Today in History—November 16: The Accidental Discovery of the Hoxne Hoard

Hunt for a hammer, find the largest collection of late Roman gold and silver ever discovered in Britain. That’s what happened to Eric Lawes on this day in 1992.

Lawes, a retired utility worker, was using a metal detector he’d received as a gift to search his farmer friend’s field in Hoxne, Suffolk, England, for a missing lump hammer.

Instead, he found a treasure chest.

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Well, the remains of one: The oak had long since disintegrated, but the iron fittings survived. More importantly, so did thousands of coins and hundreds of pieces of beautiful jewelry, silver vases, spoons, and other tableware—even four pepper pots. (Owning a pepper pot back then meant you were ridiculously rich: Pepper had to travel all the way from India to Britain, so it was not exactly a pantry staple at the time.)

Lawes did everything right, a poster boy for both metal detecting and archaeology. When his detector signaled, he dug. But after just a few shovelfuls showed riches, including coins and spoons, he stopped. He immediately reported his findings to the local council, and the next day archaeologists excavated the site. They transported the entire plot of dirt to the British Museum.

Why the dirt? Because that earth contained the tiny fragments of textiles, straw, leather, and even bone—the remains of the wrappings, compartments, and chest that held the treasure. And preserving the exact arrangement in which the objects were buried made it possible to reconstruct later.

Archaeologists generally believe the hoard was hidden sometime after 407–408 ce, as Roman control of Britain was coming to an end. The end of Roman rule caused citizens some uncertainty, understandably, and maybe even a little panic. New coinage was no longer entering Britain, so someone might’ve buried this fortune for safekeeping, intending to return someday.

The discovery is now known as the Hoxne Hoard, one of roughly 250 Roman treasure hoards found in Britain (so far). Some of its most interesting pieces are now on display at the British Museum.

The missing hammer is there too.