Treasure Trove

 The Snettisham Hoard.....

The Great Torc

Imagine this.  A state of uncertainty, even crisis.  You don't trust the bankers (despite recent hikes the interest rate is still negligible for deposits).  You actually don't trust anyone, as a succession of leaders have proved themselves to be self-serving charlatans without clear ideas....  You have in your possession a certain amount of hard won valuables.  A handful of money and some expensive, if impractical jewellery.  There is a war in Europe and there is talk of an invasion.  You don't want to lose everything. You want to preserve something for your children.  What you gonna do? 

Of course, you dig a hole.  Quite a deep one, and you place your best pieces in a container deep in the hole.  You then infill some of the cavity.  Then you place some of your lesser treasures in another container, place that in the hole and cover everything with soil.  Job done.

Well, near where I now live, there was some unusual activity a few years before Julius Caesar dreamed of extending the Roman Empire beyond the shores of the EU.  Someone (or some persons) decided to bury several crates or containers of treasure (jewellery, ornaments and other various pieces of gold and valuable metal alloys).  And, perhaps in order to confuse potential robbers, the best items were buried well beneath some of the lesser pieces.

It is not known who was responsible for this primitive exercise in safe depositing, nor why such an amount was interred, but when it was unearthed it constituted the single greatest Iron Age treasure trove (I love that otherwise obsolete use of Latin, now still the root of trovare - to find - in Italian) discovered in this part of the world.  One theory is that the rulers of the Iceni Tribe felt the need to conceal much of their important ritual precious metal pieces beneath their treasury.

Fast forward to 1948.  By now, not surprisingly, those who buried the above treasures, or who might have heard rumours of the same, are well dead. But post-war agricultural developments meant that a certain field was no longer planted with lavender and a tractor was employed to drag a modern deep plough across the plot.  The driver (Mr R L Williams) found his plough had snagged some metallic objects, which, on inspection were deemed to be part of an old brass bedstead, and so they were piled at the edge of the field.

The roadside today (no treasure visible from the bus)

A passing expert (who just happened by) thought further excavation was merited, and a number of gold and silver artefacts, including bracelets, torcs - or torques - (a kind of open necklace) and some coins came to light.

Picture courtesy of the British Museum

In 1950, the tractor driver (on this occasion Mr Tom Rout) hit the jackpot and turned up further articles of value, including the finest torc of all.

Tom F Rout

With the help of box scrapers and metal detectors, further work was carried out in 1964, 1968, 1973 and 1989.   The combined finds from this field constituted the first large group of Iron Age metal work to be found in England and Wales which included coinage, and this enabled the finds to be dated between 100 BCE and 25 BCE, with the probable time of concealment being between 25 BCE and 10 CE.  

To quote the magazine Current Archaeology, from May 2007, The best evidence for the dating of the hoards comes from the coins, of which there were some 234 in all: indeed five of the hoards contained coins. They are all Celtic coins, of the early, uninscribed variety, the majority being Gallo-Belgic imports, as well as some early British types. These early Gallo-Belgic are dated to around 70 BC.....

Why is this of interest or importance?  Well one simple reason is related to an examination currently set for those aspiring to British Citizenship. The other day the Times newspaper published ten questions extracted from this test:  look closely at question 3.....

 

and then look at the answer printed below.  Then compare with the evidence from the Snettisham Hoard (among other Iron Age finds.....)  I am so very glad I am not interested in becoming a British Citizen!

Anyway..... The Snettisham Treasure is a wonder in itself.  Who buried it and why, and how it remained undiscovered for so long remain mysteries.  But the fact that metal workers some two thousand years ago or more were so skilled is to be marvelled at, if only because in this so much more civilised age  some people still understand so little of what it means to be civilised....  And it wasn't just one person.  The Great Torc, for example, is made of strands of twisted alloy that would have taken three to twine.

At the present time, the Snettisham Hoard is divided between Norwich Castle Museum and The British Museum, where it lies alongside other indigenous treasures as the Mildenhall Great Dish and the Sutton Hoo Helmet, not to mention a few bits and pieces looted from the rest of the world....

There were, it should be mentioned, other finds in this area, such as the Snettisham Jeweller's Hoard, buried around 155 CE and discovered in 1985.

And then there are the hordes (Tangles) of Knot that flock across the Wash at exceptional high tides.  (Excuse the pun....)

For most people, however, it is the Iron Age Treasure that is the Torc of the town, and justifiably so..... 

Though, for me, there is only one treasure, and that is personal.....

