Readers of Current Archaeology Magazine have voted to make the Melsonby Hoard Iron Age find its ‘Rescue Project of the Year’. The hoard was excavated by @arcdurham.bsky.social, including Archaeological Services, with support from The British Museum and Historic England 👉 tinyurl.com/cjfmauj9

We're very excited to have Dr Sophia Adams coming to talk to us about this award winning project in April!

Concluding our first session, Dr Sophia Adams (British Museum) is here to tell us about an amazing Iron Age discovery from North Yorkshire, in ‘The massive Melsonby Iron Age Hoard’ #CALive26

The Melsonby Hoard's 2nd deposit was block-lifted and CT-scanned. It is a remarkable lump of corroded metal items - including a tiny face, and a little boar's head; more vehicle parts and bridle bits... this block has been kept together and will be displayed as such at the Yorkshire Museum #CALive26

Other items in Hoard 1 include a cauldron decorated with fish imagery; fine decorative openwork pieces of metalwork; 3 very large iron spearheads (60cm+ long); an iron mirror; another vessel, poss a wine-mixing bowl decorated with a face or 'mask' #CALive26

The tyres range from 76cm to 1.08m in diameter - but were they for 2-wheeled chariots or 4-wheeled wagons? Some were heftier than you'd expect for a chariot... and we have at least two 'king pins' which come from 4-wheeled vehicles #CALive26

The harness pieces are larger than needed to be functional, and some are very ornate, adorned with coral. The Melsonby material had been designed for display #CALive26

The Melsonby Hoard includes some 28 big iron rings - Iron Age tyres. They had been bent and bashed about (and apparently heated, poss to get rid of woodwork and help bend them), but then carefully layered up with other objects #CALive26

The Melsonby Hoard actually has two deposits. Hoard 1 contains almost 900 fragments of metalwork representing more than 300 objects. Lovely snaffle bits, harness fittings, terret rings, and vehicle components like tyres, linchpins, and decorative finials #CALive26

A cow toe bone was also found beneath the objects in Hoard 1, indicating that any associated human remains should have survived. But no sign of an inhumation or cremation burial associated with the Melsonby Hoard has yet been found #CALive26

The Melsonby Hoard is set to go on display in a new exhibition at the Yorkshire Museum, ‘Chariots, Treasure and Power: Secrets of the Melsonby Hoard’, which opens on 15 May: www.yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk/news-media/l... #CALive26

You can read more about the Melsonby Hoard in CA 423: the-past.com/feature/the-... #CALive26 For more insights into the Melsonby Hoard, see www.durham.ac.uk/departments/... #CALive26

The winner of the 2026 CA Award for Rescue Project of the Year (sponsored by Udig Excavations Ltd) is… ‘The Melsonby Hoard: exploring unprecedented insights into Iron Age Yorkshire’ (@durham.ac.uk /British Museum/Historic England) #CALive26

We are watching a video from the excavation of the Melsonby Hoard, one of the largest Iron Age metalwork hoards yet found in the country #CALive26

Understanding the age of listed buildings can be a minefield. Ye Olde Fighting Cocks at St Albans is claimed to date to 793; its listed as 16C; but is a dovecote of c1400 resited c1600. More on Reinterpreting Listed Buildings during an online talk, 26 Feb: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reinterpre...

🧵 (4 posts) More than 800 Iron Age objects discovered at Melsonby in North Yorkshire are to go on public display for the first time in a major new exhibition. Chariots, Treasure and Power: Secrets of the Melsonby Hoard will run at the Yorkshire Museum from 15 May 2026 to summer 2027, offering 1/4

The Melsonby Hoard will go on public display at the Yorkshire Museum later this year. This internationally significant Iron Age find was excavated by @arcdurham.bsky.social, including our Archaeological Services team. Find out more 👉 www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...

More than 800 Iron Age artefacts, known as the Melsonby Hoard found in a N. Yorks field will go on display for the first time at the Yorkshire Museum, York from May onwards. The collection features chariot wheels, cauldrons & spears. 👇 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Archaeology investigation after vault discovered #Kent #BBCNews 🔗: https://www.bbc.com/news/arti...

Our innovative and impactful research transforms lives and makes a difference, globally and locally. Discover more in our Global Research Newsletter 👉 mailchi.mp/96a54d0bd591... #DUresearch

Let's talk about the Aylesbury tunnels.

Very pleased that the Durotriges Project pit burials have been cited by the BBC as one of the top UK archaeological discoveries of 2025 alongside @buarchanth.bsky.social 13th century *Mortar Wreck* and @arcdurham.bsky.social work on the Iron Age Melsonby Hoard 😊👍 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

🎉We can finally reveal our seminar programme for the rest of 2026! 📆We start next Tuesday (13/01) with the traditional unit roundup showcasing some recent commercial archaeology projects. ➡️Please note that we are now meeting in the Usha Kasera Lecture Theatre in Old College (except for March)

The next online talk will look at life on the road in the mediaeval period. What was it like to travel, who could be found on the road, and what observations did they leave us? I'll be live online at 7pmGMT on Wednesday 28 January. Booking & more info: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-mediae...

We're often asked 'how did Roman potters create the moulds that they used to make lamps & deity figurines?' The answer is that there were numerous methods used. In these 4 videos Sarah & I show one technique that we have identified.🏺#Archaeology #Pottery #Ceramics #Classics youtu.be/nJD9tCfv-7I?...

