Dorset Museum’s Treasure! Lost and Found – a journey into the distant past

I got to talk to a Roman soldier the other day. No, really, I did. He was called Lucius, a handsome young man, the image of a smart legionary. Born in Macedonia, he had followed his father into the army, helping to bring Pax Romana to even the savage Durotriges tribe of what we now know as Dorset.

The slightly disconcerting thing about Lucius is that he never blinks …
So, you guessed it – Lucius is an avatar, a brilliant two-dimensional creation. He was made by students of Arts University Bournemouth, and is one of many highlights of the stunning new Dorset Museum exhibition, Treasure! Lost and Found, which runs through to 13th September.
Lucius has been created using gaming technology, and is sure to be a big draw for families during the summer. At the other end of the technical scale, the AUB students have also created a walk-in Iron Age round-house, Iron Age-inspired costumes using recycled textiles, typical Iron Age domestic artefacts, and a series of boxes which can be opened to give the eager nose a sniff of Iron Age smells from daily life and death. Sure to be a hit with young visitors.
This exhibition – described by its curator Jon Marrow, as a celebration of Dorset – draws on the museum’s own impressive and nationally important objects across several thousand years, from the Early Bronze Age to the post-Roman, pre-Norman era. This is the period that used to be called the Dark Ages and that we now know was a time of huge change in Britain, from which many different groups – including Anglo Saxons and Vikings – have left artefacts of staggering beauty and skill.

Detectorist finds
The exhibition also features important collections on loan from the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery – the Staffordshire Hoard – and Lancashire County Museum Service – the Silverdale Hoard.
The curator explained that many of the exhibits were found by detectorists. They include an exquisite Early Bronze Age mirror which is the image for the exhibition (pictured opposite). It was found in the burial site of a young woman – probably a member of a high status family – at Langton Herring. It is an outstanding example, Jon Marrow said, of the ‘sophistication of these people.’ Another Dorset detectorist find is the Tarrant Valley lunula (above), a beautiful prehistoric, crescent-shaped gold collar, also dated to the Early Bronze Age, more than 3,000 years ago.

A Victorian archaeologist, Edward Cunnington, carried out excavations at 46 barrows in Dorset, and some of his finds, accompanied by his watercolour paintings, are a fascinating section of the exhibition. His many important discoveries included objects in gold, amber and jet. In 1882 he excavated Clandon Barrow, near Martinstown, discovering the most richly-furnished Bronze Age burial in Dorset. The treasures suggested wealth or great exploits in distant travel and trade by people living on the South Dorset Ridgeway. Cunnington was descended from William Cunnington, a late 18th century Wiltshire archaeologist and antiquarian.
Some items are on display for the first time. They include a damaged prehistoric gold hoard from Crichel, comprising a torc and bracelets that date to around 1400-1150 BCE and were acquired with funding from The Headley Trust, The Robinson Trust and V&A Purchase Grant Fund. Also seen for the first time is a uniquely preserved Middle Bronze Age rapier, which was buried with an axe head and a beautifully incised bronze bracelet in a Stalbridge field, dated around 1400-1275 BCE.

What lies beneath
Significant recent finds include a gold and garnet-encrusted sword pommel and hilts dating from 570-630 CE – part of the Anglo-Saxon Staffordshire hoard discovered in 2009. Some of the most breathtaking exhibits are from Viking treasures, including intricately decorated silver bracelets and rare silver coins dating from 880-900CE that were found in Lancashire in 2011. Importantly, they prove the links with the Frankish empire and the Arabic world, underlying an important aim of the exhibition – as well as telling the discovery stories of the objects, it explains how they enhance our understanding of the past.
The show has four distinct sections. The first, What Lies Beneath, explores how ancient objects ended up in the ground – these include grave goods or items lost due to violent historical or natural events. The second focuses on how these objects were brought to light, either through archaeological excavation or metal detecting. In the third area, visitors explore how the definition of ‘treasure’ has changed through time – the famous Anglo-Saxon ship discovered at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk was not considered a ‘treasure’ under the Treasure Trove law of the time (1939) because it was technically a burial and had not been put into the ground with the intention of retrieving it at a later date.
The exhibition concludes with a focus on why it is important for archaeological finds to enter museum collections, showing how continued research and new technologies are allowing experts to reconstruct ancient lives, allowing us all to continue learning about our past. New scientific research is revealed that changes our thinking about the early peoples of the British islands.

Although it features several beautiful items of jewellery – a bejewelled gold pendant found in Charminster, the ornate craftsmanship displayed in the Silverdale Hoard – the exhibition is not all about ancient bling. More prosaic, everyday artefacts of life, such as a candle holder, whistle and posy ring, and rare evidence for prehistoric woven cloth are also on show.
Claire Dixon, the museum’s executive director, says: ‘Dorset Museum & Art Gallery has been actively acquiring treasure since its early origins, and we are excited to be displaying so many of our internationally significant artefacts, many of which have never been seen before. This would not have been possible without the support of funders. I would like to thank the NLHF (National Lottery Heritage Fund), V&A Purchase Grant Fund, the Headley Trust, The Robinson Trust and our many generous donors, who have made it possible for us to acquire these artefacts for the nation. We look forward to sharing them with our audiences, both during the exhibition and afterwards, when they will be incorporated into our displays.’

Treasure! Lost and Found is open now and runs to 13th September at Dorset Museum & Art Gallery, and is included in the museum entry ticket.
dorsetmuseum.org