Massive Hoard of Iron Age Treasures Unearthed in England
136March 27, 2025
More than eight hundred artifacts dating to the Iron Age have beendiscoveredin England, comprising one of the largest such troves ever found in the UK. Dating to the first century AD, around the time of the Roman conquest of Britain, the objects comprise what authorities have described as an “archaeological time capsule” and have generated great excitement. “Quite simply, this is one of the most important and exciting Iron Age perioddiscoveriesmade in the UK,” said Duncan Wilson, CEO of Historic England, which announced the find alongside theYorkshire Museum, Durham University, andthe British Museum. “It sheds new light on Iron Age life in the north and Britain, but it also demonstrates connections with Europe.”
Known as the Melsonby Hoard, the collection was found in late 2021 near the village of Melsonby, Yorkshire, by Peter Heads, a metal detectorist, and excavated the following year by a team of archaeologists from Durham University, with the British Museum providing advice and Historic England supplying funding. The trove is notable not only for its size but for its variety and breadth: Among the artifacts are the partial remnants of at least seven four-wheeled wagons and two-wheeled chariots; twenty-eight iron tires; and the harnesses—some decorated with Mediterranean coral and colored glass—of at least fourteen ponies.
“This is the largest single deposit of horse harness and vehicle parts excavated in Britain,” said British Museum curator Sophia Adams. “It is significant not just for the quantity of objects buried together 2,000 years ago but also the quality and range of items.”
Also among the antiquities are three ceremonial spears; cast copper alloy bridle bits, linchpins, and rein rings; and two ornate vessels, one of which is believed to have been a wine mixing bowl. Of note, some of the tires appeared to have been intentionally bent out of shape and the vessels carefully placed upside down. Many of the items had been burned, suggesting that they might have been torched upon a funeral pyre, but no human remains were found amid the assemblage.
“The destruction of so many high-status objects, evident in this hoard, is also of a scale rarely seen in Iron Age Britain and demonstrates that the elites of northern Britain were just as powerful as their southern counterparts,” said Tom Moore, head of the department of archaeology at Durham University.
“This Iron Age hoard is an unprecedented find in the north which will help us to understand more about this remarkable period in our history. We have the exciting opportunity to save the hoard for the nation and the people of Yorkshire,” said Andrew Woods, head of collections and research at the Yorkshire Museum. “By acquiring the hoard we will be able to make it accessible to everyone and, working in partnership with others, we can learn more about this fascinating period, why the hoard was buried, how the objects may have been used and to cast light on to whom it may have belonged.”