Treasure found at sites in Escrick and Towton near York
9:35am Wednesday 13th October 2010
Right, a close-up of the ring Michael Greenhorn, of Clifton Moor, York, who discovered a medieval ring using his metal detector.
METAL detector enthusiasts have unearthed gold jewellery that could be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds at a secret site in North Yorkshire.
One of the finds, an Iron Age twisted gold bracelet, may have belonged to a relative of Cartimandua, Queen of the Brigantes, and an expert says the site where it was discovered along with a brooch, a ring and an armlet may be of “real archaeological significance”.
At an inquest held at Selby Magistrates’ Court, North Yorkshire coroner Rob Turnbull declared the bracelet as treasure – the legal definition for finds of precious metal items that are more than 300 years old.
The piece could now be worth £40,000 to metal detector enthusiasts Andy Green and Shaun Scott and the owner of the undisclosed spot where it was found.
Earlier discoveries made by Andy and Shaun at the same site include a Romano-British bronze brooch, a gold Viking ring and a gold arm torc which, if eventually proved to be from the Bronze Age, could be worth up to £350,000. Andy, 46, found the Iron Age bracelet, which dates from between 100BC and 70 BC, on May 25.
He said: “This is one of the most significant things I’ve found. I knew what it was when I uncovered it.”
The fact that the bracelet is made of gold means it would have belonged to the Iron Age equivalent of royalty. It is believed it was probably owned by a high-ranking member of the Brigantes tribe, which had its capital in nearby Barwick-in-Elmet.
It is well documented that the Queen of the Brigantes at the time of the Roman invasion of Britain in 47AD was Cartimandua and archaeologists have speculated that the bracelet could have been owned by one of her recent ancestors.
Professional archaeologist John Buglass, who is acting as a consultant to Andy and Shaun and who previously worked on the raising of the Mary Rose, said: “It would certainly be someone who was within her social circle. It wouldn’t have been owned by Joe Bloggs who mucked the pigs out, it would have been owned by the people in charge. In our terms, it would have been a peer of the realm.”
Mr Buglass, who lives near Northallerton, said the site near Towton appeared to be a multi-phase settlement spanning at least 3,000 years. This means many different types of people lived in the area of the site, which explains the different ages of the artefacts found.
The most expensive item uncovered is undoubtedly the gold arm torc, which weighs 14ozs and is worth £20,000 just as bullion. But the torc would take on a different value – £350,000 – if proved to be from the Bronze Age.
Last year, an expert from the British Museum said the torc was not from that era as it was too shiny and not weathered enough.
But Mr Buglass said experts from both Bonhams and Sothebys believed in its authenticity. He said the colour of the torc was wrong because Andy had made the mistake of cleaning it. He said the discovery of the Iron Age bracelet tended to enhance the authenticity of the torc.
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have been a burial site reused through the centuries.
