An Iron Age gold quarter stater found near Bawdsey

This month’s Featured Find showcases a rare Iron Age coin, recovered by a local metal detector user towards the end of 2022. Made of gold, the coin is just over 11mm in diameter, and is known as a quarter stater. The obverse depicts a central corn ear and is inscribed [CA]M to the left and

Iron Age brooch, Gislingham

Recovered by a local metal detector user last year, February’s Featured Find showcases a Middle Iron Age brooch, dating to circa 275-250 BC. Almost complete, the brooch consists of now broken symmetrical terminals located at the head and the foot. The terminals are comprised of two adjacent discs with central perforations situated either side of

A Roman Silver Denarius of Vespasian

This Months featured find is a Roman silver denarius of Vespasian found near Great Whelnetham. Our first featured find of 2023 takes us back to the 1st century AD. It is a silver Roman denarius coin found by a local metal detector user in 2019. Only slightly worn, the obverse features the bust of emperor

A probable early medieval Knife, Ipswich

Recovered by chance by a member of the public earlier this year, this iron knife likely dates to between circa AD 500-1000. A ‘whittle and tang’ knife; this knife has a blade with a straight back and curved cutting edge. It has a long, narrow, tang which would have been attached to a grip made

Lower Palaeolithic handaxe, Lavenham

This month’s featured find is a complete Lower Palaeolithic flint handaxe found near Lavenham, dating to c. 533,000-300,000 BC. Recovered by chance by a local metal detector user in 2016, this Palaeolithic handaxe represents one of the earliest types of artefacts found in Suffolk. Made from flint, the handaxe is ‘bifacially worked’, meaning it has

A complete Iron Age to early Roman cosmetic mortar, Flixton

This month’s featured find is a late Iron Age to early Roman cosmetic mortar found by a local metal detector user in 2019 near Flixton. Together with a now missing pestle, this mortar would have been part of a cosmetic set. Like the mortar, the pestle would have had a loop. Both the pestle and

A Post Medieval toy firearm, Beck Row

This month’s featured find is a miniature toy gun found by a local metal detector user near Beck Row in 2021. Cast in copper alloy, the object mimics a match-lock petronel firearm used in the 16th and 17th centuries. It has a flared, fish-tail butt and a rectangular trigger loop on the underside of the

An Early Bronze Age arm guard, Debenham

This month’s featured find is a Bronze Age wrist guard recovered by a local metal detector user in 2021. Made from sandstone, the object is broadly rectangular with bevelled edges. At either end are drilled circular holes to enable fixing to the wrist. The faces have been smoothed. Broadly linear striations on both faces are

Roman Empresses

Roman coins depicting elite Roman women were recovered from near Wenhaston by a local metal detector user in 2019. Ancient Rome was ruled by men. Under the first emperor Augustus (BC 27 – 14 AD), sweeping legal reforms prescribed expected female behaviours, promoting pietas (devotion) and pudicitia (modesty). Women had to live under the authority of

An Iron Age Brooch, Cavendish

This complete Iron Age brooch was found by a local metal detector user near Cavendish in 2010. The brooch is decorated with a moulded leaf-shaped design and circular shaped motifs. The earliest brooches in Britain enter the archaeological record around 450 BC. This brooch type began to be produced around 400 BC and continued until