The Traprain Law treasure is a hoard of late Roman hacksilver , found on the hillfort of Traprain Law (East Lothian, SE Scotland) during excavations in 1919. It is the largest hoard of Roman hacksilver currently known, weighing just over 23 kg. It consists mostly of Roman silver vessels, a few of which are complete but most of which had been cut into fragments or crushed. There are a few items of personal equipment and coins. The hoard was probably buried in the early fifth century AD. Early interpretations saw it as loot; more recent views prefer to see it as diplomatic gifts or payment for military service. It is currently on display in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.
20-509: The hoard was found during excavations on the hill on 12 May 1919. The description of the discovery suggests it was buried in a pit dug within a house cluster on the uppermost levels of the western shoulder of the hill. During the Roman Iron Age, Traprain Law was a major local political centre beyond Hadrian's Wall . Excavations revealed a wealth of Roman finds, suggesting long-running connections to
40-532: A kingdom under the Brythonic version of their name Gododdin and Traprain Law is thought to have been their capital before moving to Din Eidyn ( Castle Rock in modern Edinburgh ). In 1938 an area of the hill was leased to the district council for use as a quarry for road stone, causing substantial disfigurement to the landscape. This hill was only known as Traprain Law from the late 18th century, taking its name from
60-601: A landmark, it is still referred to as Dunpelder. This name seems also to be etymologically Cumbric, cognate with Welsh din 'fort' and pelydr 'spear shafts', thus meaning 'fort of the spear shafts'. Dun may also be derived from the Scottish Gaelic word dùn meaning 'fort'. It is as 'Dunpeldyr', the capital of King Lot of Lothian , that Traprain Law appears in Mary Stewart 's Merlin Trilogy. A team led by Curle and Cree began
80-551: A local hamlet . This is etymologically a Cumbric name cognate with Welsh tref 'farm' and either pren 'tree' or bryn 'hill'. Law comes from the Old English word hlāw , meaning a hill. Before that, it is found on old maps as Dunpendyrlaw. This name appears on a map printed in 1630. An alternative spelling 'Dounprenderlaw' was used in 1547, when a signal beacon was placed on the hill to warn of an English invasion . Locally, and particularly amongst fishermen who use it as
100-466: Is suggested that the silver was converted to bullion at times of economic crisis within the Roman world, and was then used for diplomatic gifts or as payment for military service. Many of the pieces show signs of being cut more than once, suggesting they went through several hands. On Traprain Law, it seems the silver was valued as a raw material. Crucibles from the site show traces of silver working. Finds from
120-637: Is the site of a hill fort or possibly oppidum , which covered at its maximum extent about 16 ha (40 acres). It is the site of the Traprain Law Treasure , the largest Roman silver hoard from anywhere outside the Roman Empire which included exquisite silver artefacts. The hill, about 220 m (720 ft) above MSL, was already a place of burial by around 1500 BC, and showed evidence of occupation and signs of ramparts after 1000 BC. The ramparts were rebuilt and realigned many times in
140-603: The Ballagan Formation of the Carboniferous period. During quarrying, large xenoliths of sandstone and shale have been found and recorded in detail. Detailed optical and chemical analysis have revealed the presence of small quantities of Sodalite , Olivine and Apatite . British language (Celtic) Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include
160-458: The Roman world. The hoard is usually interpreted as representing the burial of valuables to keep them safe. The silver was restored by the Edinburgh silversmiths Brook & Son. This involved heating the silver to anneal it and make it malleable, so that it could be shaped back to its original form. Brook & Son also made replicas of the silver for sale. Some were direct copies or restorations of
180-525: The find was table silver, but there were also early Christian items and remnants from a Roman officer's uniform. It had originally been thought that the objects had been brought back from a raid abroad, as the objects had been split up ready for division. Later finds such as the Mildenhall Treasure found at Mildenhall, Suffolk and the Hoxne Hoard from Suffolk , showed that silverware of this nature
200-524: The first excavations in 1914 and continued them until 1923, finding layers of fragmentary stone and timber houses under the turf. In 1919, Alexander Ormiston Curle recovered a hoard of silver plate. The hoard is known as the Traprain Treasure, or Traprain Law Treasure . Consisting of over 24 kg (53 lb) of sliced-up Roman-era silver , the discovery was made in a pit within the boundary of
