The largest
The Isleham Hoard is by far the largest Bronze Age hoard ever discovered in England and contains over 6500 items packed into a huge ceramic jug. As you might expect, there are swords, spearheads, arrows, axes, palstaves, knives, daggers, armor, decorative horse equipment, and many fragments of sheet bronze. The only thing that is missing is a really good image of it all!
One that is a bit woolly
Bronze Age treasures contain more than just bronze artifacts. Several Scottish hoardings from this period also contain more exotic materials such as Irish gold, Yorkshire eiderdown and even Baltic amber, indicating that they had contact with relatively remote locations. The most interesting thing about the St. Andrews Hoard, however, is not its exotic contents, but the extremely good preservation conditions that have allowed archaeologists to recover rare pieces of textiles and organic materials, including leather, yarn, thread, wood, and tusk. They even found a piece of Bronze Age wool woven into a tabby. It’s so rare that it’s one of only three such pieces ever found!
One that is really early
The Migdale treasure dates back to the time when bronze was first made in the British Isles. It includes a bronze axe, but like the St. Andrews Hoard, it also contains several more fascinating items; several bronze hair ornaments, a pair of bronze bracelets or anklets, and several pieces of elaborate female headgear. Although the headdress is quite fragmented, it is very similar to some from central Northern Europe, with bronze bands, small bronze cones, and some bronze beads with wooden cores. But the most fascinating thing is that the hoard contains several buttons from the Early Bronze Age!
The most continental one
If the St. Andrews and Migdale treasures left you in any doubt, the Neath Lewis treasure makes it really obvious that from Britain to the Baltic Peninsula and the Iberian Peninsula, Bronze Age people were very closely connected. Similar to the Isleham Hoard, this hoard was found inside an earthenware vessel and is filled with over 79 objects, including 3 bronze palstaves, 5 bronze bracelets, an elaborate necklace, 8 bronze rings, 4 bronze tutus (also known as Monkswood jewelry), 4 gold discs, 1 bronze pin, 19 amber beads, and 4 bronze torques. Some items (such as the palsta axes) were widespread in Southern England, but others (such as the Sussex Loop bracelets shown here) are local to Brighton.
The one that is most ritualistic
Treasures were not always buried in one go, some accumulated over time in what archaeologists call “deposition sites,” where rituals and memorials were carried out over centuries, if not millennia. The Feng flag is perhaps the most famous. Approximately 3500 years ago, people built a 1 km long wooden road across a vast area of marshland. Constructed of approximately 60,000 upright trees, it stretches across the marshy area between Fengate Island and Northie Island, where several barrows have been discovered, including swords, spearheads, daggers, pins, rings, brooches, and gold earrings, as well as a collection of cutters, punchers, and awls that may represent an individual craftsman’s toolkit.
The one stuffed with gold
The hoard contains a faceted axe, a sharp knife, and four pieces of a gold bracelet. Made of gold of Irish origin, the parts of the bracelet were discovered only when conservators examined the inside of the axe. The intentional disabling of axes by clogging their sockets with small fragments is a phenomenon that has been observed in Britain (at least 60 examples have been identified) and Europe.
The one that smells the sweetest
Bronze Age treasures are found all over the country, right? Well, until recently, hardly any were found in Northwest England. This was one of the first. It may only contain 16 objects, but what counts is what’s inside! In addition to axes, blades, spearheads and bracelets, this treasure contained something even more impressive… Yes, from inside one of the axe handles, conservators pulled out a perfectly preserved Bronze Age flower! Analysts now believe that it is most likely a tawny flower, a strongly scented flower that can be used to make medicines and create a pleasant odor in rooms. You can see the entire collection in our virtual museum.