2,000-Year-Old Iron Age Treasure Hoard Found in Britain

YouTube ^ | March 25, 2025 | Historic England

[SunkenCiv]

The Melsonby Hoard is one of the largest and most significant Iron Age finds ever uncovered in the UK.

The hoard contains over 800 objects from the Iron Age, dating back around 2,000 years. Early analysis suggests the items were buried in the first century AD, around the time of the Roman conquest of southern Britain.

The discovery was made in December 2021 by metal detectorist Peter Heads, who quickly reported it. In 2022, a team from ‪@DurhamUniversity‬ with support from the ‪@britishmuseum‬ and over £120,000 in grant funding from Historic England, excavated the site. Now, the ‪@YorkMuseumsTrust‬ is launching a fundraising campaign to keep this remarkable collection in the UK for public display.
The size and variety of the objects make this hoard highly unusual for Iron Age Britain. Some of the most significant items include parts of more than seven four-wheeled wagons and two-wheeled chariots; elaborate harnesses for at least 14 ponies, some decorated with red Mediterranean coral and coloured glass; three ceremonial spears and two ornate cauldrons or vessels, including a lidded bowl likely used for mixing wine, found buried in a large ditch.

While some objects resemble previous British finds, others have closer links to continental Europe, suggesting long-distance trade and shared technology between Iron Age communities.

[SunkenCiv]

Durham University 

2,000-Year-Old Iron Age Treasure Hoard Found in Britain | 8:31 
Historic England | 16.4K subscribers | 171,413 views | March 25, 2025

[SunkenCiv]

Earlier objects are frequently identified in later contexts, though rarely form the focus of discussion. This paper presents 34 sites where earlier Bronze Age metalwork has been found in later Bronze Age contexts in southern Britain, including hoards and non-hoard contexts. These 'out-of-time' objects follow complex trajectories and can inform us about the potential ways past societies conceived their own pasts, especially when contextualized in broader integrated landscapes. Out-of-time objects might be deposited singly or within hoards to reinforce community boundaries and legitimize links with past communities. The form, wear and treatment of these objects pre-deposition (e.g. curation and/or deformation) as well as the places in which they were buried represent indicators of prehistoric processes of commemoration and/or forgetting.

'Out-of-time' Objects: Commemorating and Forgetting Traditions through Bronze Age Metalwork in Southern Britain | Matthew G. Knight | Cambridge University Press | February 21 2025

[SunkenCiv]

The 5000 Uk Monuments Off-limits To The Public | 13:05
Paul Whitewick | 154K subscribers | 24,119 views | January 26, 2025

Chapters

00:00 - Context
01:12 - The Revelation
02:04 - What are these Monuments?
03:40 - What are the Numbers?
04:45 - How do I benefit from visiting?
05:40 - Problems with Vandels?
06:53 - How will this affect land Owners?
08:29 - West Kennet Long Barrow
09:37 - Is the manageble?
11:48 - What Action can you take?
12:48 - Responsible access?

[SunkenCiv]

The rest of the metal detecting keywords, sorted:

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[SunkenCiv]

Clearing out the "on deck" folder again, a couple of related posts which didn't feel like they made it as standalone topics.

[rktman]

Shut up and dig all night!

[Red Badger]

Many Pics here:

https://www.the-independent.com/news/science/archaeology/melonsby-hoard-iron-age-yorkshire-b2720611.html

[Larry Lucido]

Caption: "All these iron products have a lifetime replacement guarantee. And if you become a distributor now, within 2000 years you will have a downline covering the entire British empire.

[smokingfrog]

That was the location of the original Vauxhall factory.

[SunkenCiv]

lol

[PLMerite]

I’m sorry, when I see “Treasure Horde,” I think gold and silver coins and precious stones. Not Iron Age kit-car parts.

[PLMerite]

I know, wrong “Hoard.”

[bitt]

P

[Bob Ireland]

***In 2022, a team from ‪@DurhamUniversity‬ with support from the ‪@britishmuseum‬ and over £120,000 in grant funding from Historic England, excavated the site***

Apparently neither Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden were involved in handling the money... ❓

[bitt]

https://artsandculture.google.com/story/celtic-life-in-iron-age-britain-the-british-museum/_AWRz1O9u3piJg?

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks!

[SunkenCiv]

:^)