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Last night twenty seven members of ELHAS were treated
to an exciting slide presentation by Amy Cooper, Finds Liaison Officer
with the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Amy, who hails from Somerset, came
to York to study archaeology and just stayed. As she says "York has
that effect on people." She has been in post as the Finds Liaison
Officer for West and South Yorkshire for 18 months and previously worked
at the Yorkshire Museum and Malton Museum. She is one of 36 countrywide
Finds Liaison Officers.
Amy began her talk by explaining the work of the Portable Antiquities
Scheme and her role within it. The PAS was set up 10 years ago to offer
assistance to members of the general public who find artefacts that may
be classed as 'Treasure'. She firstly explained the criteria for treasure,
in general objects made of precious metal more than 300 years old and
then advised of the legal requirements to be followed after finding such
objects. However she told us that the easiest way to manage this would
be to contact the local Finds Liaison Officer who will deal with everything.
The role of the FLO is to identify, weigh, measure and record the details
of all finds submitted to them and then to ensure that all the legal requirements
are met. There are currently details of 323,694 objects recorded on their
database, 1, 850 having been posted since January this year.
Amy then went on to detail the most significant find she has dealt with
in her career - 'The Harrogate Hoard' .In fact she described it as a once
in a life time experience and said she did not expect to deal with such
a find again. In January 2007 two local Leeds metal detector enthusiasts
were plying their trade in Harrogate when they discovered four coins which
they immediately recognised as Anglo Saxon pennies. Further excavation
unearthed silver jewellery and ingots subsequently identified as Viking
and a complete gilded bowl packed with other objects. Fortunately, Andrew
and Dave knew exactly what to do and took the finds to the local FLO,
Amy. Describing her excitement at seeing these objects in her office,
Amy's enthusiasm was transmitted to her audience who listened spellbound
as she explained what was eventually found in the bowl and showed pictures
of the coins and jewellery. The bowl contained a total of 617 coins and
artefacts from Britain, Europe, Scandinavia and Afghanistan. Amy's first
job was to take the finds to the British Museum by car since they were
regarded as too precious to be entrusted to a journey by public transport.
The experts at the BM were astonished to discover that the bowl is a twin
to one unearthed 150 years ago in Lancashire and named 'The Halton Moor
Hoard'. The significance of these finds cannot be too highly emphasised
since they have allowed experts to accurately date other finds previously
thought to be 11th century to the 10th century because the examples in
this bowl were alongside coins of that date. The fact that the coins came
from a variety of mints situated across the country signifies that trade
and commerce was carried on between the Anglo Saxon south and the Viking
north even though the Danelaw divided the two regions. Amy concluded her
talk by explaining that when all the finds have been correctly identified
and their market value established they will be offered to interested
museums. Since the value is expected to be in the region of £1,000,000
funds will have to be raised in order to allow the museums to purchase
the finds. The proceeds will go to the finders and the landowner.
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