East Riding Museums Service has recently acquired three small but significant additions to its archaeological collections, ranging in date from the Bronze Age to Tudor times.
A silver dress hook (used to fasten a tunic), decorated with beads of silver wire, was a metal detecting find at Wilberfoss in 2018. This has incised decoration in the centre and dates to about 1500-1650. The item was purchased from the British Museum after being declared Treasure.
A second Treasure purchase was a small Bronze Age scrap hoard metal detected on land at Skirpenbeck, also in 2018. Much of this consists of pieces of ingots and casting waste and this was presumably a metal worker’s hoard. However, it also includes a fragment of a socketed and ribbed spearhead. The hoard is thought to date to around 1150-800BC.
Finally, the Museums Service has also received a donation of part of an Anglo-Saxon brooch, found at Thwing. Dating to around 800-1000, it has a beautiful design of a bird and branch in the centre, with traces of red and blue enamel that once covered the whole surface.
Said Dr. David Marchant, museums registrar with the council:
"These discoveries show the rich diversity of the East Riding’s archaeological heritage. All of these items now appear on our online catalogue – East Riding Treasures Online – which can be found at https://www.eastridingmuseums.co.uk/museums-online/treasure-at-the-treasurehouse/
In due course, we also hope to have them on display at the Treasure House in Beverley in our recent acquisitions display."
