The list of hoards in the Channel Islands comprises significant archaeological hoards of coins, jewellery, precious and scrap metal objects and other valuable items discovered in the Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm and associated smaller islands). It includes both hoards that were buried with the intention of retrieval at a later date (personal hoards, founder's hoards, merchant's hoards, and hoards of loot), and also hoards of votive offerings which were not intended to be recovered at a later date, but excludes grave goods and single items found in isolation. The list is subdivided into sections according to archaeological and historical periods.
At least fifteen hoards have been found in the Channel Islands since the early 18th century, most of them in Jersey, and only one each in Guernsey, Alderney and Sark. Of the known hoards, about a third date to the Bronze Age and are mostly founder's hoards comprising broken tools, weapons and other scrap metal buried with the intention of recovery at a later date for use in casting new bronze items. Another third are hoards of Iron Age Celtic coins, mostly coins called staters cast in debased silver (billon alloy), the majority deriving from Armorica (modern Brittany and Normandy in France), but some deriving from Southern Britain. [1] The remaining hoards comprise Roman coins, some of which may have been buried by Armorican Celts fleeing from Roman armies during the campaigns of Julius Caesar in the mid 1st century B.C. [2] Although the contents of most Iron Age and Roman hoards found in the Channel Islands originated from nearby France or Britain, one hoard that was discovered in Guernsey during the late 19th century comprised Roman coins minted in Alexandria in Egypt during the late 3rd century A.D. [3]
The table below list hoards that are associated with the Bronze Age, approximately 1300 BC to 700 BC.
Hoard | Image | Date | Place of discovery | Year of discovery | Current Location | Contents |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cadoret Hoard | ? | Saint Mary Jersey 49°14′29″N2°10′55″W / 49.2415°N 2.1820°W | 1995 | Founder's hoard comprising 178 miscellaneous bronze items, including broken pieces of weapons, tools and ornaments, as well as casting debris [4] | ||
La Blanche Pierre Hoard | ? | Saint Lawrence Jersey 49°12′14″N2°09′00″W / 49.2040°N 2.1500°W | 1976 | 114 bronze items, mostly broken axes, spears and swords, in an urn [4] | ||
Mainlands Hoard | ? | Saint Lawrence Jersey 49°12′05″N2°08′54″W / 49.2013°N 2.1483°W | 1871 | Bronze items [4] | ||
Longy Hoard | 9th century B.C. | Longy Common Alderney 49°43′23″N2°10′30″W / 49.723°N 2.175°W | 1832 | Guille-Allès Museum, Guernsey | Founder's hoard of about 200 bronze items, including axes, spear heads, sickles, chisels and bronze scraps [5] | |
St Ouen's Hoard | ? | Saint Ouen Jersey 49°13′32″N2°12′32″W / 49.2255°N 2.2090°W | 2002 | 200 bronze items [4] | ||
Town Mill Hoard | ? | Saint Helier Jersey 49°11′43″N2°06′00″W / 49.1952°N 2.1000°W | 1836 | 88 bronze axes, most miniature versions of an Armorican type [4] | ||
Trinity Hoard | ? | Trinity Jersey 49°14′06″N2°05′28″W / 49.2350°N 2.0911°W | 2012 | Pot containing tools and weapons, including 23 bronze axeheads [6] [7] | ||
The table below list hoards that are associated with the Iron Age, approximately 8th century BC to the 1st century AD.
Hoard | Image | Date | Place of discovery | Year of discovery | Current Location | Contents |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grouville Hoard | 1st century B.C. | Grouville Jersey 49°11′N2°03′W / 49.19°N 2.05°W | 2012 | In the hands of Jersey Heritage (not on display) | 30,000 – 50,000 late Iron Age Celtic and Roman coins, as well as some items of silver and gold jewellery [8] | |
La Marquanderie Hoard | mid 1st century AD | Saint Brélade Jersey 49°11′15″N2°11′58″W / 49.1875°N 2.1995°W | 1935 | 10,547 Armorican coins, almost all issued by the Curiosolitae [4] | ||
Le Câtillon Hoard | mid 1st century BC | Grouville Jersey 49°11′41″N2°03′09″W / 49.1946°N 2.0525°W | 1957 | Dispersed, but the La Hougue Bie Museum holds some coins | About 2,500 Armorican, Belgic and Southern British Iron Age coins, most billon staters issued by the Curiosolitae, as well as some pieces of jewellery, including fragments of a gold torque, several silver and bronze fibulae, a silver chain and some bronze rings [1] [4] | |
Rozel Hoard (1820) | mid 1st century B.C. | Le Câtel, Rozel, Saint Martin Jersey 49°14′17″N2°03′18″W / 49.238°N 2.055°W | 1820 | the hoard was acquired by Baron de Donop in Coburg, who published the coin images; through the heirs, the coins went to various museums and collectors, including the Dresden coin cabinet (until 1945) | At least 982 Armorican billon staters, mostly issued by the Curiosolitae [9] | |
Rozel Hoard (1875) | mid 1st century B.C. (c. 40 B.C.) | Little Caesarea, Rozel, Saint Martin Jersey 49°14′13″N2°02′53″W / 49.237°N 2.048°W | 1875 | Mostly lost, some at the British Museum, London | Several thousand coins (drawings of 700 of them are known) [10] | |
The table below list hoards of Roman artefacts and Roman coins.
