Recent Finds

Today, we’re excited to share a glimpse into Roman Winchester’s southern cemetery, where recent work has revealed an intriguing burial assemblage. The black vessel held a cremation and it was found with two bow brooches and two Samian dishes — one of which served as a protective lid over the cremation. This site has also…

#FindsFriday This week we have an exciting find – a silver minim of Caratacus, known as a Caratacus Car type, dating c. 40-43. Caratacus was one of the sons of Cunobelin and one of the rulers who fought against the incoming Romans. Only one example of this coin was previously known, so this is only…

For #FindsFriday we have a stunning piece from the late 19th century—a beautifully moulded and enamelled clay tobacco pipe made by the renowned Paris company, Gambier. It’s a very rare find for London. This pipe features the “Student” (Etudiant) design shown in their catalogues, a motif that was both fashionable and symbolic of the era’s…

This stunning Anglo-Saxon cast saucer brooch is our star find so far from a site in the West Midlands! It would originally have had garnet inlays and dates to the 6th century. Although research is still in its early stages, no parallels have been found for this combination of animal decoration and triskele motif, suggesting…

What a find! Last week Tamsin, one of our archaeologists, found this bronze age socketed axe during an evaluation in Hertfordshire. Socketed axes were developed during the Late Bronze Age, an evolution on the earlier “palstave” type axes which characterised the Middle Bronze Age in Britain and Ireland. This example has a side loop that…

For #FindsFriday we’re thrilled to share a 3D model of an amazing find from the Middle Iron Age — a pole ladder, one of the earliest examples of its kind found in the UK. The ladder was discovered largely intact, leaning against the side of a well. With two siderails and five rungs carved from…

For #FindsFriday, a repaired dolium from Newgate Street in the City of London. Dolia are large, neckless jars usually associated with viticulture; they could also have been used as storage or preserving jars. They’re relatively rare in Roman Britain. The complex lead brackets used to repair this example are exceptional and very few parallels are…

This funky piece of late Iron Age pottery is a recent find at a site in Buckinghamshire. It’s a ceramic foot for a quad pod cauldron, imitating continental examples in metal. You can see it is heavily decorated with slashes, dots etc – this is probably skeumorphic, representing the rivet and hammer marks on the…

If you enjoyed seeing the gold pendant, with possible Christian symbolism, from our cemetery site near Winchester on ‘Digging for Britain’ this week, here’s an Anglo-Saxon sword from the same site for our Friday Find. About half of the 100+ burials contained grave goods, which, along with other aspects of the cemetery, suggest a community…