Middle-Late Bronze Age hoards and hoarding practices in south-east and west Wales

Griffiths, C. J. (2025) Middle-Late Bronze Age hoards and hoarding practices in south-east and west Wales. PhD thesis, University of Reading. doi: 10.48683/1926.00128431

Abstract/Summary

This thesis investigates the deposition of Middle-Late Bronze Age hoards (c. 1550-800 BC) and hoarding practices in south-east and west Wales. For over 150 years, hoards have provided a leading source of evidence for life in the European Bronze Age, with particular interest directed towards interpreting why they were buried. While the motivations behind the deliberate and permanent placement of metal objects within the ground remain a concern within concluding discussions, this thesis advocates an approach that focuses first of all on understanding what, when, and how things were buried together at a variety of different scales. The results of this thesis are presented in three papers, each structured at a different scale. The first paper (Griffiths 2023) examines the practice of hoarding across Britain and Northern Ireland, drawing on a substantial dataset of 385 hoards (containing approximately 7210 objects) reported on between 1997-2021. As well as providing a timely and necessary review of recent Bronze Age hoard finds reported as treasure and through the Portable Antiquities Scheme, this paper also highlights regions whose archaeological datasets for this period have been especially significantly transformed by these recent discoveries, including south-east and west Wales. The second and third papers (Griffiths 2025; Griffiths et al. under review) pay close attention to the typo-chronology and biographies of Middle-Late Bronze Age metalwork in south-east and west Wales, based on a comprehensive dataset of 102 hoard finds and 478 single finds (totalling 1429 metal objects). The former outlines this evidence at a regional scale, offering insight into the chronological and cultural significances of the metalwork record, exploring themes of artefact production, manipulation, destruction, and selection. The latter is a select case study of a recently discovered hoard from Portskewett Community, Monmouthshire, that was subject to a detailed geophysical survey and archaeological excavation of the hoard still buried in-situ; it highlights the relationship between this deposit of metalwork, an Early Bronze Age burnt mound, and the watery character of this specific location. Value in studying this material across different scales, broad, regional, and local, is demonstrated, highlighting the potential of this approach for understanding the meaning and importance of Bronze Age metalwork.

Item Type	Thesis (PhD)
URI	https://reading-pure-test.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/128431
Identification Number/DOI	10.48683/1926.00128431
Divisions	Science > School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science > Department of Archaeology
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