Hoard

Any collection of objects buried at one time; a deliberate deposit of complete and / or broken objects buried in the ground for subsequent recovery or as a symbolic act. A hoard often included valuables or prized possessions. Many hoards represent the personal property of individuals, buried for safety at a time of threat. Hoards are a useful source of evidence for archaeologists, because they provide considerable quantities of material and, except in the case of some votive hoards, that material represents a true association. Various classes are distinguished according to their method of accumulation. A personal hoard consists of an individual's personal property buried for safety and not recovered. A merchant's hoard will contain new objects ready for sale. A founder's hoard by contrast will contain obsolete, worn out, or miscast objects, and frequently cake metal as well, all of it awaiting melting down and recasting. A votive hoard is rather different in that the objects were deposited, possibly over a long period of time, in temples or caves, buried, or thrown into water as religious offerings, with no intention of recovery. A hoard of loot is self-explanatory. Bronze Age hoards provide much of the evidence for the period.

Term for a collection of objects buried usually at one time. Hoards can contain artefacts of any material and any number of different materials, but hoards of metal objects are particularly common. Depending on the circumstances of deposition, the make-up of hoards will vary. For instance, a merchant’s hoard will contain objects ready for use, whereas a founder’s hoard will often contain large quantities of scrap metal. Many hoards represent the personal property of individuals, buried for safety at a time of threat. Votive hoards, unlike other types, contain objects offered to a deity and not meant to be recovered; hoards of this type may represent not single depositions but accumulations of material offered over long periods of time. Hoards are a useful source of evidence for archaeologists, because they provide considerable quantities of material and, except in the case of some votive hoards, that material represents a true association (i.e. was in use at one time).