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List of hoards in the Channel Islands

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The list of hoards in the Channel Islands comprises significant archaeological hoards of coins, jewellery, precious and scrap metal objects and other valuable items discovered in the Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Herm and associated smaller islands). It includes both hoards that were buried with the intention of retrieval at a later date (personal hoards, founder's hoards, merchant's hoards, and hoards of loot), and also hoards of votive offerings which were not intended to be recovered at a later date, but excludes grave goods and single items found in isolation. The list is subdivided into sections according to archaeological and historical periods.

At least fifteen hoards have been found in the Channel Islands since the early 18th century, most of them in Jersey, and only one each in Guernsey, Alderney and Sark. Of the known hoards, about a third date to the Bronze Age and are mostly founder's hoards comprising broken tools, weapons and other scrap metal buried with the intention of recovery at a later date for use in casting new bronze items. Another third are hoards of Iron Age Celtic coins, mostly coins called staters cast in debased silver (billon alloy), the majority deriving from Armorica (modern Brittany and Normandy in France), but some deriving from Southern Britain.[1] The remaining hoards comprise Roman coins, some of which may have been buried by Armorican Celts fleeing from Roman armies during the campaigns of Julius Caesar in the mid 1st century B.C.[2] Although the contents of most Iron Age and Roman hoards found in the Channel Islands originated from nearby France or Britain, one hoard that was discovered in Guernsey during the late 19th century comprised Roman coins minted in Alexandria in Egypt during the late 3rd century A.D.[3]

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Bronze Age hoards

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The table below list hoards that are associated with the Bronze Age, approximately 1300 BC to 700 BC.

Hoard Image Date Place of discovery Year of discovery Current Location Contents
Cadoret Hoard ? Saint Mary
Jersey
49°14′29″N 2°10′55″W / 49.2415°N 2.1820°W / 49.2415; -2.1820 (Cadoret Hoard) 		1995 Founder's hoard comprising 178 miscellaneous bronze items, including broken pieces of weapons, tools and ornaments, as well as casting debris[4]
La Blanche Pierre Hoard ? Saint Lawrence
Jersey
49°12′14″N 2°09′00″W / 49.2040°N 2.1500°W / 49.2040; -2.1500 (La Blanche Pierre Hoard) 		1976 114 bronze items, mostly broken axes, spears and swords, in an urn[4]
Mainlands Hoard ? Saint Lawrence
Jersey
49°12′05″N 2°08′54″W / 49.2013°N 2.1483°W / 49.2013; -2.1483 (Mainlands Hoard) 		1871 Bronze items[4]
Longy Hoard 9th century B.C. Longy Common
Alderney
49°43′23″N 2°10′30″W / 49.723°N 2.175°W / 49.723; -2.175 (Longy Hoard) 		1832 Guille-Allès Museum, Guernsey Founder's hoard of about 200 bronze items, including axes, spear heads, sickles, chisels and bronze scraps[5]
St Ouen's Hoard ? Saint Ouen
Jersey
49°13′32″N 2°12′32″W / 49.2255°N 2.2090°W / 49.2255; -2.2090 (St Ouen's Hoard) 		2002 200 bronze items[4]
Town Mill Hoard ? Saint Helier
Jersey
49°11′43″N 2°06′00″W / 49.1952°N 2.1000°W / 49.1952; -2.1000 (Town Mill Hoard) 		1836 88 bronze axes, most miniature versions of an Armorican type[4]
Trinity Hoard ? Trinity
Jersey
49°14′06″N 2°05′28″W / 49.2350°N 2.0911°W / 49.2350; -2.0911 (Trinity Hoard) 		2012 Pot containing tools and weapons, including 23 bronze axeheads[6][7]

Iron Age hoards

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The table below list hoards that are associated with the Iron Age, approximately 8th century BC to the 1st century AD.

