Havering Hoard: Weapons from Britain's biggest ever Bronze Age archaeological find to go on display in exhibition

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Weapons discovered on a building site in London’s largest ever Bronze Age archaeological find will be the centrepoint of a major exhibition.

The “momentous and extremely rare” group of artefacts, which date from between 800BC and 900BC, were discovered on the site in east London in September last year.

The placement of hundreds of weapons carefully buried in groups close together suggests the site in Havering could have been a metal worker’s former vault or an armoury recycling bank or exchange, archaeologists believe.

The significant find of 453 bronze objects, the third largest discovered in the UK, will go on display for the first time at the Museum of London Docklands in April next year. The exhibition, A Bronze Age Mystery, will explore the haul and what it tells us about the time. Further analysis of the artefacts is still taking place which will reveal “more insights into this incredible find”, a spokesman for the museum added.

Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, said: “The finds have already taught us a great deal about this distant age, and ongoing analysis and public outreach means that many more people will benefit from this window into the past thanks to this example of successful development-led archaeology.”

Early this year a coroner officially declared the find, dubbed the Havering Hoard, as treasure.

The court heard that the land is being developed and, as part of planning permission requirements, archaeologists were brought in to investigate a “crop circle” on the site. Assistant coroner Ian Wade refused to reveal the exact location to protect the land from treasure hunters.

Roy Stephenson, from the Museum of London, said: “We’re thrilled to be able to display this momentous discovery for the first time as the centrepiece of a major exhibition. It’s incredibly rare to have uncovered four separate hoards of such size on one site.

“This discovery is also of huge importance due to the deliberate placement of each deposit and raises questions as to why this treasure was buried in this way and why it was never recovered. These questions and more will be investigated in the exhibition.”

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