Metal detectorist stumbles on ‘lovely’ ancient Roman treasures in Wales, photo shows
While searching the countryside in Wales, a metal detectorist stumbled on some “lovely” treasures — and found two pieces of ancient Roman jewelry.
Andrew Hutchinson was metal detecting on Anglesey island last September when he unearthed two curved copper strips, Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales said in a March 14 news release.
Archaeologists identified Hutchinson’s treasure find as a pair of ancient Roman bracelets from the second century A.D.
The 1,800-year-old bracelets have wide, flat bands decorated with two “parallel grooves,” the museum said. The bracelet ends are “rolled into tubes,” and “parts of a hinge mechanism” are still visible. A photo shows the tarnished bracelets.
“This is a lovely find, and I hope it sheds some more light on the history of Anglesey,” Hutchinson said in the release.
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One of the ancient Roman bracelets has a “square silver plate” with a “a raised triskele decoration,” the museum said. The decoration has three interlocking spirals.
“These bracelets are an interesting example of the mixing of native and Roman design and cultural traditions in a single object,” a senior curator at the museum, Evan Chapman, said in the release.
Although known from other ancient cultures, “the triskele symbol is generally identified with Iron Age Celtic designs,” the museum said. “Its use in Roman artifacts from the second century (A.D.) provides fascinating insight into how (cultural) contact exhibited itself during the Roman occupation of Britain.”
The ancient Roman empire controlled parts of the modern-day United Kingdom from about 43 A.D. to about 410 A.D., according to Britannica.
Oriel Môn, an art gallery and museum on Anglesey island, hopes to acquire the bracelets.
Llanddyfnan Community is on Anglesey, an island in northwestern Wales, and about 200 miles northwest of London.
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