A Decade of Discovery

In 2007 the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) marked its tenth anniversary by holding a conference at which speakers, both from within the Scheme and outside gave a series of papers that demonstrated the research potential of recording finds of archaeological objects made by members of the public. This volume contains papers given at that conference together with a number of other contributions. PAS started as six pilot schemes in 1997 and became a national network across England and Wales in 2003. The core aim of PAS has always been to minimise the loss to our heritage caused by the failure to record systematically objects found by the public metal-detector users, amateur field-walkers and chance finders. The reason for recording these objects is to create a resource that can be used at many different levels as a resource for school projects purposes, for studying the history of ones local area, or for academic research. Contents: Foreword (Roger Bland); 1) The Portable Antiquities Schemes Database: its development for research since 1998 (Daniel E. J. Pett); 2) The Portable Antiquities Scheme: the contribution of lithics and lithic scatters (Clive Jonathon Bond); 3) Metal Detecting Rallies and Landscape Archaeology: recreating lost landscapes on the Berkshire downs (Kate Sumnall and Paula Levick); 4) An Assessment of the Archaeological Research Dividends of the Portable Antiquities Scheme: a case study of Bronze Age metalwork from East Anglia (Nisha Doshi); 5) Celtic Art, GIS Analysis and the Portable Antiquities Scheme (Duncan Garrow); 6) New Evidence for Iron Age Sword Strap Fasteners Identified by PAS (Liz Andrews-Wilson); 7) Iron Age Warwickshire: has the Portable Antiquities Scheme made a difference? (Angie Bolton); 8) Changing Objects in Changing Worlds: dragonesque brooches and beaded torcs (Fraser Hunter); 9) The Cult of Totatis: evidence for tribal identity in mid Roman Britain (Adam Daubney); 10) The Portable Antiquities Scheme and Roman Rural Settlement: some preliminary work on Wiltshire (Tom Brindle); 11) Portable Antiquities in the Roman Frontier Rob Collins (Expanding the Frontiers: how the Portable Antiquities Scheme database increases knowledge of Roman coin use in England (Sam Moorhead); 12) Early Anglo-Saxon Brooches in Southern England: the contribution of the Portable Antiquities Scheme (Laura McLean); 13) Beyond the Tribal Hidage: using portable antiquities to explore early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in southern England (Sue Harrington and Martin Welch); 14) The Changing Face of Saucer-brooch Distribution, 1912 - 1977 - 1997 2007 (Tania Dickinson); 15) A Productive Site at Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire: salt, communication and trade in Anglo-Saxon England (John Naylor and Julian D. Richards); 16) Medieval Copper-alloy Mace-heads from England, Scotland and Wales (Adam Daubney); 17) Widespread Devotion: new insights from the Portable Antiquities Scheme into medieval pilgrim trinkets (Geoff Egan); 18) Personal and Impersonal Impressions: identity revealed through seals (John Cherry); 19) Searching with a Fine-toothed Comb: combs for humans and horses on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database (Steven P. Ashby and Angie Bolton).