Why Bury So Many Treasures In Britain?

Though this wasn’t the first hoard that has been discovered in Britain as we said it was the largest ever found. But the question was how did these treasure end up in Britain when we know Romano-British feared the barbarians. The historians even think about another theory of why these elite families chose to bury the treasure. Looking at the age of these coins and the text on the golden statues have taught a lot about the Hoxne Hoard.

Radiocarbon Not A Solution

As it was metal hoard, scientists weren’t able to date it with radiocarbon. The Hoxne hoard was covered with materials like wood, bone, ivory, and wood boxes that suggested that the treasure could have been centuries old. But then the archeologists saw something on one of the coins. It was the face of the ruler…

The Age Of Coins

In an interview with Smithsonian.com, Guest said, “perspective is that actually we’ve been misdating these hoards. If you look at them a little more carefully, then they should be dated to the period after the separation of Britain from the Roman Empire.” The Hoxne hoard was buried in 408 or 409 if go by Guest’s words.

A Treasure Of Gold


A guest even added that the Roman Emperor stopped the supply of new coins and the people used the same old coins for a very long period. The ancient people used the precious metals they had back then that produced that same old coin for years. But the treasure was more than its worth, it was the sentimental value that these artifacts hold.

How The Hoard Was… Hoarded

The treasure was holding lots of gold coins and jewelry, silver plates, and small objects that were also made up of gold. These artifacts have been kept in the hoard because of the sentimental value they hold in people’s heart back then. Other than that, archeologist Catherine John’s analyzed the hoard burial condition and procedure. She found some interesting things about the way it was buried.

The Way Hoxne Hoard Was Buried


The analysis showed that the objects were packed with straw and in wooden boxes because they found several nails, locks, hinges, and scraps of wood buried in the ground beside the treasure. Some of the artifacts were, in fact, a bit older than others, for example, the tiger-shaped silver handle and the pots that must have been used for holding the pepper.