Somerset and Edinburgh Museums to keep archaeological treasure

[The Patriot]

Somerset and Edinburgh Museums to keep archaeological treasure

03-21-2011 06:23 AM

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Mon, 2011-03-21 13:21


Somerset and Edinburgh Museums to keep archaeological treasure


feature_story_photo:
A stash of 52,000 Roman coins were found in a field in Somerset by an amateur treasure hunter. Photo courtesy of the Guardian






Somerset and Edinburgh Museums to keep archaeological treasure

Some recent archaeological finds– a mass of Roman coins stuffed into a giant pot-bellied jar and four gold Iron Age torcs – have been acquired by museums in Somerset and Edinburgh according to a report in the Guardian.
The two caches have been saved with grants from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund charity. Public donations and grants from other charities also aided the cash-strapped national collections. Both finds will be examined by experts for years, according to the report.
The torcs, which will go on display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, were found in 2009 by David Booth. As the report explains the finds were found six inches below the surface of a field in Stirlingshire. Booth, who works in a Scottish safari park, was using his new metal detector for the first time and has since found a medieval seal set with a Roman carved gemstone.
According to experts the collars were made more than 2,000 years ago, and reveal sophisticated metalwork and complex cultural influences.
The Frome find is equally fascinating to historians. The Guardian reports that the hoard of more than 52,500 coins is the largest ever found in a single container and includes many unique coins. Hospital chef Dave Crisp found the coins in a field near Frome last year, when he returned to investigate a scatter of coins he had already found according to the article. He called in the experts immediately he realized he had an undisturbed hoard in its original container - "I knew they'd wet themselves," he said – and ended up sleeping in a tent with his grandson to protect the site as archaeologists took days to retrieve the 16kg of coins, believed to be one stupendous ritual offering.
It was reported that Crisp’s find will now become one of the highlight exhibits at the Somerset County Museum when it reopens at Taunton Castle this summer after refurbishment.
According to the Guardian report both men were detecting with land owners permission. The torcs were valued at £462,000, raised through £154,000 from the NHMF and £100,000 from the Art Fund, with additional funding from the Scottish government and national museum. The Frome hoard cost £320,250, but there is an additional £105,000 for years of conservation work.
In the Guardian Stephen Deuchar, director of the Art Fund, said: "Both the Roman coins in Somerset and torcs in Scotland are going to absolutely the right places, where generations can learn, enjoy and be inspired by them, and experts can carry out vital research."








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