A Bronze Age hoard discovered close to Blyth Bridge within the Scottish Borders incorporates distinctive surviving uncooked supplies for metallic work, together with the primary copper ingot ever found from Bronze Age Scotland and casting moulds used for producing ornamental fittings like those within the Peebles Hoard.
The Blyth Hoard was found in 2022 simply seven miles from the Peebles Hoard, essentially the most numerous agglomeration of Bronze Age artifacts in Europe. Amazingly sufficient, the identical metallic detectorist, Mariusz Stępień, found each hoards, and whereas he’s apparently a magical Bronze Age hoard magnet, he’s additionally so archaeologically conscientious that as quickly as he discovered a socketed axe, he stopped digging and reported it to the Treasure Trove Unit.
Due to Stępień’s scrupulousness, the Blyth hoard was professionally excavated by archeologists from Nationwide Museums Scotland. They unearthed a second socketed axe head, a big copper ingot and three fragments of clay moulds used to solid bronze objects. The hoard dates to the Late Bronze Age, 1150-800 B.C.
The copper ingot is full and is the primary of its form from Scotland. Ingots are extra frequent in southern Britain, significantly on the south coast, however have by no means been discovered north of the Border. It is vital proof that uncooked materials was being imported into Scotland 3000 years in the past. Folks weren’t merely recycling present objects – there was a provide of contemporary metallic into the realm.
A lot of the Late Bronze Age moulds which have survived have been used to supply weapons or instruments. The Blyth moulds, alternatively, are formed and patterned to supply smaller ornamental items. As a result of Peebles was discovered two years earlier than the Blyth Hoard, when archaeologists examined the fragments of casting moulds, they have been capable of acknowledge the spiral and descriptions of the Peebles fittings.
It’s uncommon to search out any moulds that hyperlink to particular objects from the Bronze Age. This makes the invention at Blyth fairly distinctive. Given the distinctive nature of the Peebles Hoard fittings, it’s extremely possible that whoever buried the Blyth Hoard could have been concerned in making some, or all, of the Peebles Hoard fittings. That is particularly placing given the presence of an ingot.
The survival of metalwork and the stays of producing supplies collectively is uncommon in Britain, and beforehand unknown in Scotland. The Blyth Hoard is a chance to look at among the relationships between metallic objects, manufacturing and deposition. The socketed axeheads and ingot could symbolize the uncooked materials for casting into new objects, such because the Peebles-style fittings. The particular person (or individuals) who buried the Blyth Hoard could have been a metalworker, expert at making moulds and casting objects.
