19 Jun 2014 Gold and silver from the cave
Categories: Minting - Numismatics , Treasures , Calendar , Nálezy nejenom s detektorem ve Velké Británii a Irsku
Archaeologists have found a rare treasure from the Roman period and the Late Iron Age in a cave in the English Peak District. The depot contained gold and silver coins.
Experts say the find is very unusual as it is the first time coins from the two periods have been found together. They were found in a cave in the Dovedale Valley. They had been there for over 2,000 years.
The treasure is also interesting in that Roman coins are usually found somewhere in a field. Archaeologists can't remember a case of such a depot being discovered in a cave. Which makes the 2014 find all the more interesting.
They found 26 Roman coins in the Peak District. And that includes three coins that predate the invasion of Britain. Twenty more coins date back to the late Iron Age. They probably belonged to a Celtic tribe called the Corieltau.
Their homeland was in what is now the East Midlands, specifically in the counties of Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Rutland and Northamptonshire. They lived in Britain before the Roman conquest.
"Whoever owned these coins was probably very wealthy. During the late Iron Age, coins were a symbol of power and status. They were not used to buy food and supplies as they are today," noted archaeologist Rachael Hall.
"We cannot underestimate the importance of a place where such a treasure was found. It may have been sacred and could only be visited in exceptional situations. So the owner of the coins may have hidden the coins there because he thought they would be safe. But then something happened and he didn't come back for them," says Hall.
The coins were taken in by experts from the British Museum, who cleaned them and then handed them over to the Buxton Museum, which put the treasure on display for the public to see.
The largest pile of gold and silver coins from the period was discovered by an amateur archaeologist in 2000 near Hallaton in south-east Leicestershire. The hoard contained over five thousand coins, jewellery and a gilded Roman helmet.
Sources: www.dailymail.co.uk
The article is included in categories: