Research Issues in the Later Prehistory of the West Midlands

West Midlands Regional Research Framework for Archaeology, Seminar 2: Bolton 5

The Potential of the Portable Antiquities Scheme and Treasure Finds for Understanding the Iron Age in the West Midlands

Angie Bolton

Finds Liaison Officer, West Midlands Portable Antiquities Scheme, Dept. Of Antiquities, City Museum & Art Gallery, Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, B3 3DH

Introduction

This paper is going to use the material culture recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme to discuss how this material can contribute and further our understanding of the archaeological record in the West Midlands. The material culture discussed has all been discovered by metal detectorists and some items have been reported under the Treasure Act.

The Portable Antiquities Scheme will be briefly described; however, the focus of the paper will be on the Iron Age coins and artefacts.

Portable Antiquities Scheme in the West Midlands

The Portable Antiquities Scheme initially emerged from the discussion document Portable Antiquities, commissioned by the Department of National Heritage in 1995. From this document it was realised a vast number of archaeological chance finds, discovered by the general public, were going unreported. The Portable Antiquities Scheme started as a pilot scheme in September 1997 with six Finds Liaison Officers, the West Midlands being one of the schemes. In the Spring of 1999 a further five schemes were established.

The main aim of the Portable Antiquities Scheme is to advance our knowledge of the history and archaeology of England and Wales. The success of this aim can be illustrated through the quantity and quality of the finds recorded by the Finds Liaison Officers.

Existing Perception of the Region’s Iron Age Metalwork

The common perception of the West Midlands’ Iron Age, through its metalwork, is that there are relatively few examples of fine metalwork and few coins discovered, with the exception of the Severn Valley. Whilst looking into this paper and researching individual types of finds, various distribution maps of artefacts types were seen, for example the distribution map of Strap Unions composed by Taylor and Brailesford, or the study of tankard handles by Corcoran.

These distribution maps suggest that the West Midlands is poor and, dare it be suggested, a marginal region compared to other regions? Is this due to a lack of detailed research into the metalwork, due to the large areas of conurbations and types of land use disguising the true picture of our region, or is it in fact a marginal region? Does the Portable Antiquities material support the marginal view?

The Material Culture Recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme

The immediate impact of the Portable Antiquities Scheme is improving our knowledge of the Iron Age through the material being recorded in the West Midlands. This impact can be measured by comparing the number of finds recorded by the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Worcester City Museum and Art Gallery, Worcestershire County Museum, Warwickshire and the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery during the five years prior to the scheme with the number of finds recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme in its first five years. (Graph 1) The museums had only recorded 21 finds; the Portable Antiquities Scheme recorded 98 finds.

Coins

Of the 98 finds recorded, there are 42 coins of various denominations. All of these coins are published in the British Numismatics Journal and the details sent to the Celtic Coin Index.

Map 1 illustrates the distribution of coin findspots that have been recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Finders often come forward with gold and silver coins, as they are immediately recognisable and considered to be important to record, particularly within the metal detecting community, who have long since been encouraged to provide information to the Celtic Coin Index. In comparison to the bronze and de-based silver coins, the gold and silver are also more easily identifiable. However, due to their desirability on the market, is this an optimistic view of recording practices? Instead, many of the coins may be sold to dealers without being recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme, but are perhaps only recorded by the Celtic Coin Index.

These coins are likely to be either individual chance losses or votive offerings. All of the coins recorded have been discovered in the plough soil by metal detectorists. However the recording of these coins is invaluable. For example, the detailed study can suggest trading routes between different regions, and the study of die-links and typologies can further define subtleties within the typology series of a region. In the West Midlands there are continuing research opportunities in this field to improve our understanding.

The Portable Antiquities Scheme is providing the raw data from which further research can be pursued. However, this raw data is only provided on a voluntary basis and is, therefore, dependent upon the relationship between the Finds Liaison Officer and the metal detectorists. The Finds Liaison Officer attends the metal detecting clubs at Redditch, Kidderminster and Tamworth monthly, and 69% of the coins recorded have been discovered by members of these three clubs.

In the West Midlands, excluding Herefordshire and Shropshire, there are approximately four other metal detecting clubs in the region, therefore the potential to further contribute information is extremely high. This number of clubs does not include the clubs outside the region, for example Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, who detect in Warwickshire and Worcestershire, or the club at Hinckley, Leicestershire, who detect in Warwickshire.

Unfortunately, retrieving numismatics and metal work information from the Sites and Monuments Record Office is not straightforward. The SMR Officer has often had to prioritise the level of information which comprises the digital dataset of the SMR, for example a description of a site with the reference for the site report. It is likely to be the site report which has the details of the numismatics.

This manual search of site reports is time-consuming and inefficient for the interrogator of the SMR. This is no reflection on the SMR Officers, they themselves acknowledge this shortfall in the system. Perhaps as part of the research framework, consideration of additional funding for SMRs to provide this micro level of data should be discussed.

Metalwork

Firstly, I would like to compare the types of metalwork recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme in the West Midlands to that of the other schemes. There are interesting variations in the quantity of various types of artefacts found in the different regions, and the West Midlands certainly is not a poor or marginal region. For example in the West Midlands and Hampshire the occurrence of lynch pin terminals outnumbers that of terrets by 3:1. Whereas in the North Lincolnshire scheme 13 terrets and 20 other harness related artefacts have been recorded, but no lynch pin terminals. This pattern is similar in the North West, Yorkshire and Welsh schemes, where very few lynch pin terminals have been recorded (Worrell, forthcoming). These statistics are difficult to interpret directly; however, they suggest a great potential for this data to reveal regional variations in the use of artefacts and their deposition.

