The report contains details of 240 new cases reported during 2002 of which 104 have, or are being, acquired by museums across the country.
Estelle Morris said:
"Everyone's excited by the idea of buried treasure. It also provides a unique insight into our history, and it is good that the number of finds being reported is increasing rapidly and may reach around 500 by the end of this year, representing almost a 100 per cent increase on 2002. This rise is testament to the effectiveness of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, the expansion of which last year led to an average five fold increase in the reporting of Treasure.
"Metal-detector users are responsible for the great majority of Treasure finds. I am pleased to see how present arrangements are encouraging both them and archaeologists alike to co-operate on identifying and recording finds ensuring that important information about our heritage is not lost."
The Treasure report is being launched today alongside the report of the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) 2003/04, the country's largest community archaeology project, which was set up to record objects found by members of the public. Many of the items listed in the Treasure report were discovered by the public and reported to the Scheme's national network of Finds Liaison officers.
Mark Wood, Chair of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council which manages the Scheme said:
"We've all dreamed of uncovering hidden history, from ancient deeds in our attics to Saxon gold in our gardens. Between them, the Treasure report and the Portable Antiquities Scheme report, which covers all 47,000 items found by the public last year, provide a comprehensive record of the public's most recent discoveries – from the everyday to the truly extraordinary."
Neil Macgregor, Director of the British Museum said:
"I welcome the publication of the Treasure Report which highlights the work that the British Museum, together with the National Museums & Galleries of Wales and other partners around the country, carries out in advising regional museums on the acquisition of Treasure. This is a substantial and growing area of our work as the number of Treasure cases continues to increase through the work of the Portable Antiquities Scheme and is highlighted by the Buried Treasure exhibition which has already been seen by 80,000 people in London and Cardiff and is currently on tour around the country."
Among other developments the Treasure report notes that:
- There have been particularly dramatic increases in the reporting of finds where PAS Finds Liaison Officers (FLOs) have recently been established. For example, in Lancashire there has been a fifteen-fold increase since the FLO was appointed and in Sussex thirteen-fold;
- There has been an increasing tendency for Treasure finds to be donated to museums;
- The Headley Trust, funded by the Sainsbury family, together with the V&A/MLA Purchase Grant Fund, has established a new fund to enable regional museums to acquire Treasure.
Items reported include:
- The contents of two early 2nd century burials in Wheathampstead, among the richest of their type found in Britain in recent years and containing a range of interesting and unexpected objects including bronze flagons, a set of hunting arrows and two Romano - British silver brooches. The finds were acquired by the Verulamium Museum in St Albans
- A hoard of 26 Roman gold and silver objects of around the later 3rd or 4th centuries AD, and found in the Baldock area in Hertfordshire. The find included a statuette, 19 votive plaques and jewellery. Votive plaques were intended for dedication, at a temple or shrine, to one or more gods or goddesses
- A medieval gold finger-ring from the late 15th or early 16th century and found in Sleaford, Lincolnshire. The hoop of the ring is engraved with five different scenes representing saints or scenes from the New Testament
- A hoard of Anglo-Saxon and Norman pennies found in the Abergavenny area of Monmouthshire, Wales.
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Notes to Editors
1. Photographs of all four finds mentioned above can be downloaded free of charge from PA Picselect. Please go to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport folder situated within the Arts section of Picselect either at
www.papicselect.com or through PA's bulletin board.
2. The Treasure Annual Report lists objects reported under the Treasure Act 1996, which stipulates that finders have a legal obligation to report potential Treasure finds such as gold and silver objects over 300 years old.
The Portable Antiquities Scheme is a voluntary scheme which records all other archaeological objects found by members of the public (Treasure items account for less than 1% of the total number of objects found.) A network of Finds Liaison Officers, employed by the Portable Antiquities Scheme, plays a crucial role in the effective operation of the Treasure Act, encouraging finders to report their finds and guiding them through the Treasure process. The presence of a Finds Liaison Officer increases the reporting of Treasure by up to five times.
Together, these two reports provide a comprehensive overview of all reported archaeological finds by members of the public in England and Wales.
The Treasure Annual Report 2002, containing further details of all the Treasure found, is available on the
DCMS website. Printed copies are available from 020 7211 6181 (public) or 020 7211 6266 (press).
The Portable Antiquities Scheme Annual Report 2003/04 is also published today by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. It is available online from
www.mla.gov.uk/information/publications/00pubs.asp. For further information see MLA's press release or contact Fiona Cameron, MLA Media & Events Manager on 020 7273 1459. PAS images are available at
www.finds.org.uk.
3. The Treasure Act 1996 removed the worst anomalies of the old common law of Treasure Trove and defined more clearly what qualifies as Treasure. Under the Act the following finds are at present defined as treasure provided they were found after 24 September 1997:
a) objects other than coins at least 300 years old with a minimum precious metal content of 10%;
b) all groups of coins from the same find at least 300 years old (if the coins have a precious metal content of less than 10% then the hoard must consist of at least 10 coins) and
c) objects found in association with Treasure.
4. In 2001 the criteria for Treasure were extended to include any group of two or more metallic objects of any composition of prehistoric date that come from the same find.
5. The Portable Antiquities Scheme receives funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and is managed by a consortium of national bodies led by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. The aim of the scheme is to record all archaeological objects found by members of the public on a voluntary basis for public benefit. The PAS operates across the whole of England and Wales through a network of 37 finds liaison officers. Further information on the Portable Antiquities Scheme is available from
www.mla.gov.uk
6. Buried Treasure is on show at the Manchester Museum until 15 January 2005; it then tours to the Hancock Museum, Newcastle from 12 February to 26 June 2005 and Norwich Castle Museum from 25 July - 13 January 2006.