220-634: The following centuries. Excavations have shown it was occupied in the Late Iron Age from about AD 40 until the last quarter of the 2nd century (about the time that the Antonine Wall was manned). In the 1st century AD the Romans recorded the Votadini as a British tribe in the area, and Traprain Law is generally thought to have been one of their major settlements, named Curia by Ptolemy. They emerged as
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#1732859293081240-418: The hill include a massive silver chain, probably made from reused Roman silver. Such Roman silver is argued to be the raw material for silver jewellery in the early Medieval period. Traprain Law 55°57′47″N 2°40′21″W / 55.96306°N 2.67250°W / 55.96306; -2.67250 Traprain Law is a hill 6 km (4 mi) east of Haddington, East Lothian , Scotland . It
260-472: The hoard includes scenes from the Old and New Testament. A complete fluted wash basin shows a Nereid riding a sea-panther. Two panther handles probably came from a wine-serving vessel. When the hoard was discovered, it was interpreted as loot hacked up after barbarian raids into the Roman empire. More recent analysis indicates that many of the items were originally cut quite carefully to standard Roman weights. It
280-399: The originals; others were modified for contemporary taste, for instance by turning a spoon into a tea strainer. Most of the vessels started life as high-status tableware, such as large platters and small bowls used in the serving and eating of food at feasts, and jugs for serving wine and water. Various shapes of spoons were used for serving and eating food. Another key category in the hoard
300-483: The reigns of Valens, Arcadius and Honorius. All had been clipped, which is typical of such coins used in Britain after the end of formal Roman rule. The mixture of material indicates the hoard was put together from many different original sets of silver, and many different owners are represented among the ownership graffiti on the vessels. The iconography includes both Christian and pagan decoration. A near-complete jug from
320-606: The settlement earlier uncovered. Four Gallic coins were discovered with the hoard; one of the emperor Valens (reigned 364–378), three of Arcadius (reigned 383–408) and one of Honorius (reigned 393–423), which dates the find to some point in the fifth century AD after the Romans had left Britain. The quality of some of the items suggests that they may have come from as far afield as Rome , Ravenna , or possibly Antioch or Constantinople . Most objects had been crushed and hacked to pieces, and only some were left intact. A great deal of
340-627: Was certainly in use in Roman Britain. A further suggestion is that it had been brought back on a raid by the Votadini across Hadrian's Wall . Furthermore, it has been suggested that the silver was in payment for mercenary service to protect weaker tribes from the inroads of the Scots , Picts , and Angles , the silver being split up as bullion due to lack of adequate coinage. Further excavations were made in 1939 by Cruden and in 1947 by Bersu . The collection
360-639: Was restored where appropriate and sent to the National Museum of Antiquities in Edinburgh and now is in the care of the National Museum of Scotland . In legend, Traprain Law was the cliff from which Thenaw , the mother of Saint Mungo , was thrown when her father, King Lot or Leudonus, discovered she was pregnant by Owain mab Urien . Saved by divine providence, she was transported by boat to Saint Serf 's community in Culross , where she gave birth to Kentigern , later also known as Mungo. Up to 1891 Traprain Law
380-544: Was the origin (meridian) of the 6-inch and 1:2500 Ordnance Survey maps of East Lothian . After that year the East Lothian maps were drawn according to the meridian of The Buck in Aberdeenshire . Traprain Law, together with nearby Berwick Law and Bass Rock, is an example of the unusual rock type Phonolite . It was intruded around 350 million years ago as a laccolith into sandstones, siltstones and dolomitic limestones of
400-442: Was toilet silver - vessels used for bathing or personal hygiene, such as cosmetic containers, fluted water basins, and fragments of mirrors. A few of the vessels were complete or nearly so, but most were fragments. Their original appearance could be worked out from preserved traces on them. There were only a few personal items in the hoard, such as belt fittings and a brooch. A few silver coins ( siliquae ) were also found, dating to
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