NHER 60462 (Monument record) - Roman hoard of pottery and metal tools and objects

May-July 2015. Metal-detecting.
Finds previously recorded under this number is now recorded under NHER 63130.
A. Beckham (HES), 6 November 2015.

September 2015. Excavation. [1].

On 27th September 2015, a metal-detectorist uncovered the top of an artefact assemblage while detecting this area. A site visit was undertaken by [2] the following day, and confirmed the presence of a Roman hoard. On the 29th September 2015 a controlled excavation was carrried out by the finder and professional archaeologists in order to understand the context of the hoard recover and the objects before the assemblage suffered plough damage.
The excavation recovered a Late Roman hoard consisting of pottery and metal objects. The pottery included 12 complete or near-incomplete vessels produced in a variety of wares. The metal objects included a variety of iron tools including a pitchfork, spade, L-clamp, mattock, axe, sickle, and a rare farrier's butteris, as well as other copper alloy and pewter objects. A worn copper alloy coin of the House of Valentinian was the only numismatic recovered. [2] has suggested the hoard was deposited very late in the Roman period, and that a variety of activities are suggested by the tools present (S19).

The following finds were recovered during the excavation, and are numbered according to the corresponding Portable Antiquites Scheme record:

1. Fine ware flagon (S15).
2. Nene Valley globular beaker (S15).
3. Brampton-type greyware globular narrow-mouthed jar (S16).
4. Oxfordshire-type greyware narrow-mouthed flask (S16).
5. Lead alloy steelyard weight with iron suspension loop.
6. Copper alloy pan or patera with part of an iron replacement handle secured with two rivets (S9).
7, 8, 9, and 13. South Midlands shell-tempered ware bead and flanged bowl (S17).
10a. Nene Valley greyware dish (S16).
10b. Brampton-type greyware globular narrow-mouthed jar (S16).
11 and 14b. South Midlands shell-tempered ware jar (S15).
12. Brampton-type greyware globular wide-mouthed jar (S16). This vessel contained 1 pottery sherd and calcined bone fragments within. The bone could not be identified as either animal or human [3].
14a. Brampton-type greyware globular jar (S15).
15a/15b. Oxfordshire white slipped type mortarium (S18).
16a. Two-pronged iron pitchfork (S11).
16b. Iron hinge bar with fixing holes (S8) and (SZ).
16c and 16k. Incomplete iron spade sheath and fragment (S6).
16d. Lead plano-convex weight (S14).
16e. Iron butteris with elaborate anthropomorphic socketed copper alloy handle. Butterises were used by farriers to prepare horse's hooves before shoeing.
16f. Unidentified copper alloy sheet object (S20).
16g. Lead plano-convex weight half (S12).
16h. Incomplete iron L-clamp (S3).
16i. Copper alloy skillet or patera handle (S7).
16j. Iron mattock or combination axe-adze (S5).
16l. Iron axe (S4).
16m Pewter object fragments.
16n. Iron sickle.
16o. Iron adjustable cauldron hanger (S10).
17. 1 Roman coin. A nummus of the House of Valentinian.
18. Lead alloy plano-convex cake (S13).
Other: 23 pottery sherds including 1 Samian ware sherd.

Information from PAS import and (S19).
E. McDonald (HES), 19 April 2021.