tour 7 of 11
Our Top Ten British Treasures
The Hoxne Hoard
The Hoxne (pronounced 'Hoxon')
hoard consists of over 15,000 gold and silver coins, gold jewellery
and numerous small items of silver tableware, including pepper
pots, ladles and spoons. Also found were the remains of a large
wooden chest and smaller caskets with tiny silver padlocks, into
which the treasure had been carefully secreted. It was discovered
in November 1992 by Eric Lawes, who immediately reported the find
and did not remove all the objects from the ground. This
responsible conduct enabled the Suffolk Archaeological Unit to
carry out a controlled excavation of the deposit, which has greatly
enhanced the importance of the Hoxne Treasure for research in the
future.
The silver objects
are all quite small: the bulk of these are around 100 spoons and
ladles. Such an extensive collection of silverware would almost
certainly have also included larger table vessels, such as those in
the Mildenhall treasure. A silver handle in the form of a tigress,
apparently deliberately detached from a tall vase, indicates the
existence of at least one such larger vessel for the table. The
unusual selection of jewellery comprises a body-chain, a small
group of necklaces, three finger-rings and 19
bracelets.
The latest of
the coin issues in the hoard establishes that its burial took place
some time after AD 407/8. This was the period when Roman rule was
breaking down in Britain, and the Hoxne hoard might be related to
these events. The careful burial of this treasure probably means
that the owner intended to come back and recover it later, but for
whatever reason was unable to do so.