2012-10-12 — /travelprnews.com/ — A Late Bronze Age hoard has been uncovered in a field in the Parish of Trinity, Jersey just months after the biggest Celtic coin hoard of all time was unearthed in the Island.
It is thought that the find is a Late Bronze Age pottery vessel (around 1000 BC) containing what appear to be weapons and tools. At present, two socketed axe heads have been identified but it is not yet confirmed what else is contained within the vessel.
Curator of Archaeology at Jersey Museum, Olga Finch said, ‘For there to have been two archaeologically important finds in the space of just a few months illustrates the extent of Jersey’s rich cultural heritage and how significant the Island’s archaeology is. There has been a number of Late Bronze Age hoards found in Jersey already, some of which have been founder’s hoards which would have been recovered and melted down into metal. We are lucky in that this particular find appears to be mostly intact, which makes it quite rare and should help us to learn more about why the find was buried.’
The find was discovered by Ken Rive from the Jersey Metal Detecting Society who, believing he had found something significant, contacted Jersey Heritage and the Société Jersiaise. Ken came across the exposed axe heads and quickly realized they were contained within a pottery vessel.
The hoard is being excavated by Jersey Heritage staff, Olga Finch (Curator of Archaeology) and Neil Mahrer (Conservator), Robert Waterhouse of the Société Jersiaise, and Ken, the finder. Yesterday (Tuesday), the vessel was being excavated in the trench to find out more about how it was buried before being taken up in one piece. It will now be opened up in the lab in order that the contents can be fully analysed and identified. The top part of the hoard has been damaged by a plough but it is not yet understood the extent of this damage.
The find comes just a few months after an Iron Age hoard containing around 70,000 coins and weighing approximately 3/ 4 of a ton was uncovered in the Parish of Grouville.
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