The jewellery hoard was found by Colchester Archaeological Trust (CAT) member Adam Wightman, who had been supervising an excavation at the Fenwick Williams & Griffins department store located in Colchester, UK.
It included three gold armlets, a silver chain necklace, two silver bracelets, a silver armlet, a small bag of coins, and a small jewellery box containing two sets of gold earrings and four gold rings.
Archaeological finds are not uncommon in Colchester, however, according to a statement by CAT, this discovery was “really special”.
“It represents the first Roman hoard of precious metals ever found in [the] Colchester town centre,” the statement read. “It is very exciting for us, as we only find precious metals very rarely.”
The jewellery is thought to have been owned by a wealthy Roman woman. Members of the trust speculated that she buried her valuables during the early stages of the Boudican Revolt in AD 61 before her home was lit on fire.
Described as being “one of the finest of its type to have been discovered in Britain”, the Colchester collection has been transferred to a conservation laboratory for further archaeological investigation and preservation.
Following this, Fenwick intends to hand the jewellery over to the Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service.
The Discovery up close
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