Crisis or continuity? The deposition of metalwork in the Roman world: what do coin hoards tell us about Roman Britain in the 3rd century AD?

Hoards of valued materials, particularly coins, are a common, and rapidly growing, class of discovery across the Roman Empire. While these are most commonly seen as having been deposited for safe keeping, other explanations for this activity are also possible. There has been little explicit discussion or research on why Roman coin hoards were buried, why hoards were not recovered in antiquity, or what they tell us when studied as a group. Six hundred hoards are known from Britain containing coins of the period AD 253-96, an unprecedented concentration, and they provide a key and under-used dataset that can shed light on a poorly known period of British archaeology and history.

The British pattern of later 3rd-century hoards differs markedly from the rest of the western Roman empire, despite the political problems that affected Britain at this time being felt equally or more severely in many other European provinces. This anomaly merits detailed investigation and the results will have implications not only for interpretation of this specific hoarding phenomenon, but will contribute significantly to more general debates about hoarding behaviour in antiquity.

Traditionally these hoards have been interpreted as having been buried with the intention of recovery but recent discoveries such as the Frome hoard have suggested the possibility that these hoards may have been ritual (or `votive') deposits. Ritual deposition is a common explanation for prehistoric metalwork, and many, if not all, Iron Age coin hoards. Can we show whether any of the 3rd century hoards were likely to have been ritual deposits and, if so, how many? If so, what are the implications for the use of their contents in studying monetary history or political history?

We propose to ask the following research questions:
1. Why were coin hoards deposited in Roman Britain - and was this for similar reasons as other Iron Age and Roman coin hoards?
2. Why were so many coin hoards deposited (and not recovered) in 3rd-century Britain and is their date of burial the same as the date of their latest coins?
3. What do coin hoards tell us about the economic and political history of 3rd-century Britain?
4. How different or similar are 3rd-century British coin hoards to those from other periods of Roman Britain or other parts of northwestern provinces of the Roman Empire?
5. What wider lessons can be learnt about using coin hoards to understand the economic, political and religious history of the Roman Empire?

The project brings together the expertise of the British Museum in the study of Roman coins and hoards and the academic strengths of the University of Leicester in Roman archaeology and their experience of investigating coin hoards in a landscape setting. The PI, Dr Roger Bland, is Keeper of Portable Antiquities & Treasure at the British Museum and has very extensive experience studying hoards; the CIs are Professors Colin Haselgrove and David Mattingly, leading experts respectively on Iron Age archaeology and coinage and on the archaeology and economy of the Roman Empire. Under their collective guidance and with input from expert colleagues, 3 RAs will study (1) the hoards from Britain and the wider Empire, (2) a landscape study of the hoard findspots and archaeological evidence for Roman Britain in the 3rd century AD; and (3) reasons for the deposition of metalwork in the Iron Age and Roman periods.

The key outputs will include a monograph, at least 5 peer-reviewed articles, 2 conferences (the papers of which will be published), two exhibitions, articles for popular magazines and a web-based hoards database.

The project will build on discoveries made by members of the public and reported through the Portable Antiquities Scheme to provide a comprehensive study of coin hoarding in Britain in the 3rd century AD, set in a wider context, and will also address key wider questions relevant for understanding coin hoards in other periods.

While this research will have considerable interest for and impact on the audiences outlined below, it can also be seen as having 'reverse impact': the impact of discoveries made by members of the public on our understanding of Roman Britain and ancient hoarding. Almost all of the coin hoards to be studied have been found by non professionals, especially metal detector users. Recording and conserving these hoards has involved a considerable investment of time from the staff of the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and museums; time funded by the UK taxpayer and the Lottery. This project will demonstrate the research dividend from such investment, while also seeking to encourage greater use of such information by research students and academics in the future. This research will help answer the questions asked by finders and funders about what these discoveries actually tell us about the past.

We have identified the following groups as those who will most benefit from this research.

1. Professional archaeologists and heritage managers, for whom the main benefits will be:
- the monograph which will provide a definitive study of hoarding in Britain in the later 3rd century AD , the proceedings of the two conferences and the articles in peer-reviewed journals and popular magazines and
- the online database of hoards which will provide a resource available to everyone and which will be kept up to date by the staff of the PAS and BM after the end of the project.

2. Museum curators and education officers:
- Roman coin hoards are acquired and cared for by museums, where they are frequently on public display. For example, the Frome Hoard is a prominent feature of the new Museum of Somerset. This research will provide information to inform how these hoards are displayed in the future and the stories that can be told through such displays, websites and educational material.

3. Metal detector users, local historians and other contributors to the PAS:
- This research will help answer common questions from finders and other members of the public about why coin hoards were buried and what they can tell us about Roman Britain. We will feed back the results of this research through articles in metal detecting magazines and talks to detecting and local history groups by PAS staff.
- We will emphasise to detector users how much more information can be gained if they do not try to dig hoards out of the ground themselves but allow archaeologists to excavate them.

4. Wider public audiences interested in British archaeology and history:
- There is a wide demonstrable interest across different groups in the Roman Britain, as can be seen in the viewing figures for relevant TV programmes, and the attendance at lectures, study days etc. and sales of books. The discovery of Roman coin hoards frequently attracts press coverage and much local interest - for example, the popular book on the Frome Hoard helped raise money for its acquisition.

5. The British Museum and Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS):
- Sustaining its partnership with the University of Leicester will contribute to the Museum's strategic aim of extending its research profile;
- A key part of the Museum's research plan and the aims of the PAS is to develop its research on PAS and Treasure;
- An exhibition of Roman coin hoards will be mounted in the BM and the project will also be featured in a BM touring exhibition.

6. The University of Leicester:
- Will benefit from the sharing of data and expertise with the British Museum and PAS;
- The School of Archaeology & Ancient History at Leicester has the largest group of staff specialising in Roman archaeology of any UK department, whilst three staff have particular expertise in ancient coinage and this project is of direct relevance to their academic interests;
- This project will also help the University develop its existing expertise in investigating of coin hoards in a landscape setting.