Deverill Valley (G-B): Detectorist couple's Roman busts, medieval tags, brooches and bowls to be revealed

Ben Miller

Source - http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art505665-detectorist-couple-roman-busts-medieval-tags-brooches-and-bowls-to-be-revealed

Headdress-wearing bust of religious Roman and medieval tag with link to John the Baptist revealed in Salisbury

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A Roman bust of Maenad from the Wessex Gallery of Archaeology in Salisbury© Wessex Gallery of Archaeology

In the Deverill valley, near the west Wiltshire town of Warminster, a husband and wife detecting team have spent nearly 30 years unearthing 2,000 years of history.

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One of their star turns is a superbly-modelled, cast Roman bust of a Meanad – a female follower of the god Bacchus, adorned with a plaited vine and ivy wreath headdress. An early medieval hooked tag, meanwhile, bears the imprint of an eagle stretching its wings and talons, perhaps made in a copper alloy symbol for John the Baptist.

“The lenders for this case have been working closely with the Portable Antiquities Scheme and the museum for a long time,” says Richard Henry, the Finds Liaison Officer for the county, looking ahead to the display of a special case at Salisbury Museum highlighting some of the pair’s discoveries.

“We are really happy to have the chance to display their finds.

“There is also a Ewart Park Phase sword, which is particularly interesting as the hilt was broken during the late Bronze Age.

“Roughly 10 centimeters of the blade was hammered flat to create a makeshift hilt so that the sword could continue being used.”

A glorious gilded early medieval cloisonné brooch is emblazoned with a trifoliate leaf motif. A fragment of a Bronze Age spear and a late Roman bowl are the last two donated pieces. And among four further finds, a pointed oval seal matrix from the 14th century was donated by a finder who struck lucky while gardening in Laverstock, coming across the depiction of the Virgin and Child in front of an elaborate altar.