The Portable Antiquities Scheme

18/04/2026

Discovery - Research - Publication: advancing archaeological knowledge through public finds.

Colleagues from across the UK and Europe will be giving papers at the joint PAS and European Public Finds Recording Network Conference, hosted by the Society of Antiquaries of London, on 2nd June 2026.

Join us in person or online! More information and tickets here:

Over the last few decades, public finds have revolutionised archaeological knowledge, thanks to the work of the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) and similar European recording initiatives. This conference, working with the PAS and the European Public Finds Recording Network, will highlight this con...

27/02/2026

A nice story involving our Finds Liaison Officer for Hertfordshire & Bedfordshire, Matt Fittock:

A pair of St Albans pupils could not believe their eyes when they discovered part of a post-Medieval artefact in Verulamium Park.

12/02/2026

Great news: The Melsonby Hoard to go on display at The Yorkshire Museum
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g7vqgz2wxo

The PAS record for the hoard can be found here: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/1056219

Big thanks to all the donors who made this acquisition possible, especially including the finder and landowner, who waived portions of their reward in support of the museum's acquisition efforts.

The Melsonby Hoard, one of the UK's largest Iron Age finds, is at the Yorkshire Museum.

11/02/2026

Yesterday saw the announcement that the British Museum was successful in fundraising to acquire the 'Tudor Heart' - https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/985944 this fabulous suite of jewellery discovered by metal detectorist Charlie Clarke and reported under the Treasure Act. Thank you to Charlie for his patience throughout the process and to the many people who worked to ensure the find will end up in a public collection - from the FLO Teresa Gilmore who took in the Heart from Charlie and did the initial research, to the scientists, conservators and curators (including the lead curator Rachel King) at the British Museum who prepared the report for the Coroner, the Treasure Team at the BM for overseeing the process, the Coroner and their team, the independent valuers who provided reports to the Treasure Valuation Committee and that body for making a recommendation to the Secretary of State, the Cultural Property Unit at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for administering the valuation and invoicing, the numerous folks at the British Museum involved in the fundraising (from Development, Comms, Filming, Events organisation & catering, and Collections) and of course the funders themselves - the Julia Rausing Trust, National Heritage Memorial Fund, Art Fund, American Friends of the British Museum who all gave substantial gifts, and the 45,000 other people who reached into their pockets to contribute. Thank you all!

03/02/2026

Now on display in Room 2 at the British Museum - an assemblage of Anglo-Saxon gold and garnet fittings - including a bird's head terminal - possibly from a drinking horn, placed in a burial. Found in West Wiltshire by detectorists Chris Philips and Paul Gould, with further pieces discovered in follow up recovery efforts by Mike Dawson, Dan Dawson, Steve Grant and Alix Smith. The site will be professionally excavated by archaeologists from Cardiff University and the PAS later this spring. Find out more on the PAS record here: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/1198732

29/01/2026

The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent have launched a public appeal to raise the funds to acquire the Ellastone Bronze Age gold dress fastener, found by a metal detectorist and reported Treasure in 2023. Good luck! https://www.stoke.gov.uk/news/article/2004/%C2%A3150,000_appeal_launched_to_keep_major_bronze_age_gold_treasure_in_staffordshire

23/01/2026

Dover Museum & Bronze Age Boat Gallery are using this to highlight their latest acquisition, a Bronze Age copper-alloy mould in two parts, for making palstave axe heads: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/1066644

Great to see this being preserved in a public collection!

20/01/2026

Today saw Baroness Twycross, Minister for Museums, and Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the British Museum, launch the latest Treasure and Portable Antiquities Scheme Annual reports. These can be found online here:https://finds.org.uk/documents/treasurereports/2023.pdf and herehttps://finds.org.uk/documents/annualreports/2024.pdf

Also profiled were several recent finds - an Anglo-Saxon gold and garnet bird's head assemblage found in West Wiltshire; a Roman copper-alloy vehicle fitting in the form of a panther; and a hoard of Harold II coins from 1066.

Thank you to everyone, from the finders who share and report their discoveries, to PAS staff who record them, British Museum, Amgueddfa Cymru, and local museum staff, coroners, valuers, Treasure Valuation Committee members, who make these processes successful.

16/01/2026

Earlier this week, members of the Treasure Team were privileged to visit the Northamptonshire Archaeological Resource Centre and meet with colleagues there, as well as from Northampton Museum, Corby Heritage Centre, and Cornerstone and with our FLO Ellie Cox. Thanks to Ben Donnelly-Symes for hosting us and showing off some treasures from the archives, including their fantastic Roman copper-alloy frog! What a great facility, located adjacent to he Roman town of Irchester.

09/01/2026

It's that time of year again - the minutes from meetings of the Treasure Valuation Committee which took place in 2024 are now published and available for viewing on our website:

The minutes of the Treasure valuation committee are published retrospectively here

07/01/2026

The latest exciting Treasure find from Norfolk, an incredibly rare Iron Age carnyx (war trumpet) hoard found by archaeologists last year. Since there are two or more prehistoric base metal objects from the same find, the discovery appears to constitute Treasure and has been reported to the coroner. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr7jvj8d39eo

You can see contemporary depictions of these fascinating artefacts on the famous Gundestrap Cauldron, in the National Museum Denmark: https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-early-iron-age/the-gundestrup-cauldron/the-dating-and-origin-of-the-silver-cauldron/

The discoveries are "extraordinarily rare", say the archaeologists who helped find them.