Traprain Treasure - late Roman Silver

This is the so called Traprain Treasure in the National Museum of Scotland.

I photographed it from the end of the 3 cases to get the fell of how jumbled and cut up it is.

This was found by archaeologists Curle and Cree excavating at the oppidum or tribal centre of the Votadini (otherwise known as the Gododdin), at Traprain Law in East Lothian. The site was occupied from c40BC to the last part of the 2nd Century and then from the 220s through to the 5th Centruy when it was abandoned, and the tribal centre may have moved to the present site of Edinburgh Castle.

The excavations began in 1914 and continued them until 1923, finding layers of fragmentary stone and timber houses under the turf. In 1919, the archaeologists recovered an amazing hoard of silver plate.

It consistsof over 53 pounds of sliced-up Roman era silver. Four coins were discovered with the hoard; one of the emperor Valens, three of Arcadius and one of Honorius, which dates the find to some point probably in the early fifth century AD, at the end of Roman rule of Britannia. The quality of some of the items suggests that they may have come from as far afield as Rome, Ravenna, or possibly even Antioch or Constantinople.

Most of the objects had been crushed and hacked to pieces, and only some were left intact. A great deal of the find was table silver, lanxes, spoons and so forth, but there are also early Christian items and remnants from a late Roman officer's uniform.

Various theories have been postulated: it had originally been thought that the objects had been brought back from a raid abroad, and the objects had been split up ready for division.

Another theory is that it had been brought back on a raid by the Votadini across Hadrian's Wall. Finds such as Mildenhall and Hoxne show that silverware of this quality was certainly in use in Roman Britain.

However the most likely explanation is that that the silver was in payment for service to the Votadini, either to protect weaker tribes from the inroads of the Picts, and Saxons, or was 'danegeld' or protection money for them not attacking the weakened Roman province. The silver being cut up as bullion.

I am grateful for wikipedia for much of the above information.