The Roman Rural Settlement Project
Coins and Brooches from the east of England: preliminary results
Dr Tom Brindle
Percentage of sites with
coins 56%
Percentage of sites without
coins 44%
Proportions of sites with and without coins
Percentage of sites
with brooches
41%
Percentage of sites without
brooches 59%
Proportions of sites with and without brooches
Percentage of sites with brooches but
not coins 8% Percentage of sites
with coins but not brooches
21%
Percentage of sites with coins and
brooches 34%
Percentage of sites with neither coins
nor brooches 37%
Proportions of sites with coins and brooches
2.96%
6.21%
82.25%
8.58%
Sites where coinswere present butunquantified
Sites with coins butno datinginformation
Sites with coinswith preciseidentifications
Sites with onlybroad datinginformation
Sites with brooches listed
but not quantified
2%
Sites with quantification of brooches
98%
0
50
100
150
Density of coins by area investigated
Beds
Cambs
Essex
Herts
Norfolk
0204060
Density of coins by area investigated, minus prolific sites in
Suffolk and Norfolk
Beds
Cambs
Essex
Herts
02000400060008000
1000012000
Number of coins by county
Beds
Cambs
Essex
Herts
Norfolk
Suffolk
Beds 6%
Cambs 29%
Essex 22% Herts
14%
Norfolk 17%
Suffolk 12%
Percentage of coins by county
0200400600800
1000
Number of brooches by county
Bedfordshire
Cambridgeshire
Essex
Hertfordshire
Norfolk
Suffolk
Beds 9%
Cambs 17%
Essex 31%
Herts
Norfolk 10%
Suffolk 13%
Percentage of all brooches by county
02468
10
Density of brooches by area excavated
Bedfordshire
Cambridgeshire
Essex
Hertfordshire
Norfolk
Suffolk
012345
Density of brooches by area excavated, minus Hacheston
Bedfordshire
Cambridgeshire
Essex
Hertfordshire
Norfolk
Suffolk
Childerley gate (Site 5), hoard
Hacheston, metal detecting
Boxfield Farm, Chells, Stevenage, hoard
Number of coins recovered from individual sites shown against area of investigation (x-axis)
Baldock
Hacheston, metal detecting
Puckeridge -Braughing
Sandy, metal detecting
Skeleton Green
Number of brooches recovered from individual sites shown against area of investigation (x-axis)
Sites with coins
Average area of investigation 2.02ha
Sites without coins
Average area of investigation 0.85ha
Sites with brooches
Average area of investigation 2.35ha
Sites without brooches
Average area of investigation 0.9ha
Excavation 86%
Evaluation 12%
Watching Brief 2%
Excavation 63%
Evaluation 32%
Watching Brief 5%
Excavation 90%
Evaluation 9%
Watching Brief 1%
Excavation 65%
Evaluation 30%
Watching Brief 5%
The impact of controlled metal detector use on archaeological sites
• At least 30.59% of all coins and 19.23% of all brooches were found on sites where a metal detector had been used
• Of 11 sites with over 1000 coins 5, (45.5%), had a metal detector used on them
• Of 16 sites with over 40 brooches 5, (31.25%), had a metal detector used on them
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
Nucleated settlement
Rural settlement
Religious ritual and funerary
Industry
Military
Rural landscape
Communications
Percentage of all coins arranged by site type major
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
Gorhambury
Richard ReeceBritish Mean
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
Gadebridge Park
Richard ReeceBritish Mean
Villa
0
100
200
300
400
500
1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22
Boxfield Farm,Chells,Stevenage
Richard ReeceBritish Mean
Farm
0
200
400
600
800
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
Land Adjacent toBeech HouseHospital, Exning
Richard ReeceBritish Mean
Farm
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
Caistor StEdmund temple
Richard ReeceBritish Mean
Temple
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
HaddenhamRoman shrine
Richard ReeceBritish Mean
Shrine
Villa
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%kn
ote
nfi
bel
lan
gto
n_d
…co
lch
este
rn
auh
eim
_…h
od
_hill
earl
y_p
late
hea
dst
ud
ho
rse_
rid
ertu
tulu
scr
oss
bo
wu
ncl
assi
fied
Cambridgeshire
knotenfibel
la_tene
nauheim
langton_down
thistle_rosette
eye
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
kno
ten
fib
el
lan
gto
n_d
…
colc
hes
ter
nau
hei
m_…
ho
d_h
ill
earl
y_p
late
hea
dst
ud
ho
rse_
rid
er
tutu
lus
cro
ssb
ow
un
clas
sifi
ed
Hertfordshire
knotenfibel
la_tene
nauheim
langton_down
thistle_rosette
eye
colchester
0.00%5.00%
10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%
kno
ten
fib
el
lan
gto
n_d
…
colc
hes
ter
nau
hei
m_…
ho
d_h
ill
earl
y_p
late
hea
dst
ud
ho
rse_
rid
er
tutu
lus
cro
ssb
ow
un
clas
sifi
ed
Bedfordshire
knotenfibel
la_tene
nauheim
langton_down
thistle_rosette
eye
colchester
0.00%5.00%
10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%
kno
ten
fib
el
lan
gto
n_d
…
colc
hes
ter
nau
hei
m_…
ho
d_h
ill
earl
y_p
late
hea
dst
ud
ho
rse_
rid
er
tutu
lus
cro
ssb
ow
un
clas
sifi
ed
Essex
knotenfibel
la_tene
nauheim
langton_down
thistle_rosette
eye
colchester
0.00%5.00%
10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%30.00%35.00%
kno
ten
fib
el
lan
gto
n_d
…
colc
hes
ter
nau
hei
m_…
ho
d_h
ill
earl
y_p
late
hea
dst
ud
ho
rse_
rid
er
tutu
lus
cro
ssb
ow
un
clas
sifi
ed
Suffolk
knotenfibel
la_tene
nauheim
langton_down
thistle_rosette
eye
colchester
0.00%5.00%
10.00%15.00%20.00%25.00%
kno
ten
fib
el
lan
gto
n_d
…
colc
hes
ter
nau
hei
m_…
ho
d_h
ill
earl
y_p
late
hea
dst
ud
ho
rse_
rid
er
tutu
lus
cro
ssb
ow
un
clas
sifi
ed
Norfolk
knotenfibel
la_tene
nauheim
langton_down
thistle_rosette
eye
colchester
• Coins and brooches are far from ubiquitous finds at sites in eastern England
• This clearly in large part reflects the area of investigation and the investigation strategy
• Unsurprisingly, greater quantities of coins and brooches are recovered from nucleated settlements, although this may in part also reflect a disproportionate amount of investigation undertaken at these sites
• Coin profiles from sites in the east of England are very variable, and it is not easy to recognise ‘footprints’ for particular sites based upon their coin profiles alone
• Whilst there is a broad regional pattern in terms of the distribution of different brooch types there is intra-regional variation
• Analysis of patterns of coin and brooch loss will undoubtedly prove more beneficial when the results from several regions are compared
Conclusions