The Portable Antiquities Scheme

David Williams, Finds Liaison Officer, Surrey Recent Lecture

Those who braved the inclement weather and traffic chaos were treated to a riveting talk about the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) by David Williams, an archaeologist and finds illustrator who is the Finds Liaison Officer for Surrey, working two and a half days per week. Most of his material comes from metal detecting, still a fast growing and popular hobby some 20 to 30 years since its inception.

Metal detecting has a bad reputation in Surrey, between ten and twenty thousand coins were lost by looting from a temple hoard at Wanborough, leading to the Treasure Act, 1996. Although not allowed on scheduled monuments metal detecting is legal if the land owner’s permission has been given.

It’s not all bad news though, one person, over ten years, found a new Roman site, with no Iron Age or Saxon phases, by plotting all the finds. The possible temple site may be excavated by the Time Team. Some finds, such as stirrup-strap decoration, are rarely found by excavation. Metal detecting has produced a sample of 500 from the 11th Century compared with five or six from excavations. From Exeter to York, the distribution reflects metal detecting activity as much as archaeological distribution, something to remember when interpreting PAS data.

The Treasure Act 1996 placed a legal obligation on people to report certain types of finds, gold or silver over 300 years old, hoards of coins (more than two or three if precious metal, more than ten if base metal and two or more if prehistoric). The PAS has Heritage Lottery Funding and local support, government funding will be replacing HLF. Finds and find spots are published on the web site with only 1km2 accuracy, to protect potential sites. More than a hundred thousand pre 17th Century objects are recorded at www.finds.org.uk.

To record for the PAS David goes to metal detecting meetings, halls, museums etc. His experience with a wide range of artefacts, as a finds illustrator, stands him in good stead when identifying objects. All finds, except treasure, are returned. Treasure is split 50:50 between the finder and owner of the land, if the museum can afford the value. PAS finds range from the Lower Palaeolithic, such as a hand axe from Boxstead, Neolithic axes and arrow heads in Surrey, while the Bronze Age has only been represented by fragments, two axes and a scabbard cover. The last was illegally recovered but was reported and the finder did receive treasure trove. There is not much from the Iron Age, harnesses, broaches, part of a torc, not English, and Gallo-Belgic coins. A large variety of Roman coins have been found and the number of finds increases, as might be expected, from the medieval period onwards. Collating the PAS data from across England is beginning to generate new interpretations of past activity not gleaned from straight excavation.

This snapshot of life as a finds liaison officer provided the stimulus for a lively set of questions afterwards.

John Hood