The West Midlands Portable Antiquities Scheme has recorded similar quantities of Iron Age artefacts to those of the other schemes, illustrating, again, that the region is not a poor or marginal region in relation to its Iron Age metalwork. J.D. Hill comments that, in his opinion,“this is the most significant contribution the Portable Antiquities Scheme has so far made to the study of the Iron Age.”

Miniature Shield

These are incredibly rare items, and were virtually unknown until the Salisbury Hoard. There are perhaps six or seven findspots now across the country; two of these are recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme and, more importantly, one of those is from Warwickshire. This was discovered by a metal detectorist in the area of Oversely Castle, Warwickshire, from within the plough soil.

The shield may give us an insight into the site or place of activity from where it was recovered by comparing it to excavated examples – only three findspots provided precise contexts. These examples suggest ritual deposition. Also, the shield has a contribution to make in the study of full-size shields, which may not have survived in the archaeological record due to the material they were composed of.

Strap Unions

The West Midlands Scheme has recorded two strap unions of the Iron Age. One in particular is an unusual design for a strap union, using curvilinear trumpets and bulbous knops. On one edge there is a break which occurred in antiquity. It is debatable whether this was by accident or design. However the union has since been broken into three fragments by the plough. The finder discovered the three fragments over three consecutive years from within the plough soil.

The strap union may not contribute certainties about the site or place of activity from which it came, but it has highlighted the findspot, and the artefact can be studied to suggest cultural associations through its style and typology. This strap union will also contribute information to the SMR, which has only recorded a medieval spearhead and prehistoric linear crop marks in this area.

Other types of Iron Age finds include a tankard handle, brooches, button-loop fastenings and toggles. All of these finds can contribute to our understanding of the Iron Age in the West Midlands, and in particular to the material culture. It is essential for us to view metalwork and coin distributions, and the implied related activity, as important aspects of the cultural landscape, just as cropmarks, pot scatters, and earthworks are for example. However, this activity is likely to be invisible through other archaeological means, such as aerial photographs or fieldwalking exercises.

Distribution of finds

The distribution of Iron Age material can be viewed in many ways, but should be viewed with caution, as with all distribution plots. The artefacts and coins do suggest Iron Age activity in certain areas, and those coins and artefacts can contribute significantly to numismatic studies and artefact research as well as compliment excavated work. However, the distribution of these items more accurately tell us where metal detectorists are working who are in favour of recording their finds. South Worcestershire has a high density of Dubonnic coins recorded on the SMR and through the Portable Antiquities Scheme, and this mainly is due to a diligent and responsible detectorist who has permission to detect on large areas of land in South Worcestershire and who records all his finds. If this detectorist detected in South Warwickshire, would the existing distribution of coins be altered?

Another influence on the distribution of coins and artefacts recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme is land use. Metal detectorists mainly detect on ploughed land, rather than pasture and woodland. North Worcestershire has a higher proportion of woodland than South Worcestershire, therefore providing another possible contribution to a skewed view of the distribution of material.

The influence of the Finds Liaison Officer has already been commented upon when discussing the distribution of coins.

Conclusion

The Portable Antiquities Scheme is an important tool in the increased knowledge and thereby understanding of the archaeology of the West Midlands. The Iron Age has been taken as a case study here to illustrate the potential contribution of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, and to also demonstrate the wealth of material culture from the Iron Age in our region. As more objects are recorded we can start to ask more questions of the Portable Antiquities Scheme finds concerning the Iron Age society in our region and compare it to other regions. There are problems and biases, for example in relation to the distribution patterns, but also, for example why are there very few weapons, shields and other Iron Age material finds from the River Severn compared to major rivers in eastern England or on the Continent? Is this real or a product of lack of dredging, for example, on the river?

The Portable Antiquities Scheme is able to enhance SMRs with information on what previously were blank areas, and also compliment the SMR with further details of known sites. Comment has been made concerning the suggestion of additional funding to enhance SMRs in relation to small finds. This is an important aspect of the SMR, which will support the development of research of material culture in the region.

The Portable Antiquities Scheme will become a national scheme in April 2003, thereby covering Herefordshire and Shropshire, and two other Finds Liaison Officers will be working in the region. The potential for the quality and quantity of the information in the future is, therefore, considerable. Further development of relations between Finds Liaison Officers and metal detectorists is essential – metal detectorists will continue to detect whether a Finds Liaison Officer is in post or not. We need to harness, direct and educate metal detectorists in best practice that will enhance the archaeological record, and not damage it.

To finish – if the West Midlands has produced as many Portable Antiquities recorded as Iron Age artefacts as most other regions of England, what does that tell us about the relative wealth and importance of the region in national terms? Here we must remember that the West Midlands has one of only two concentrations of gold torcs. These four torcs from our region are poorly understood, but are comparable to the concentrations of torcs of similar date in northeast Norfolk, around Snettisham. What implications do these have for understanding the Iron Age of the West Midlands? Will Staffordshire produce its own site as rich as Snettisham in the future? How will the Portable Antiquities Scheme further contribute to our knowledge and understanding of archaeology in the Iron Age period?

Acknowledgements

Many people helped to write this paper and gave advice, information, and encouragement. Thank you.