The Yorkshire Museum's senior curator, Glynn Davis, stands beside 'the block', a 150kg tangle of objects that cannot be dismantled without causing permanent damage. This remarkable artefact is part of the Melsonby hoard, the largest trove of iron age metalwork ever found in the UK, now on display for the first time.
Exhibition Challenges Perceptions of Iron Age North
Iron age objects that tell a dramatic story of female power and dispel the myth that northern Britain was a left-behind backwater have gone on display in York. The Melsonby hoard, comprising more than 800 items, is almost certainly associated with the Brigantes tribe, who controlled most of what is now northern England. Their most famous leader was Queen Cartimandua.
Among the fragments are chariot parts, bridle bits, weapons, a cauldron, and a mysterious mirror, all deliberately dismantled and burned before burial. 'It was a crazy amount of effort and work,' said Glynn Davis, senior curator at the Yorkshire Museum.
Acquisition and Significance
The hoard was acquired by the museum after raising over £265,000, including £192,000 from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. Everyone involved believes this is an unprecedented, once-in-a-generation find. Five years after its discovery by a metal detectorist, the public can now see the treasures.
The big question remains: why were the objects buried? Was it to mark an important feast or festival? Did the Brigantes capture treasures after a fight? Was it for the funeral of an important person? The exhibition poses these questions without definitive answers.
Lead curator Emily North points to a rare iron mirror as a potential clue. 'The mirror is my absolute favourite object. It is spectacular, not because of how it looks, but because it could solve the puzzle of why this hoard was buried,' she said.
Female Power and Mystical Connections
Iron age mirrors are exclusively associated with powerful women and have not been found in graves of men or children. North suggests the mirror may have belonged to Cartimandua's mother or grandmother. 'It is a magical object associated with female power. This mirror would have given a distorted view of the person looking into it,' she explained. The mirror was likely seen as a 'bridge to a past life', indicating a powerful older woman with connections to a mystical world.
Just under a fifth of the hoard is on display, with more to come in future years. At the centre of the show is a climate-controlled case containing 'the block', a 150kg corroded tangle of objects. Curators decided that dismantling it would cause permanent damage.
'It is an incredibly tantalising object,' said North. 'You can peek through the surface at some of the things hidden inside. There's a stylised boar's head that's part of an object and also a man's face. To see the face of an iron age Briton as they depicted themselves is very special.'
From Roman times onwards, iron age life in northern Britain has been seen as less developed and less connected than the south. However, experts say the Melsonby hoard requires a rethink. 'The sheer wealth, artistry, skill and international connections revealed by the objects show that the iron age north was a vibrant place. It was not left behind in any sense,' North concluded.
Chariots, Treasure and Power: Secrets of the Melsonby Hoard opens on 15 May at the Yorkshire Museum.