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

St Matthew, Chapter 6, verses 19 - 21

Imagine this. A state of financial crisis. You don't trust the bankers. You actually don't trust anyone, as a succession of politicians have proved themselves to be self-serving and corrupt with scrambled fantasies.... You have earned a few savings and are paying off a mortgage loan. There is a war in Europe and there is talk of an invasion. There is also talk of austerity, of tax hikes and service cuts.  And there is  rampant inflation. You don't want to lose everything. You want to preserve something for your children. 

What are you going to do?

Clogau - All that glisters.....

The golden hills of Wales!

Afon Cym-Llechen, near Llechfraith, Gwynedd

When I think of Wales, although this may be reprehensibly prejudiced, I tend to think of wild hills, rocky seashores, rain, and sheep. Gold does not spring to mind.  I would think of coal, if I thought of mining; I would not automatically think of gold.

Most usually the light is silver, white or grey - it is not gold, although on bright summer moments, there may be a yellowing, a rolling palette of warmer colours.

On the left of the pictures above is the lengthy ridge of Cadair Idris, which reaches 893 metres above sea level, near Dolgellau, in the Southern part of the Snowdonia National Park.

On the north and west of Cadair Idris the river Mawddach flows to the Irish sea, winding its way through salt marshes and mud flats, 

slipping under the long low railway bridge before it spreads out into Barmouth Bay.

At Penmaenpool, just by the George III Hotel,

a toll bridge crosses the river, which connects the Mawddach Trail to Barmouth, via Bontddu along the A496.

The estuary is rich in wildlife as well as cattle and sheep.  At Rhuddallt the gardens of the White Horses Retreat slip down to the water's edge.

And at low tide the peace of a walk along the sand bar is almost overwhelming.

But just a half mile from here is the village of Bontddu, where the river Cwm Llechen tumbles down to the estuary from the slopes of 750 metre high Diffwys.  There was a serious ship-building industry here in the seventeenth century, using oak from the forests, but these hills were also a rich source of minerals, and copper and lead were mined here by the Romans (and there is also evidence of mining activity as far back as the Bronze Age - which would not have been an Age at all if it weren't for mining!) 

Above Bontddu

But then, in 1854, the owner of one of the copper mines, a Mr Goodman, "accidentally" discovered gold. This precipitated a Gold Rush, and the officially recorded output from the six lodes under Clogau between 1862 and 1911 was 165,031 tons of gold ore, from which 78,507 ounces (approximately two and a quarter tons!) of gold was extracted.

The gold extracted here is of rare quality, having a rose blush due to impurities. The slightly dodgy photo above is a snap from the British Airways in-flight brochure taken recently on my iPhone on the way back from Italy. 

There is still gold here, but the rush was over in 1911, and for 75 years production was intermittent. Then in 1989 William Roberts, founder of "Clogau Gold of Wales Ltd." recommenced extraction (famously this is where Princess Diana's wedding ring came from, following the tradition of the Queen Mother's ring in 1923, the current Queen's in 1947, Princess Anne's in 1973, and since Charles and Diana - and Charles and Camilla - Kate Middleton wore Clogau Gold in 2011). However with the price of production reaching £1,000 an ounce (health and safety costs!) the Clogau St David's mine closed in 1998.

The site of the mines around Hafod-uchaf

There are numerous signs of mining in these hills, and Ben Roberts, son of the founder of the company, wishes to reopen the mine.  According to a 2012 geological survey of the area, there could still be as much as £125 million worth of gold in these lodes, though Ben's ambition is to have enough to fuel his jewellery business, and perhaps attract tourists to the area.

One of many disused mine entrances

When Clogau Gold started trading, the value of gold was about $300 an ounce.  It rose to $1600 an ounce, but this was still an uneconomical price to extract it at the end of the twentieth century.  The peak in recent years was in about 2011 when it reached $1800; currently it is about $1320, but the hope is that with advanced technology it will not be as expensive to produce as it was.

 

Anyway, the Crown Estates, a company with a portfolio worth about £6 billion, has the exclusive right to license gold mining in the United Kingdom, and despite pressure from foreign investors it is probable that Ben Roberts and Clogau Gold may once again disturb the earth beneath the hills around Bontddu.

For me the better gold is the colour of the gorse and the vetches above the ground.  It may be misty, and the clouds may roll in with cold winds, but it is great walking country.  Handy dry stone walls provide shelter for a snack and a cup of tea, 

Though at times visibility is disappointing,

It will clear from time to time,

And the landscape reveals its glories, and its history.

Then the day draws to a close; quiet descends on Afon Mawddach,

And the golden lights of the George III sparkle us home across the river.

