Small Bronze Age hoard in Wales
In June 2011 Kevin Sawyer was sweeping a small field with his metal detector when he found a hoard of 13 bronze items. This was reported to Amgueddfa Cymru, the National Museum Wales, then passed on to archaeologists working for the Portable Antiquities Scheme in Wales. Sawyer led the archaeologists back to the find area so that they could contextualise the artefacts and make a full survey.
What he had found included fragments of a bronze bracelet, spearhead and socketed axe, among other small pieces.
As the items were buried together in a small pit, they were considered to be a hoard, and the fact that they are all made of the same material but are fragments suggests that they were kept for their intrinsic value. While the bracelet and the spearhead both contribute valuable information to typologies of Bronze Age style and help further reconstruct a picture of the material possessions of this period, the 'scrap' items are also valuable.
Adam Gwilt, Curator of the Bronze Age Collections at Amgueddfa Cymru, commented: 'The raw materials and casting by-products also within the hoard add to our wider picture of bronze casting towards the end of the Bronze Age.' Dated to around 800-1000 BC, the hoard has been declared to be treasure by the HM Coroner for Carmarthenshire. While 'treasure' is usually thought of in relation to precious metals, the Treasure Act of 1996 (revised 2002) also states that if two or more pieces of base metal, of prehistoric date, are found buried in direct association, then this also constitutes treasure.
The hoard is currently undergoing an independent valuation process which, it is hoped, will also help relate the find to others from the Late Bronze Age in West Wales. Carmarthenshire County Museum has already expressed interest in acquiring the hoard following valuation and hopes that it will remain in the area so that the local community will have access to it.
Geoff Lowsley