Friday 31 October 2008

"A stratigraphical relationship could not be established"

I have been reading the report (compiled by Richard Abdy and Richard Hobbs, both of the British Museum) on the Newport Pagnell coin hoard that was discovered on December 1, 2006. It consisted of 1456 coins mostly dating to the 340s and 350s CE. The coins had been placed in a "squat coarseware storage jar".

Apparently the coin hoard had been "deposited on the same spot as a Roman rubbish pit or midden". The report continues: "due to the fact that the find had already been removed prior to investigation a stratigraphical relationship could not be established". In other words the precise archaeological context for the hoard had been lost during its removal in the dark of a December evening.

Other material noted in the report include brick, tile and mortaria fragments suggesting that this hoard has not an isolated find.

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