Posted on 12/20/2003 9:18:19 AM PST by blam
Ancient treasures from golden age of mystery
THEY may have been struck at the time of Jesus Christ, but they are scarcely marked despite the hundreds of years they spent buried in a farmer's field.
The tiny gold Celtic coins are the latest in a series of finds that are becoming more common since metal detectorists and archeologists started working together. And they were used by the same tribe whose chariot burials have fascinated the public in recent months. Weeks ago archeologists revealed that they had unearthed a rare and nationally significant Iron Age burial site at Ferrybridge in West Yorkshire complete with a chariot, a spear and the 2,500-year-old skeleton of a Celtic warrior or king.
The 2,000-year-old coins, which yesterday went on display at the Hull and East Riding Museum, were found last year in a ploughed field near Driffield by a metal detectorist.
After being declared treasure trove, they were sold to the museum with the help of a £9,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and will now sit beside another recently acquired group of gold Celtic staters – imported coins – from Beverley.
Craig Barclay, Keeper of Archaeology at the museum, said: "Ten years ago there was very little evidence for coin circulation north of the Humber in the pre-Roman period. But, thanks to the development of closer connections between archeologists, museums and metal detectorists, that image has changed.
"They were struck by the Corieltauvi, who were a Lincolnshire/South Humber tribe and imported across. They would have been used by the Parisi, who didn't strike their own coins.''
Where once there may have been a single discovery of a Celtic find recorded every year or so, now there may be dozens a year, although they are still less common than Roman finds.
Some believe the Parisi came to live in Yorkshire from France in the Iron Age (700BC-71AD), while others think local tribes copied French habits they saw on trading visits.
Apart from the West Yorkshire find, all the others, except one near Edinburgh, are centred on Wetwang, in East Yorkshire, which was thought to have been one of the centres of the Parisi.
From about 450BC to 50BC the Parisi buried their dead in cemeteries and important people were buried with a chariot, or cart, a practice which set them apart from the rest of Britain.
Last year there was excitement when five intricate swords, scabbards and spearheads were unearthed from a field near Brough by three men with metal detectors. It followed hot on the heels of the discovery of a warrior queen buried high on a ridge in the Yorkshire Wolds at Wetwang. Incredible finds from the square barrow grave dating from the third or fourth century included richly ornamented pieces of horse harness and parts from the wheels of the chariot.
She was found with the remains of a leather girdle, dozens of tiny blue beads – the remains of a necklace – and a mirror.
Archaeologists believe she was probably a descendant of the Parisi and possibly the royal wife or daughter of an early chieftain.
I can't resist ... They didn't have cameras then.
Please tell me they were not of the detestable Frogs.
Pretty please?
They may well have been their predecessors. The Parisi were just one of very many different Celtic tribes (and sub-tribes) which inhabited all of Northwest Europe, including England. They went by dozens of names, with a number of them in a large cluster known as the Celtic "Germanic" tribes. (Not to necessarily be confused with modern day Germans, many of whom have Slavic roots instead of Celtic.)
Thanks a lot. Now I don't want to live! :)
Here are some typical examples although not from that particular hoard.
And, if you want a souvenier.....................
Thanks, I already bought a bucket of Kruggerands, lol.
Good thing, too. Billy Boy would be getting the hots for the Celtic Queen.
They could just be decorative.
Celtic coinage was very artistic and they liked to imitate the coin types of the Greeks and the Romans but, in their own style.
Below are examples of a silver tetradrachm of Philip II of Macedon (a popular "trade coin" during it's time) and a Celtic imitation of it. (Note how the beard of Zeus has been stylized into a swirl.)
In my collection, I have a stylized Celtic imitation of a drachm of Alexander. It's a beautiful little coin.
Yup, the 4,000 year old mummy of, Cherchen Man, found in the Chinese desert has one of those 'swirls' tattoed on the side of his face.
Just for reference, folks, "Celtic" is pronounced with a hard C, not the soft C.
Gaelic (at least Irish) doesn't have a K, so C is always hard and S is, well, S.
Does this mean...? Yes, they're not the Boston (pron) "Seltics". They are the (pron) "Celtics".
BTW - an interesting book about the Celts and Irish in particular is Dennis Cahill's "How the Irish Saved Civilization".
Merry Christmas.
Thanks, I'm still trying to get through Henri Hubert's book, The History Of The Celtic People.
Fascinating! But I wonder why they refer to her as a warrior queen and then assume she was a wife or daughter of a royal. I thought that warrior queens actually wielded swords and led trooops.
blam, again thanks for your ongoing archaeology finds. Digging through the Net is a special kind of "dig."
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