Hoard | Image | Date | Place of discovery | Year of discovery | Current Location | Contents |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Île Agois Hoard | mid 3rd century | Île Agois, Saint Mary Jersey 49°14′56″N2°10′55″W / 49.249°N 2.182°W | 18 antoniniani, dated A.D. 253–268, in a pot [11] | |||
Jerbourg Hoard | late 3rd century | Jerbourg Point, Saint Martin Guernsey 49°25′30″N2°32′06″W / 49.425°N 2.535°W | before 1890 | Dispersed | 68 tetradrachms minted in Alexandria during the reigns of the emperors Probus (4 coins), Carus (3 coins), Numerian (3 coins), Carinus (4 coins), Diocletian (34 coins) and Maximian (19 coins) [3] | |
Quennevais Hoard | mid 4th century | Les Quennevais, Saint Brélade Jersey 49°11′49″N2°11′38″W / 49.197°N 2.194°W | 1848 | Jersey Museum (264 coins) | About 400 coins in a pot, mainly Roman folles dated A.D. 290–354 [11] [12] | |
Sark Hoard | 1st century B.C. | La Vaurocque Sark 49°25′48″N2°21′54″W / 49.430°N 2.365°W | 1719 | Lost | 18 Roman and Gaulish silver coins, a silver mount in the form of a dolphin, and 13 silver or silver-gilt phalerae in an iron-bound pottery urn [13] [14] | |
The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, consisting of Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm and some smaller islands. They are considered the remnants of the Duchy of Normandy and, although they are not part of the United Kingdom, the UK is responsible for the defence and international relations of the islands. The Crown dependencies are not members of the Commonwealth of Nations, nor have they ever been in the European Union. They have a total population of about 171,916, and the bailiwicks' capitals, Saint Helier and Saint Peter Port, have populations of 33,500 and 18,207, respectively.
A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by a government. Coins often have images, numerals, or text on them. The faces of coins or medals are sometimes called the obverse and the reverse, referring to the front and back sides, respectively. The obverse of a coin is commonly called heads, because it often depicts the head of a prominent person, and the reverse is known as tails.
The history of Guernsey stretches back with evidence of Neolithic occupation, followed by Roman occupation. Christianity was brought to Guernsey by St Sampson.
A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large rigid or stiff neck ring in metal, made either as a single piece or from strands twisted together. The great majority are open at the front, although some have hook and ring closures and a few have mortice and tenon locking catches to close them. Many seem designed for near-permanent wear and would have been difficult to remove.
The Bailiwick of Guernsey is a self-governing British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France, comprising several of the Channel Islands. It has a total land area of 78 square kilometres (30 sq mi) and an estimated total population of 67,334.
The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric Ireland, which had an independent Iron Age culture of its own. The parallel phase of Irish archaeology is termed the Irish Iron Age. The Iron Age is not an archaeological horizon of common artefacts but is rather a locally-diverse cultural phase.
Castel is the largest parish in Guernsey in terms of area.
The dolmens of Jersey are neolithic sites, including dolmens, in Jersey. They range over a wide period, from around 4800 BC to 2250 BC, these dates covering the periods roughly designated as Neolithic, or “new stone age”, to Chalcolithic, or “copper age”.
The Hallaton Treasure, the largest hoard of British Iron Age coins, was discovered in 2000 near Hallaton in southeast Leicestershire, England, by volunteers from the Hallaton Fieldwork Group. The initial find was made by Ken Wallace on 19 November 2000, when he found about 130 coins with a metal detector.
The National Museum of the Union is a history and archaeology museum in Alba-Iulia, Romania.
Jerbourg Point or the Jerbourg Peninsula is the southeastern point of the Bailiwick of Guernsey in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy, lying within St Martin Parish. It marks the end of the east coast cliffs and beginning of the south coast cliffs. It provides scenic views of the Little Russel and the various islands.
Philip de Jersey is a Guernsey archaeologist and numismatist. He is known as an expert on Celtic coins of the Iron Age.
The Channel Islands are a group of islands off the coast of France. The largest island is Jersey, followed by Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and a number of smaller islands, islets and rocky outcrops. The islands were separated from mainland Europe with rising sea levels in the Neolithic period; thereafter maritime activity commenced.
Archaeology is promoted in Jersey by the Société Jersiaise and by Jersey Heritage. Promotion in the Bailiwick of Guernsey being undertaken by La Société Guernesiaise, Guernsey Museums, the Alderney Society with World War II work also undertaken by Festung Guernsey.
The Celtic currency of Britain were the various items and coins used as currency between approximately 200 BC and AD 60. The earliest currency consisted of various forms of iron bars. Coins were first imported in large numbers in around 150 BC and domestic minting began around 100BC. Coin production was largely ended by the Roman conquest of Britain, first by the Claudian invasion of AD 43 and later by the Defeat of Boudica in AD 60 or 61. Cast coins may have been produced for a few more years around Hengistbury Head. Exact dating of coins often changes in the light of new research.