Museum Musings – January 2021

This is first in a new series about PAS finds in the West Berkshire Museum. From time to time finds submitted to the PAS are acquired by museums either through the treasure process, temporary loans or donations. Running until October 2022 the museum currently has a hoards exhibition on display, some of which were found …more

Finds of the Month – December 2020

This new series will detail my Top 10 finds recorded each month. Here are those from December. First up is this Republican Denarius of L Cassius Longinus minted in 78BC (BERK-1037DC). On one side is the head of a young Bacchus or Liber while on the other is the head of Libera (Proserpina) left. It …more

5000 Up For West Berkshire!

Very recently I verified West Berkshire’s 5000 PAS find on the database. Recently I held a poll on Twitter for what should be the 5000th find. As expected, you ask the people who voted for Boaty McBoatface, you get a silly result. The winner was this unidentifiable lead seal/token. However, this makes a wider point …more

Berkshire 2020

With the release of the 2019 PAS Annual Report,  here is a couple of special Berkshire ones from the report and a  roundup of finds from Berkshire recorded in the past year. PAS 2019 Annual Report First from 2019 is a remarkable find from Bisham, Berkshire, this year was a silver Greek drachm of Alexander …more

Highlights from the West Berkshire Museum Collection – December 2020

This year, West Berkshire Museum had acquired three historic objects of personal adornment which were found by metal detectorists in Berkshire and were declared treasure. The first is a gold Roman finger ring (BERK-375356) which dates to the 1st – 3rd century AD. It is a plain circular band with an oval intaglio made of …more

Finds Through The Ages – The Post-Medieval Period

This period covers the time from around the beginning of the rule of Henry VIII to the turn of the 20th century. This is generally split into two periods Early = AD1500 – 1650 Late = AD1750/1800 – 1900 We don’t use ‘middle’ as there is debate over what constitutes the late Post Medieval. Of …more

Finds Through The Ages – The Medieval Period

This period covers the time from the Norman Invasion in AD1066 to the beginning of the 16th century. There is no agreed upon date for the end of the Medieval period. AD1500 is generally considered to be the end. Across Europe different events are used such as the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453 …more

My finds of note so far…

Nearly 7 months into my post and I have come across some great finds from both West and East Berkshire. Here are some of the highlights! An incomplete copper alloy sword belt hanger dating to c. 16th -17th  century found in West Berkshire. These were worn to suspend swords in the post Medieval period. And …more