'Multi-period' Hoards from the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age in Southern Britain
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 2019-04-20

Full title: 'Multi-period' Hoards from the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age in Southern Britain: Interpreting patterns and contextualising deposition

The recently discovered Vale of Wardour hoard, excavated under archaeological conditions, has invigorated a debate on 'multi-period' hoards in later prehistory. These often astonishing collections of objects, sometimes comprising metalwork from five or six distinct archaeological periods, have previously been under-studied and either not trusted as true depositions due to their legitimacy of or seen as anomalous and ignored. However, recent research has highlighted the potential that these hoards have in further understanding later prehistoric societies. This paper compares 'multi-period' hoards that appear to have been deposited in the late Bronze Age and Iron Age, and demonstrates patterns that can be used to interpret the processes behind the collection and deposition of these already ancient objects. Examples from other aspects of the late Bronze Age and Iron Age archaeology of southern Britain will be used to help contextualise and interpret 'multi-period' hoards. 

Alex Davies (Oxford Archaeology)