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Metal detectorist unearths 'nationally significant' Bronze Age hoard in Scotland

Stepien with the sword and objects found at the site he discovered. (Crown Office Communications/PA Wire)
Mariusz Stepien with the sword and objects he discovered at the site. (Crown Office Communications/PA Wire)

A “nationally significant” hoard of Bronze Age artefacts have been found by a metal detectorist.

Mariusz Stepien, 44, came across a bronze object buried about half a metre underground in June and protected it from the elements while archaeologists spent 22 days investigating the area.

They found a complete horse harness, preserved by soil, and a sword dated to between 1000 and 900 BC in the field, near Peebles in the Scottish Borders.

Mariusz Stepien at the excavation near Peebles, after he found objects believed to be decorative and functional pieces of a Bronze Age harness. (Crown Office Communications/PA Wire)
Mariusz Stepien at the excavation near Peebles, after he found objects believed to be decorative and functional pieces of a Bronze Age harness. (Crown Office Communications/PA Wire)
Embargoed to 0001 Monday August 10 Undated handout photo of Crown Office Communications of objects found by metal detectorist Mariusz Stepien, in the Scottish Borders, which are believed to be decorative and functional pieces of a Bronze Age harness.
Parts believed to be decorative and functional pieces of a Bronze Age harness. (Crown Office Communications/PA Wire)

Decorated straps, buckles, rings, ornaments and chariot wheel axle caps were among the items, as was a “rattle pendant” from the harness.

It is the first such pendant to be found in Scotland and only the third in the UK.

Emily Freeman, head of the Treasure Trove Unit, which oversaw the recovery of the artefacts, said: “This is a nationally significant find – so few Bronze Age hoards have been excavated in Scotland.

“It was an amazing opportunity for us to not only recover bronze artefacts, but organic material as well.

A sword in its scabbard found during the dig. (Crown Office Communications/PA Wire)
A sword in its scabbard found during the dig. (Crown Office Communications/PA Wire)

“There is still a lot of work to be done to assess the artefacts and understand why they were deposited.”

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Stepien contacted the unit after he found the items, and the trove has been moved from the site in a large block of soil and taken to the National Museums Collection Centre in Edinburgh.

He said: “I thought ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before’ and felt from the very beginning that this might be something spectacular and I’ve just discovered a big part of Scottish history.

“I was over the moon, actually shaking with happiness.

“We wanted to be a part of the excavation from the beginning to the end.

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Embargoed to 0001 Monday August 10  Undated handout photo of Crown Office Communications of the hoard, an archaeologist working at the site near Peebles, after metal detectorist Mariusz Stepien found objects, in the Scottish Borders, which are believed to be decorative and functional pieces of a Bronze Age harness. PA Photo. Issue date: Monday August 10, 2020. Mariusz Stepien was searching a field near Peebles with friends on June 21 when he found a bronze object buried half a metre underground. The group camped in the field and built a shelter to protect the find from the elements while archaeologists spent 22 days investigating. See PA story HERITAGE Bronze. Photo credit should read: Crown Office Communications/PA Wire  NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
An archaeologist working at the site after metal detectorist Mariusz Stepien found the objects. (Crown Office Communications/PA Wire)
Mariusz Stepien stands next to the hoard ready for transport back to Edinburgh. (Crown Office Communications/PA Wire)
Mariusz Stepien stands next to the hoard, ready for transport back to Edinburgh. (Crown Office Communications/PA Wire)

“I will never forget those 22 days spent in the field. Every day there were new objects coming out which changed the context of the find, every day we learned something new.

“I’m so pleased that the earth revealed to me something that was hidden for more than 3,000 years. I still can’t believe it happened.”

Freeman added: “We could not have achieved this without the responsible actions of the finder or the support of the landowners.

“The finder was quick to action when they realised that they had found an in-situ hoard, which resulted in the Treasure Trove Unit and National Museums Scotland being on site within days of discovery.”

Treasure hunting has risen in popularity in recent years, a shift some put down to the success of shows such as BBC comedy The Detectorists, starring Mackenzie Crook and Toby Jones.

More significant treasure discoveries in Britain

The Staffordshire Hoard

This is the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver ever to be discovered, the trove’s own website states.

It is made up of fine objects that required a “very high level of craft skills” to make, the site says.

The hoard’s items would have belonged to Anglo-Saxon kings and princes, their households and warrior retinues.

Part of a recently discovered hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold is displayed at Birmingham Museum in Birmingham, England Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009.  Amateur treasure hunter Terry Herbert was prowling English farmland in Staffordshire, England, with a metal detector when he stumbled upon what has been described as the largest Anglo-Saxon treasure ever discovered, a massive collection of gold and silver crosses, sword decorations and other items, British archaeologists said Thursday.  One expert said the treasure would revolutionize understanding of the Anglo-Saxons, a Germanic people who ruled England from the fifth century until the Norman conquest in 1066. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Part of the Anglo-Saxon gold displayed at Birmingham Museum. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Religious and animal artefacts, weapon parts and decorative items are among the almost 4,600 individual items and fragments discovered.

They were found near Hammerwich, a village near Lichfield in Staffordshire, in July 2009 by detectorist Terry Herbert.

The amount contains a combined 4g of gold, more than 1.5kg kilos of silver and thousands of garnets.

“There is nothing comparable in terms of content and quantity in the UK or Europe,” the website adds.

The Vale of York Hoard

Valued at £1m, this was found by David and Andrew Whelan, two metal detectorists, in North Yorkshire in 2007.

The Yorkshire Museum describes the find as “remarkable” due to its size and quality, “making it the most important find of its type in Britain for over 150 years”.

A gilt silver vessel from the Vale of York viking hoard is displayed at a press conference to unveil the newly conserved hoard at the British Museum in central London, on August 27, 2009. Worth GBP 1.1m (dollars 1.8m or euro 1.3m) the items will be displayed equally between joint-owners York Museums Trust (York) and the British Museum. AFP PHOTO/Leon Neal (Photo credit should read Leon Neal/AFP via Getty Images)
A gilt silver vessel from the Vale of York Viking hoard. (Leon Neal/AFP via Getty Images)

The Viking Age treasure contains 67 objects including ornaments, ingots and fragments called hack silver, as well as 617 coins.

Some of the objects come from as far as Afghanistan, as well as Europe.

Among the items is a silver coin, a dirham that was struck at Samarkand in what is now Uzbekistan, a city that sat on the Silk Road trading route.

The coin was traded up the rivers into Russia, then Scandinavia, until it made its way to Yorkshire, the museum added.

The Hoxne Hoard

The Hoxne Hoard is the richest Roman treasure find in Britain, according to the British Museum.

Several precious objects were found in Suffolk in 1992, alongside about 15,000 coins.

'Empress' pepper pot from the Hoxne hoard, Roman Britain, buried in the 5th century. The pepper pot is in the form of a silver bust of an Imperial lady of the late-Roman period. Found in Hoxne, Suffolk in 1992, it contained jewellery and a variety of precious tableware, buried for safety around the time of the Roman withdrawal from Britain. The Hoxne hoard is the richest find of treasure from Roman Britain. From the British Museum's collection (Photo by CM Dixon/Print Collector/Getty Images)
The 'Empress' pepper pot from the Hoxne Hoard. (CM Dixon/Print Collector/Getty Images)

They were buried for safety as the Romans’ control on Britain was being lost, the British Museum said.

It was found by Eric Lawes, reportedly after he went looking for a lost hammer.

Among its treasures is a silver pepper pot that depicts a woman and dates to between 300 and 400 AD.

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