Later Bronze Age hoards, hoarding practices and depositional contexts in south-east and south-west Wales (1500-800 BC): synthesis, social exchange and cultural connections,

This AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership studentship will involve a new study of Later Bronze Age hoards and hoarding practices in south-east and south-west Wales. Taking the chronological span 1500-800 BC, the study will include gold jewellery items, bronze tools, weapons and casting evidence. In south-east Wales, there is a steep observed peak in the frequency of hoarding during this period, meriting its study as one of the regional hoarding ’hot-spots’ in Britain. Here, the vibrant Late Bronze Age regional axe tradition – the South Welsh or Stogursey type – figures large. Only in recent years, with significant new discoveries, has it been possible to observe a distinctive hoard signature in south-west Wales, suggesting intriguing connections with the Carp’s Tongue tradition of southern England and northern France.

Since the beginning of the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) in Wales in 1999 and the revision of the Treasure Act in 2002 to include prehistoric hoards, 40 Later Bronze Age hoards have been reported in this study region, representing 40% of the entire known corpus and providing much new, unpublished material. Many hoard find-spot investigations have recently been carried out as part of the ongoing treasure reporting process. Access to and use of the unpublished fieldwork archive created during these investigations will contribute new evidence and understanding of hoarding practices, about which historically, little has been known.

Through their systematic study, the character and regional identities of hoards in the study region will be defined, enabling comparisons and contrasts with neighbouring regions. The use-lives, fragmentation patterns, artefact selections, preparations and careful placing during their burial will all inform this. Comparisons with single contemporary finds and their find-spots, accessing many new PAS records, will offer insight into artefact selectivity and deposition trends. The landscape siting of hoards in relation to natural geographic, topographic and known prehistoric archaeological features will also be considered.

The project will:
● provide a timely re-appraisal of the existing interpretive frameworks linked with this material.
● consider how social and exchange relations, including long-distance connections, are embedded
within these groups of selected and buried artefacts.
● integrate its own specific findings within broader interpretations and syntheses of the Bronze Age.
● be informed by current museums practice, considering and developing new, appropriate and
inspiring ways to present ’prehistoric hoarding’ to wide public audiences, thereby also generating
impactful public outcomes.

Research questions include:
● How can hoard discoveries of the past 20 years contribute to new understanding of the cultural and chronological framework and regional identities of hoards and hoarding practices?
● What can a study of the landscape locations of hoard find-spots, their manner of burial and their
relationships with known settlements, monuments and features tell us about the societies who buried them?
● What information might these hoards and hoarding practices capture about
exchange relations, the organisation of communities and long-distance connections in the Later Bronze Age?
● What can patterns of deposition relating to single Bronze Age artefacts tell us about hoards (and vice versa)?
● In museums today, how might ‘prehistoric hoarding’ and the outcomes of this research programme be presented to the public and visitors in an accessible, participatory and inspiring way?

Full details about the project at:
https://museum.wales/research/AHRC-Doctoral-Awards-2020-22/Later%20Bronze%20Age%20hoards/

To apply:
http://www.reading.ac.uk/graduateschool/how-to-apply/gs-how-to-apply-pgr.aspx