Melsonby Hoard

{{Short description|Items from the Iron Age in Melsonby, England}}

{{infobox artefact

| name = Melsonby Hoard

| image = YORYM-0E157E 67d93bc13d2f8.jpg

| image_caption = A strap junction from the hoard

| material =

| size =

| writing =

| created = late 1st century BC - mid 1st century AD

| period = Late Iron Age (British Iron Age)

| discovered_date = December 2021

| discovered_place = Melsonby, North Yorkshire, England

| location =

| id = [https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/1056219 YORYM-0E157E]

}}

The Melsonby Hoard is a hoard of Iron Age items found buried in a field near the village of Melsonby in North Yorkshire, England, by a metal-detectorist in December 2021. Archaeologists from Durham University excavated the site in 2022 with funding from Historic England. The artefacts are from the time of the Roman Empire, and show pottery, weaponry, use of the wheel, metallurgy and status symbolism. The find was publicised in March 2025, coinciding with the temporary display of a number of the items at the Yorkshire Museum in York.

Hoard

= Discovery =

The hoard was found in a field near the village of Melsonby in North Yorkshire, England, by Peter Heads, an amateur metal-detectorist, in December 2021. It was immediately designated treasure under the Treasure Act 1996.{{cite web |date=2022 |title=Record ID: YORYM-0E157E – Iron Age assemblage |url=https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/1056219 |accessdate=25 March 2025 |publisher=The Portable Antiquities Scheme - British Museum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250330031935/https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/1056219 | archive-date=30 March 2025 |url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://finds.org.uk/about|website=finds.org.uk|title=About the Scheme|publisher=British Museum|access-date=27 March 2025|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250329191439/https://finds.org.uk/about|archive-date=29 March 2025}} Heads reported his discovery, which led to archaeologists from Durham University excavating the site in 2022.{{cite web |author-last=Bradley |author-first=Jessica |date=25 March 2025 |title=Archaeologists find 'unprecedented' Iron Age hoard |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd9241dq40qo |website=BBC News |publisher=BBC |access-date=25 March 2025 |archive-date=26 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250326012951/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd9241dq40qo |url-status=live }} The excavations were assisted by advice from the British Museum and funding from Historic England. The University of Southampton also contributed, providing sensing instruments which enabled the researchers to avoid damaging the delicate artefacts.

= Significance =

Participating scientists described the hoard as internationally important{{cite web |author-last=Brown| author-first=Mark|date=25 March 2025 |title=Iron age hoard found in North Yorkshire could change Britain's history|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/mar/25/iron-age-hoard-melsonby-north-yorkshire |website=The Guardian |publisher= |access-date=25 March 2025}} and the largest hoard of Iron Age metalwork yet found in Britain. The hoard was deposited approximately when the Romans conquered southern Britain in the first century AD.{{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=Save the Melsonby Hoard|url=https://www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk/save-the-melsonby-hoard/ |website=yorkshiremuseum.org.uk|publisher=York Museums and Gallery Trust |access-date=25 March 2025}} The find spot is close to the Stanwick Iron Age Fortifications, a Celtic hillfort from the first century AD.

