Winchester Hoard facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Winchester Hoard
Some items from the Winchester Hoard held at the British Museum
Material	Gold
Size	10 jewellery pieces
Period/culture	Iron Age
Discovered	near Winchester, Hampshire by Kevan Halls in 2000
Present location	Room 50, British Museum, London
Identification	P&EE 2001 9-1 1-10

The Winchester Hoard is a collection of amazing gold items from the Iron Age. It was found in a field near Winchester, England, in 2000. A retired florist and metal detector enthusiast named Kevan Halls discovered it.

This treasure was worth £350,000! At the time, this was the biggest reward given under the Treasure Act 1996. The hoard has two sets of gold jewelry. These items are very pure gold and were made between 75 and 25 BCE.

Even though they were made before the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 CE, the way they were made was Roman, not Celtic. The items in the hoard weigh almost 1,160 g (41 oz) in total.

Experts called this find "the most important discovery of Iron Age gold objects" in fifty years. They think the items were probably an "expensive" and "diplomatic gift". The Winchester Hoard is now kept at the British Museum in London.

How the Hoard Was Found

The hoard was found near Winchester in a farmer's field. Kevan Halls, a retired florist and metal detector hobbyist, discovered it. He found the items over several visits in September, October, and December of 2000.

His first discovery was the brooches. He reported this to the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Archaeologists from the British Museum then explored the site. They wanted to learn more about where the items came from.

They did not find any signs of a settlement or temple. It was more likely that the hoard was buried on a small hill. This hill was probably covered with trees.

Declaring the Treasure

The hoard was officially declared a "treasure" after a special hearing. It was later valued at £350,000. This money was shared between Kevan Halls and the landowner.

This was the highest reward given under the Treasure Act 1996 at that time. It was also the first time the British Museum worked with this Act to investigate a find's history.

What Was Found in the Hoard

The Winchester Hoard contains two sets of gold jewelry. Each set includes a torc, which is a stiff neck ring. Each set also has a pair of brooches, also called fibulae. These brooches were linked by a chain, but only one chain was found.

There was also a bracelet in each set. One of the bracelets was broken in half. All the items were made with very pure gold, between 91% and 99% pure. Scientists at the British Museum found this out using X-ray tests.

The total weight of the hoard is 1,158.8 g (40.88 oz). This is about 37.25 troy ounces. The items date from 75 to 25 BC. This means they are from the Late British Iron Age.

Details of the Jewelry

All the brooches are shaped like a bow. Two of them are called Knotenfibeln, which means "interlace fibulas". This style is typical of the La Tène style. The chain is made of gold wire and has hooks at each end. These hooks would attach to the brooches.

The bracelets are shaped like an incomplete circle. The ends of the torcs have some fancy decoration. This includes tiny gold balls, called granulation. The smaller torc also has thin gold wires, called filigree. Both these decorations were attached using a special type of solder.

One of the torcs is larger than the other. This makes experts think that each set was for a different person, maybe a man and a woman. It is also believed that these items were actually worn by people.

Why the Hoard is Important

This find was called "the most important discovery of Iron Age gold objects" since the Snettisham Hoard. That was found over fifty years before. The items were also described as "unique" and "very unusual."

Gold brooches from the Iron Age are very rare. This was only the third time such brooches were found in Britain. It was one of "less than a dozen" found in Northern Europe. This helped experts figure out the hoard's age more accurately.

However, the torcs were especially unusual. No other torcs like them had been found from Iron Age Britain or even Europe until then. Their design was similar to typical Iron Age torcs. But they were made using Roman or Hellenistic Greek technology.

This was many years before the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD. This means the way they were made was beyond what the Celts knew how to do. It shows a link between Britain, Rome, and Greece before big historical events. It also highlights social changes in Hampshire and West Sussex around 100 BC.

Dr. Jeremy Hills, who studied the hoard for the British Museum, talked about the mix of Roman craftsmanship and "Barbarian taste." He said, "I would have liked them to have been made in Britain, but they weren't... They're massive, chunky and showy. No self-respecting Greek or Roman would have worn anything as gaudy."

Experts decided the hoard was not buried with a body. It was also not part of a collection from a settlement or religious place. Instead, it might have been a personal collection. Or it could have been a special offering to gods.

Hills also thought they were "a very expensive gift, a major diplomatic gift." He suggested that the Romans were "winning friends and influencing them" this way. By giving gifts to pro-Roman tribal kings, the Romans could control unrest. This would make the kings "puppet rulers beholden to the superpower of their age."

Who received or gave this "gift" is still a mystery. But it might be connected to Commius. He was a Gaul who became king of the Atrebates. He had worked with Caesar but later fled.

Where to See the Hoard

The Winchester Hoard is now on display in Room 50 of the British Museum in London. It was also part of a special exhibition called Buried Treasure: Finding Our Past. This exhibition ran from November 2003 to November 2005.

The exhibition traveled to other museums. These included the National Museum Cardiff, the Manchester Museum, the Hancock Museum in Newcastle upon Tyne, and the Norwich Castle Museum. Other famous items in the exhibition were the Mildenhall Treasure and the Lewis chessmen.

In September 2003, BBC Two showed a TV documentary about how the hoard was discovered.