The Corbridge Hoard is a

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

of mostly iron artefacts that was excavated in 1964 within the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

site of Coria, next to what is now

Corbridge Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe. Etymology Corbridge was known to the Romans as something like ''Corstopitum'' or ''Coriosopit ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a ceremonial counties of England, county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Ab ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

(not to be confused with a hoard of gold coins found nearby in 1911). It came from amongst the central range of administrative buildings in one of the early

forts A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

underlying the later Roman town and probably dates to between AD 122 and 138.

Contents of the hoard

The contents (which included iron/steel, copper-alloy, lead-alloy, stone, glass, and organic items) were buried in an iron-bound, leather-covered

chest The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the crea ...

, made of

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

-wood planks fitted together with dovetails at the corners. The most famous objects within were six upper and six lower half-units of '

lorica segmentata The ''lorica segmentata'' (), also called ''lorica lamminata'' (see §Name), is a type of personal armour that was used by soldiers of the Roman army, consisting of metal strips fashioned into circular bands, fastened to internal leather stra ...

' armour which, although mis-matched, could represent as few as three whole

cuirass A cuirass (; french: cuirasse, la, coriaceus) is a piece of armour that covers the torso, formed of one or more pieces of metal or other rigid material. The word probably originates from the original material, leather, from the French '' cui ...

es, or elements of twelve partial sets. It was this discovery that enabled Charles Daniels and H. Russell Robinson to understand how this type of armour should be reconstructed. Prior to the discovery of the Hoard, '' "people knew there was the segmented armour, but we didn’t know how it was put together or how it was made"''. The Corbridge Hoard also contained bundles of

spear A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fasten ...

heads still tied together with cord; artillery bolts; a sword scabbard; various tools and implements (including a pulley-block and a crusie lamp); items associated with carpentry, such as nails and joiner's dogs; a small wooden bucket or tankard. There were also fragmentary remains of feathers (possibly cushion stuffing or helmet plumes), wax writing tablets, and (almost uniquely in

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered wa ...

) fragments of

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to a ...

. All of the organic components in the Hoard (including the box itself) had been preserved by mineralization brought about by the

rust Rust is an iron oxide, a usually reddish-brown oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the catalytic presence of water or air moisture. Rust consists of hydrous iron(III) oxides (Fe2O3·nH2O) and iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (FeO(OH), ...

ing of its iron and steel contents. The Hoard has been variously interpreted as material hurriedly concealed from attacking

barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less ...

; deliberately buried in order to accumulate

verdigris Verdigris is the common name for blue-green, copper-based pigments that form a patina on copper, bronze, and brass. The technical literature is ambiguous as to its chemical composition. Some sources refer to "neutral verdigris" as copper(II ...

and

for medicinal purposes; or detritus from clearing out a workshop when a garrison moved on from the site (and buried to deny the raw materials to an enemy). The full English Heritage report on the contents and interpretation of the hoard is now available through th
Archaeology Data Service
Allason-Jones, L., Bishop, M. (1988
Excavations at Roman Corbridge: The Hoard
English Heritage.

Display

Parts of the Hoard are on display at Corbridge Roman Site museum, whilst some other material from it is on display in the

Great North Museum The Great North Museum: Hancock is a museum of natural history and ancient civilisations in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The museum was established in 1884 and was formerly known as the Hancock Museum. In 2006 it merged with Newcastle Unive ...

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is a ...

. From August 2012, the Hoard is in a new display at the Corbridge Roman site. The exhibition includes a replica which will help visitors envisage how the armour once looked as well as a film showing footage never before shown in public of the excavation of the hoard as it was dug up from the trench in 1964.

Notes

References

* Allason-Jones L. and Bishop, M.C. 1988:
Excavations at Roman Corbridge: the Hoard
', HBMCE Archaeological Report 7, London. {{ISBN, 9781848022010 * Daniels, C.M. 1968: "A hoard of iron and other materials from Corbridge" ''Archaeologia Aeliana'' Series 4, 46, 115-26 * Davies, R.W. 1970: "A note on the hoard of Roman equipment buried at Corbridge" ''Durham University Journal'', 177-80 * Macdonald, G., 1912: "The Corbridge gold find of 1911", ''Journal of Roman Studies'' 2, 43-83 * Manning, W.H. 1972: "Iron work hoards in Iron Age and Roman Britain", ''Britannia'' 3, 224-50 * Robinson, H.R. 1975: ''The Armour of Imperial Rome'', (London)

External links

The armour from the Corbridge Hoard
History of Northumberland Treasure troves of Roman Britain Treasure troves in England 1964 in England 1964 archaeological discoveries Hoards from Roman Britain Corbridge

Contents of the hoard

Display

See also

Notes

References

External links