It's interesting to think of gold rushes in the British Isles (there was one in Scotland too) but, as the Pardoner taught me, "Radix malorum est cupiditas," and I cannot unscramble the images of the young men dying in the woods in Pasolini's film (of 'The Canterbury Tales') from association with Enron, Freddie Mac, Lehman, Waste Management, Parmalat, and so on.  The unseemly, futile, greedy scrambles for wealth have done little to enhance our world.

Better a golden sunset than a ring of fire.

There's gold in them hills!

http://www.eryri-npa.gov.uk/visiting/walking/Easy-Leisure-Walks/Mawddach-Trail

http://www.eryri-npa.gov.uk/visiting/walking/Hard-Leisure-Walks/clogau,-bont-ddu

http://www.whitehorsesretreat.co.uk/index.html

http://www.clogau.co.uk/

Where sheep may safely graze....

Epiphany

La Befana



Domenico Ghirlandaio

This morning, when I woke, I found a sack of coal outside my door.  A bit much, I thought; have I really been that bad?

It is one of the oldest and most observed traditions of Italy that young children expect presents on the morning of January 6th, The Feast of the Epiphany, which celebrates the arrival of the Magi, representing the world of the Gentiles, to see the Christ Child and present their gifts. 

Sandro Botticelli

"And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."  (Matthew 2, verse 11). 

The Magi had journeyed for days and nights, following the star in the East, and on the twelfth night after the birth, they came to the house of a woman who had lost her child, and they asked her the way.  She was busy cleaning and declined to follow them.  Then a shepherd, following the wise men, also asked her to go with them.  Again she declined, but not long after she saw a great light in the sky and decided she would go after all and so gathered up all the toys and presents she had had for her own dead child and hurried after the men, carrying her broom.  Sadly she never caught up with them, and wandered unfulfilled, although some versions of the tale have her arriving at the stable to find the manger empty, where she delivers her gifts.

Ghirlandaio (detail)

There is a pre-Christian, Roman feast of Saturnalia in midwinter, associated with the gods Janus and Strenia, and this story may well have its origins within that world.  But then it has been transmuted further by turning the woman into a witch, riding her broomstick, called in Italy La Befana (clearly derived from Epiphany), who brings good children gifts on Twelfth Night, but delivers coal (or onions or garlic in some areas) to children who have been bad.....   

Many are the poems and songs which keep this tradition alive, from the Romanesque sonnets of Gioachino Belli in the mid 19th century, through the fourth movement of Feste Romane by Respighi, to a song popularised by Gianni Morandi in 1978  - 

"The Song of the Befana"

La Befana vien di notte

con le scarpe tutte rotte,

con la calza appesa al collo

col carbone, col ferro e l’ottone.

In modern times she is still very active, and Italian children expect their gifts on January 6th rather than Christmas Day, and lie awake on Twelfth Night fearful that they may hear the witch bumping her broomstick.  In Piazza Navona, in Rome, it is said she looks out of a window onto the busy Christmas market (which specialises in selling sugar sweets, especially those that appear to be lumps of coal) and the small town of Urbania, in Le Marche, holds one of the biggest celebrations of La Befana in a four day festival leading up to the Epiphany.  In Venice, on January 6th, they hold the Befane races, Regatta delle Befane, when gondoliers dressed as La Befana race on the Grand Canal.  In the Vatican City, following another tradition, a procession of hundreds of people in medieval costumes parade up the avenue leading to the Vatican, carrying symbolic gifts for the Pope who then says a morning mass in St Peter's to commemorate the visit of the Magi.

As an aside, in historical tradition the Magi were priests of the sacred fire. They were a privileged caste who, in Zoroastrian Persia,  symbolized the three worlds: earthy gold, celestial incense, and myrrh from beyond the grave.

In literature the use of the word "epiphany" (with a small "e") is used to denote a moment of revelation, or the sudden understanding or realisation of the nature or meaning of something.  This may occur following some experience which triggers a new way of seeing something.  James Joyce developed this idea in "Stephen Hero" and then "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,"  when he sees a girl wading with her skirts hitched up, which reminds him of a bird, which reminds him of flight, and Icarus, and so reveals that his name (Daedalus) is associated with art and that that is where his life should lead......  But that is another story.

However, that may help explain why I found a bag of coal on my doorstep this morning.

Canzone della Befana - Gianni Morandi 1978 | Poesie della Befana http://www.poesie.reportonline.it/Poesie-della-Befana/canzone-della-befana.html#ixzz2HBghgHkk