...an offering to the gods...
This flint nodule, or crock, was used to conceal a hoard of seven gold Iron Age coins. They were discovered by a metal detectorist near Kingsclere in Hampshire during the construction of a golf course in 1988. The detector was waved over the large flint nodule, resulting in a strong signal – the coins were inside a natural cylindrical hole in the stone, held in place by a plug of clay.
The coins are known to archaeologists as “staters”, and date to the later 1st century BC. They had a wide distribution in Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex. This style of coin is known as the triple-tailed coin issue. You can clearly make out the three tails of the stylised horse in the close-up image of one of the coins in the “Gallery” section.
Although unusual, the practice of placing coins in flint nodules is known from other similar finds in the United Kingdom. The coins may have been an ‘offering to the gods’, deliberately buried as part of a religious or ritual activity.
The tribal group who lived in Hampshire, Berkshire and West Sussex before the coming of the Romans is known as the Atrebates.
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