'Remarkable archaeological find' discovered by detectorists in the Cotswolds
Historic England say they don't yet know why they ended up in the Cotswolds, but they're been handed to the Corinium Museum in Cirencester
Ancient Roman swords which have been discovered in the Cotswold have been called a rare, important and remarkable archaeological find.
The two Roman cavalry swords, as well as remnants of their wooden scabbards, filaments, and a broken copper alloy bowl, were found by metal detectorist, Glenn Manning during a rally in the north of the Cotswolds.
Historic England say they don't yet know why they ended up in the Cotswolds, but they're been handed to the Corinium Museum in Cirencester.
Cllr Paul Hodgkinson, said: “This new discovery shows what an incredibly deep history the Cotswolds has. People famously asked, ‘What have the Romans ever done for us?’. Well, they have just given us some amazing examples of weapons used almost 2000 years ago when Cirencester was the second biggest town in Britain.
"This is truly a remarkable archaeological find and I can’t wait for visitors to see them on display in the years to come.”
The swords were appraised by Professor Simon James from Leicester University who says that these weapons are middle imperial Roman swords commonly referred to as a spatha.
According to Professor James, these swords were in use in the Roman world probably by the 160s, and continued to be used up to the third century AD.
It was not illegal for civilians to own these kind of weapons at this time - and to carry them for travelling - because Roman provinces were plagued with banditry.
Prof. James said: “In terms of parallels, I can’t think of finds of more than one sword being deposited in any similar circumstance from Roman Britain.
"The closest that springs to mind was a pair of similar swords found in Canterbury—with their owners, face down in a pit within the city walls, clearly a clandestine burial, almost certainly a double murder.”
The finds were very soon handed to the Cornium Museum in Cirencester for preservation purposes by the Finds Liaison Officer, Kurt Adams.
Historic England is assisting the museum by arranging for the swords to go for further analysis under x-ray, whilst there could very soon be an archaeological appraisal at the dig site in a bid to help put the swords into context.
They say they don't currently know why the swords ended up buried in the Cotswolds.
To learn more about the history of the Cotswolds and to visit the Corinium Museum, visit their website.