrument has the clear inscription of the watchmaker – and very few examples of his work are known to survive.
Another recently ‘discovered’ object is a 2000 year old Roman statue of the goddess Minerva which was kept for a decade in a margarine tub after mistakenly being identified as a modern copy. First found on farmland in the early 2000s by a metal detectorist, its true significance only came to light after being seen in the home of the landowner by another detectorist many years later. It was then taken to the local Finds Liaison Officer at the Oxfordshire Museums Service where it was confirmed to be a very rare find.
This is the 12th year that the British Museum has managed the Portable Antiquities Scheme. During that time, many important discoveries have captured the public’s imagination including the Staffordshire Hoard and the Frome Hoard. The interest in these finds and what they teach us about the past has meant that the British Museum is currently touring a brand new exhibition on treasure around the country. Hoards: A Hidden History of Ancient Britain is currently at the Salisbury Museum and will travel to the Ulster Museum, National Museums Northern Ireland; Buxton Museum and Art Gallery; Brading Roman Villa, Isle of Wight; and the Ferens Art Gallery, Hull in 2019.
Hartwig Fischer, Director of the British Museum, said “Another record breaking year of Treasure finds is wonderful news for our knowledge and understanding of Britain’s past. To know that many previous discoveries continue to go to museums so that the public can benefit is hugely encouraging. The British Museum takes its commitment to these schemes very seriously and we’re delighted to have worked with so many passionate organisations and individuals over the past year to ensure that the Portable Antiquities Scheme continues to go from strength-to-strength.”
Michael Ellis, Minister for Arts, Heritage and Tourism said: “Thousands of hidden treasures have been uncovered this year, helping us to learn more about our past and those that came before us. Many of these important finds have been acquired by, and gone on public display in our museums, meaning that more and more people can experience and understand our rich history.”
Finds on display at the launch
Romano-British statuette from Hailey, Oxfordshire (2018 T449; OXON-7B00CD) – This is 1st or 2nd century statuette of the Roman goddess Minerva. Made of copper-alloy and lead, the statuette also has a number of several silver rivets to highlight decorative features. The Portable Antiquities Scheme more commonly records fragmentary or damaged Romano-British figurines, and it is rare for a near complete version to survive. That we know about it at all is a matter of serendipity, as the owner of the land where it was found had not realised its significance and kept it as a curiosity in a margarine tub. When it was show to Len Jackman, he recognised it as being important and knew that it needed to be recorded with the Finds Liaison Officer.
Late Bronze Age gold bulla from the Shropshire Marches (2018 T343; HESH-43148A) – This is an exquisitely made object from this period, the first age of metal. It is an intricately decorated pendant with few parallels from the British Isles. Other examples are mostly known from Ireland, where they take a more heart-shaped form. The bulla demonstrates connections between Britain and Ireland during the Bronze Age. It may have been formed around a baked clay but details of its production are still being investigated by British Museum Scientists. This is only the second to be found in England - the first was discovered near Manchester in the 18th century but is now lost. It is hoped that attention for this second example will help track down this lost object.
Post-Medieval silver pocket watch from Nash, Buckinghamshire (2017 T1213; BUC-7A4E6C) – The watch, dating to c.1645 comes in decorative case in the shape of a scallop shell. The numbers on the dial can still be made out, and remarkably the watch can be opened to display the inner mechanism; all of the steelwork in the movement is corroded but the components are still in position. An elaborate engraved signature on the back plate clearly attributes the watch to London maker Oswald Durant. Preliminary investigations have discovered one other watch attributed to this watch maker, though it is assumed that he made others.
