A spectacular hoard of Iron Age metalwork—over 800 pieces including ornate cauldrons, elegantly decorated harness for at least 14 ponies and 28 iron chariot tyres—has been safely removed from a site at Melsonby in Yorkshire. Dating back some 2,000 years, the hoard is one of the largest and most significant finds in the UK from the period, and regarded as of international importance.
The pieces were deliberately buried, probably in the first century of the Roman conquest of southern England. Luxury objects such as wine mixing bowls and imports including Mediterranean coral used in decoration suggest a wealthy and sophisticated elite with close links to the continent.
Professor Tom Moore, head of the Department of Archaeology at Durham University, where the pieces are now being conserved and studied, said: “The Melsonby Hoard is of a scale and size that is exceptional for Britain and probably even Europe.”
The hoard was discovered on farm land by the metal detectorist Peter Heads in December 2021, and reported to the British Museum. It has been valued at £254,000, which will be shared between Heads, landowner and the Yorkshire Museum, which is launching a fund raising drive to acquire and display the entire collection.
Duncan Wilson, the outgoing chief executive of Historic England, which gave £120,000 to fund the excavation, said: “Any member of the public viewing these new discoveries will feel a real sense of excitement and wonder.”
The location is significant, close to the site of a hoard of Iron Age bronze found in the 1840s, which is now in the British Museum. That hoard, which also included a wealth of horse harnesses, was poorly recorded. However this present find has been meticulously excavated, with some pieces lifted and x-rayed still in blocks of soil so their exact relationship and placing can be studied.
The site is also close to the huge Iron Age hill fort known as Stanwick Camp, which produced spectacular finds when it was excavated in the 1950s by Mortimer Wheeler. Sophia Adams, curator of first millennium collections at the British Museum, said the quality and range of the latest find will cast new light on 19th and 20th century collections at the museum.
The Melsonby hoard, which is the largest single collection of horse harness and vehicle parts found in the UK, includes the partial remains of four wheeled or two wheeled wagons and chariots, scores of pieces of pony harness, three ceremonial spears, and a lidded cauldron probably used for mixing wine which was found buried at the bottom of a deep ditch. Some of the pieces are decorated with coloured glass and coral. Many, including the iron tyre, were deliberately bent, broken or burned, marking them as offerings rather than concealed for re-use.
Professor Moore said the pieces decorated in both Mediterranean and Iron Age styles suggested a network of elites across Britain, into Europe and the Roman world. “The destruction of so many high-status objects, evident in this hoard, is also of a scale rarely seen in Iron Age Britain and demonstrates that the elites of northern Britain were just as powerful as their southern counterparts.”
Heritage Minister Sir Chris Bryant called the Melsonby Hoard an extraordinary find, “which will help us to better understand the fabric of our nation’s history.”
The hoard was excavated in 2022 by a team of archaeologists from Durham University with advice from the British Museum. Research continues at Durham which should reveal more about how and why people buried such wealth.
