Survey module: Hoards

From Bronze Age times onwards, for reasons we do not understand, people have deposited high-status objects in the ground, often in wet places such as bogs and rivers. In many cases, several objects are found in the same place, suggesting that the place of deposition may have been no less important than the objects that were deposited. The objects were often metal; although they may have been deposited along with other things that do not survive, it is usually only the metal objects that we are left to study. In the past, much attention has been paid to these objects, but relatively little to the places in the landscape where they were found. In general terms, many hoards, which can include a range of objects such as weapons (e.g. swords, spearheads) and tools (e.g. axes), are found in wet places that may once have been bogs or pools; many were found during drainage operations. Some were found in the nineteenth century, while others were only found very recently, sometimes through metal detecting. This project will include study of the objects, but will focus primarily on the places where these hoards were found; are there patterns that can be identified, beyond the general observation regarding wet places. Volunteers will study the objects form each known hoard, and visit the findspots, making a comprehensive photographic record of these within their landscape context.

            

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