May 2025: It was another busy month in Greenwich Park - with two milestone announcements. For the first time since 2021 a new herd of eight fallow deer returned to the park 🦌 At the end of the month the Rose Garden reopened after an exciting multi-year regeneration project 🌹 #12MonthsOfTRP

🏺 You want ancient shields? Not only can you gawp close-up at huge Bronze & Iron Age examples, but also see gorgeous mini votive shields from hoards - showing real variety in form - and the simply astonishing Enderby BARK SHIELD, which revealed true diversity in Iron Age materials & artisan skill.

🏺 Top tip for British Museum visitors: go across the court, up rotunda stairs, cross bridge into upper floor, head past crowds aiming for Egypt and Mesopotamia, and go straight to Rooms 50 and 51 where the most stunning array of glories from later prehistory await you!

A magnificent ginkgo biloba showing stunning seasonal colours 🍂 📍 Greenwich Park 📸 Anna M and Mark W

Cast your vote to make the Melsonby Hoard @currentarchaeology.bsky.social's Rescue Project of the Year 2026! Unearthed by our archaeologists, the hoard is one of the UK’s largest and most important Iron Age finds 👉 www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/... @proftommoore.bsky.social

This magnificent sweet chestnut tree has sat proudly for centuries in the Greenwich Park Flower Garden 🌳 As part of @thetreecouncil.bsky.social's National Tree Week we're shining a spotlight on different trees around the parks 🌲

Throughout The Green Park you'll find London plane trees standing tall. These urban warriors have an important role to play 🌳 As part of @thetreecouncil.bsky.social's National Tree Week we're shining a spotlight on different trees around the parks 🌲 Watch on to find out more about these trees 📹

Next Monday 1 Dec 25: Sophia Adams will be talking about "The Melsonby hoard" for the Combined Hertfordshire Archaeological Societies. Lecture on zoom, free tickets from Eventbrite. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1777827874... #IronAge #prehistory #archaeology #HorseGear #AmazingFind @ehasarch.bsky.social

The next CHAS lecture is a not-to-miss event! Join us on December 1 to hear British Museum curator Dr. Sophia Adams talk about the amazing Melsonby Hoard - and, as always, it's free! More info and a link for tickets here: ehas.org.uk/ehas.org.uk/... #archaeology #ancientBluesky

Like a time capsule: a #Roman tile marked with #finger lines, hobnail #shoe prints, #dog's paw prints, and a #stamp of the LEG(io) XIIII G(emina). Tiles with imprints are very common, since tiles were laid out to dry in the open air ahead of firing, where...🧵1/2 #TilesOnTuesday 🏺

On 13 November, join Prof. Tom Moore FSA and Dr Sophia Adams FSA as they share recent finds in Melsonby, North Yorkshire - one of the largest hoards of Iron Age metalwork ever encountered in Britain! www.sal.org.uk/event/melson...

It's Reading Week - but the #archaeology never stops! Dr Kris Lockyear is out in the field this week w/ 2nd & 3rd year students running (with Gareth Rees, 1 of our alum) a surveying course in Hertfordshire... Stay tuned & send good weather vibes! #LocalAndGlobal #ThinkDifferentlyThinkArchaeology

We were lucky enough to work with @yorkmuseumstrust.bsky.social to scan the #MelsonbyHoard recently! See www.durham.ac.uk/departments/... for more info on this amazing discovery. Help the York Museums Trust keep the hoard in Yorkshire and donate today at www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-the-m....

Lovely to see the listing increased to Grade II* by Historic England and the DCMS for this amazing windmill in Margate. Draper's Windmill was constructed in about 1843, by John Holman, millwright of Canterbury. 🧵 📷 Emily Greenaway

The 2,000-year-old secrets that the amazing Melsonby Hoard is slowly revealing

We're excited to be working with Wealden Archaeology Group at Scotney Castle! During October, the team has been undertaking GPR survey to learn more about the lost buildings depicted on 18th-early 19th century plans, to the west of the Old Castle. heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRec...

NEW Handaxes and Levallois cores from Shbicha, Iraq. Lying at the crossroads of Pleistocene hominin dispersals, these lithics show repeated episodes of raw material exploitation, indicating well-developed knowledge of the local environment. Learn more 🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy... 🏺 #Archaeology

If you are still awake, take a moment you look up at the moon. Currently untroubled by living humans. Still a place of ghosts, gods and 20th century wreckage.

And so back to Greenwich by water, and there while something is dressing for our dinner, Sir William and I walked into the Park, where the King hath planted trees and made steps in the hill up to the Castle, which is very magnificent.

Whilst storms 🌪️ rage on the west coast, here's an incredible Samian vessel from Aquae Sulis - Roman Bath - to start the week. It depicts two gladiators locked in combat ⚔️🛡️😮 An incredible survival & on display in the Roman Baths museum 📷 My own

Today I learned something amazingly new to me. Lightning strikes visible in magnetometry ⚡⚡⚡😲 Great presentation from Archaeological Management Solutions on work near Sligo

Tonight is the 85th anniversary of so many WW1 records being destroyed. #otd #ww1 #geneaology See www.longlongtrail.co.uk/the-1940-fir...

If you were hoping to see a teenage Ben Affleck* talking to Dr Peter Reynolds @butserancientfarm.co.uk before the weekend, then don't worry: we've got you covered. 👍 www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeJj...

And just like that, Season 2 of #Bodiam100 is complete! We’ve had an amazing 3 weeks on site with around 140 participants joining us #OutInTheField. We’d like to say a huge thank you to all our volunteers & to our property colleagues for making us so welcome at Bodiam. 🏺🧵 @nationaltrust.org.uk