The PI for our project, Ellen Swift, has recently published an article presenting the key findings of her study of the objects from the Thetford treasure.
The treasure was found in the late 1970s by a metal detectorist and consists of 81 objects including 36 silver spoons or strainers, 22 gold finger-rings and other jewellery. Since no coins were found with the hoard, there was no obvious terminus post quem. In their study of the treasure, Catherine Johns and Timothy Potter (1983) concluded that the hoard was probably buried in the late fourth century (ca. 380s-390s CE). The treasure is currently on display in the Roman Gallery (Gallery 49) at the British Museum and remains a valuable resource for understanding society in late Roman Britain.
In her study, Ellen carefully re-examined the objects from Thetford and compared them with other known finds from Britain and Europe. Several objects from the treasure were thoughts to have designs with no close parallels but Ellen has found many well-dated comparative examples from grave and hoard finds in Europe. Crucially, her research has shown that some of the finger-rings and spoons could not have been made until the fifth century meaning that the hoard was buried much later than the currently accepted date.
A number of the spoons have inscriptions dedicating them to the pagan god Faunus, and so the revised burial date for the hoard importantly suggests the survival of a pagan cult centre at Thetford into the early fifth century. Religious sites like this, which were clearly wealthy and powerful, to judge by the value and variety of objects present in the treasure, probably wielded a great amount of influence in their region within post-Roman society, filling the power vacuum left by the collapse of Roman government in Britain.
Ellen’s research has drawn into question many of the long-held assumptions of this key transition period and we are aiming to build on this from our reassessment of other late Roman hoards. You can read Ellen’s full article for free here. There is also a feature on Ellen’s research in this month’s Current Archaeology magazine.
References:
Catherine Johns and Timothy Potter, The Thetford Treasure: Roman Jewellery and Silver (British Museum: London, 1983)
Ellen Swift, ‘Rethinking the date and interpretation of the Thetford treasure: a 5th-c hoard of gold jewellery and silver spoons’, Journal of Roman Archaeology 37:2 (2024), pp. 409-448.