By March 2025 over 900 items had been discovered within the hoard spanning two separate deposits. The artefacts included adornments, a mirror made of iron, 14 elaborate pony harnesses, horse bits,{{Cite news |author-last=Kolirin |author-first=Lianne |date=2025-03-25 |title='Exceptional' Iron Age hoard unlocks secrets of life in Britain 2,000 years ago |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/25/science/iron-age-hoard-yorkshire-gbr-scli-intl/index.html |access-date=2025-03-26 |publisher=CNN |archive-date=25 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250325150415/https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/25/science/iron-age-hoard-yorkshire-gbr-scli-intl/index.html |url-status=live }} three decorative spears, and two cauldrons.{{Cite web |date=2025-03-26 |title=Melsonby Hoard: Discovery of more than 800 Iron Age treasures |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/cjryxe994rqo |access-date=2025-03-27 |website=BBC Newsround |language=en-GB |archive-date=31 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250331091513/https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/cjryxe994rqo |url-status=live }} One cauldron, possibly a lidded wine-mixing bowl,{{Cite web |date=2025-03-25 |title=Iron Age Hoard Discovery Alters Our Understanding of Life in Britain 2,000 Years Ago {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/news/iron-age-discovery-melsonby-hoard/ |access-date=2025-03-28 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en |archive-date=25 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250325010500/https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/news/iron-age-discovery-melsonby-hoard/ |url-status=live }} shows a blend of Iron Age and Mediterranean styles. 28 iron tyres provided evidence for the use of four-wheeled wagons as well as two-wheeled chariots, at least seven vehicles in total. A further 88 objects were corroded together into a large mass, and are yet to be separated and examined.{{Cite web |title=Archaeologists unearth one of the UK's largest Iron Age hoards |url=https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/archaeology/melsonby-hoard/news/archaeologists-unearth-one-of-the-uks-largest-iron-age-hoards/ |access-date=2025-03-26 |publisher=Durham University |language=en-gb |quote=examine the block of tangled Iron Age artefacts corroded together found in The Melsonby Hoard |archive-date=25 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250325103321/https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/archaeology/melsonby-hoard/news/archaeologists-unearth-one-of-the-uks-largest-iron-age-hoards/ |url-status=live }} Materials used in the artefacts include copper alloy, iron and Mediterranean coral.

Many items were made colourful with glass and enamel. To demonstrate the high status of their owner, these luxury goods were deliberately damaged before burial, probably on a pyre albeit without bodies. The discovery called into question the old idea that southern British elites were more powerful than northern ones, and how money and power were displayed in the Iron Age.{{Cite web |date=2025-03-27 |title=News: One of the Greatest Hoards in Iron Age Britain Revealed |url=https://archaeology.org/news/2025/03/27/one-of-the-greatest-hoards-in-iron-age-britain-revealed/ |access-date=2025-03-27 |website=Archaeology Magazine |publisher=Archaeological Institute of America |language=en-US |archive-date=27 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250327215700/https://archaeology.org/news/2025/03/27/one-of-the-greatest-hoards-in-iron-age-britain-revealed/ |url-status=live }} This aristocracy had connections not just across Britain but also Europe and the Roman world. The find is considered exceptional, "once-in-a-lifetime"{{Cite web |title='Once-in-a-lifetime' Iron Age hoard found in Yorkshire |date=25 March 2025 |url=https://news.sky.com/story/iron-age-melsonby-hoard-yorkshire-metal-detectorist-13335342 |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=Sky News |language=en |archive-date=26 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250326083621/https://news.sky.com/story/iron-age-melsonby-hoard-yorkshire-metal-detectorist-13335342 |url-status=live }} and of an unprecedented number and diversity for the British Iron Age.

=Fundraising and display=

File:Yorkshire Museum.jpg

A public appeal was launched by the Yorkshire Museum in March 2025 to raise £500,000 for the museum to acquire and conserve the hoard. It has been assessed to be worth £254,000, and under the Treasure Act 1996 the museum has the opportunity to acquire it for that price. If it cannot raise the funds the hoard may be sold and perhaps split up or moved overseas. Conservation of the hoard is estimated to cost a further £250,000.{{Cite web |author=Theo Farrant|date=2025-03-25 |title=Hidden for 2,000 years: UK's biggest Iron Age treasure trove unearthed |url=https://www.euronews.com/culture/2025/03/25/archaeologists-stunned-by-one-of-britains-biggest-iron-age-hoards-which-could-rewrite-hist |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=euronews |language=en}} The museum started showing some items from the hoard on 25 March.

References

External links

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozDwN6Ud3Js&t Video of the hoard by Yorkshire Museum]
[https://historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/news/iron-age-discovery-melsonby-hoard/ Historic England page on the hoard]
[https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/archaeology/melsonby-hoard/ Durham University website on the hoard]
[https://www.countryfile.com/prehistoric/melsonby-hoard-north-yorkshire Countryfile] – gallery of images and video from Durham University

Category:2021 archaeological discoveries

Category:Archaeological sites in North Yorkshire

Category:Hoards from Iron Age Britain

Category:Iron Age sites in England

Category:Ancient Celtic metalwork

Category:Metal detecting finds in England

Category:Treasure troves in England