Hoard Image Date Place of discovery Year of discovery Current Location Contents
Grouville Hoard Grouville Hoard while undergoing cleaning and investigation in 2012 1st century B.C. Grouville
Jersey
49°11′N 2°03′W / 49.19°N 2.05°W / 49.19; -2.05 (Grouville Hoard) 		2012 In the hands of Jersey Heritage (not on display) 30,000 – 50,000 late Iron Age Celtic and Roman coins, as well as some items of silver and gold jewellery[8]
La Marquanderie Hoard mid 1st century AD Saint Brélade
Jersey
49°11′15″N 2°11′58″W / 49.1875°N 2.1995°W / 49.1875; -2.1995 (La Marquanderie Hoard) 		1935 10,547 Armorican coins, almost all issued by the Curiosolitae[4]
Le Câtillon Hoard mid 1st century BC Grouville
Jersey
49°11′41″N 2°03′09″W / 49.1946°N 2.0525°W / 49.1946; -2.0525 (Le Câtillon Hoard) 		1957 Dispersed, but the La Hougue Bie Museum holds some coins About 2,500 Armorican, Belgic and Southern British Iron Age coins, most billon staters issued by the Curiosolitae, as well as some pieces of jewellery, including fragments of a gold torque, several silver and bronze fibulae, a silver chain and some bronze rings[1][4]
Rozel Hoard (1820) mid 1st century B.C. Le Câtel, Rozel, Saint Martin
Jersey
49°14′17″N 2°03′18″W / 49.238°N 2.055°W / 49.238; -2.055 (Rozel Hoard (1820)) 		1820 the hoard was acquired by Baron de Donop in Coburg, who published the coin images; through the heirs, the coins went to various museums and collectors, including the Dresden coin cabinet (until 1945) At least 982 Armorican billon staters, mostly issued by the Curiosolitae[9]
Rozel Hoard (1875) mid 1st century B.C. (c. 40 B.C.) Little Caesarea, Rozel, Saint Martin
Jersey
49°14′13″N 2°02′53″W / 49.237°N 2.048°W / 49.237; -2.048 (Rozel Hoard (1875)) 		1875 Mostly lost, some at the British Museum, London Several thousand coins (drawings of 700 of them are known)[10]

Roman hoards

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The table below list hoards of Roman artefacts and Roman coins.

Hoard Image Date Place of discovery Year of discovery Current Location Contents
Île Agois Hoard mid 3rd century Île Agois, Saint Mary
Jersey
49°14′56″N 2°10′55″W / 49.249°N 2.182°W / 49.249; -2.182 (Île Agois Hoard) 		18 antoniniani, dated A.D. 253–268, in a pot[11]
Jerbourg Hoard late 3rd century Jerbourg Point, Saint Martin
Guernsey
49°25′30″N 2°32′06″W / 49.425°N 2.535°W / 49.425; -2.535 (Jerbourg Hoard) 		before 1890 Dispersed 68 tetradrachms minted in Alexandria during the reigns of the emperors Probus (4 coins), Carus (3 coins), Numerian (3 coins), Carinus (4 coins), Diocletian (34 coins) and Maximian (19 coins)[3]
Quennevais Hoard mid 4th century Les Quennevais, Saint Brélade
Jersey
49°11′49″N 2°11′38″W / 49.197°N 2.194°W / 49.197; -2.194 (Quennevais Hoard) 		1848 Jersey Museum (264 coins) About 400 coins in a pot, mainly Roman folles dated A.D. 290–354[11][12]
Sark Hoard 1st century B.C. La Vaurocque
Sark
49°25′48″N 2°21′54″W / 49.430°N 2.365°W / 49.430; -2.365 (Sark Hoard) 		1719 Lost 18 Roman and Gaulish silver coins, a silver mount in the form of a dolphin, and 13 silver or silver-gilt phalerae in an iron-bound pottery urn[13][14]

See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ a b Finch, Olga. "Le Câtillon Hoard" (PDF). Jersey Heritage. Retrieved 2 July 2012.[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^ "Jersey Celtic Coin hoard contains gold and silver items". Jersey Heritage. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ a b Robinson, E. S. G. (1937). "A Hoard of Alexandrine Coins from Guernsey". The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Royal Numismatic Society: 135–138.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Schedule of sites of archaeological importance" (PDF). States of Jersey. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  5. ^ Kendrick, Thomas Downing (1928). The Archaeology of the Channel Islands. Vol. 1. Taylor & Francis. pp. 62–64.
  6. ^ "Bronze Age pottery find in Jersey". BBC News. 10 October 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  7. ^ "Airport x-ray scans reveal haul of new Bronze Age axeheads in pot found in Jersey field". Culture24. 13 November 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  8. ^ "Roman and Celtic coin hoard worth up to £10m found in Jersey". BBC News. 26 June 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  9. ^ de Beaulieu, Colbert (1958). "Armorican coin hoards in the Channel Islands". Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society. 24: 201–210. doi:10.1017/s0079497x00016807.
  10. ^ Allen, D. F. (1971). "The Sark Hoard". Archaeologia. 103: 1–31. doi:10.1017/s0261340900013849.
  11. ^ a b Eadie, Peter McGregor (1981). The Channel Islands. E. Benn. p. 23. ISBN 0528846191.
  12. ^ Higginbottom, R. W. (1981). Burnett, Andrew M. (ed.). Coin hoards from Roman Britain. Vol. 2. British Museum. p. 69. ISBN 0-86159-031-7.
  13. ^ Allen, D. F. "The Sark Hoard of Celtic Coins and Phalerae". The Numismatic Chronicle: 37–54.
  14. ^ Harding, Dennis William (2007). The Archaeology of Celtic Art. Routledge. p. 227. ISBN 9780415351775.
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