Hi, I've just this evening been to the opening of the display of the weapons cache from South Cave, (East Yorkshire) England. There is a collection of swords and spearheads of Celtic Iron age origin. They are said to have probably been own by the local Parisi tribe and were either ritually buried or were a hidden arms dump, as no bodies were found.
The swords and associated scabbards are particularly stunning. With beautiful copper alloy open work on the scabbards and remnants of Whale and Elephant Ivory hilt fittings plus enamel inlays, these swords are of international importance and a valuable resource for the student of Celtic Iron Age Europe and the weapons of that period.
I will be posting various pics of these swords and spearheads next week, when i pick up a disk of these weapons from the museum director.
If anyone is unaware of this find I hope I have whetted your appetite.
If any body needs any specific info I can scan and email them the 12 page document "Heavy Metal in the Iron Age"..... The South Cave weapons cache & other treasures. by Dr David Marchant. ( as long as he says thats ok)
regards
Bruce

Sounds wonderful! Thanks for sharing.

I just finished a lot of papers and two finals on Celtic Iron Age depositions and metalworking. I'd love to see those pictures, and if Dr. Marchant gives it the ok, that article sounds fascinating! If not I may be able to bum a copy off a professor, so don't go out of your way.

Thanks again for sharing this!

I would love to see pictures of the precious'es as well as the article!
Thanks for sharing
Sam

I also visited the opening of the 'Heavy Metal in the Iron Age ' exhibit along with Bruce, and can vouch for his remark that the scabbards of the swords are stunning. Also of interest are the 33 spear heads none of which are the same profile, one closely resembles a pilum with a short head and a very long socketed shaft.

These finds make the area in which we both live, one of the riches in 'celtic' sword finds in this country, with other fine examples in the local museums, Also in the local mus eums are the unique chariot burials remains and the viking age Skern sword.

Dave

id bee more the happy if anybody could provide some foto or anything of the swords and spears. Im working at the archaelogical department of Horsens Museum and is currently working with a small weapons find from a large settelment with over 30 houses. the weapons i work with are very corroded very hard to identifie, so it would be nice with some pictures to compare with.

Kasper Rind

Hi Bruce Tordoff,

Are these the ones that were found a couple of years ago in amazing condition and the 'Time Team' were going to do a program about, I missed it if they made it?

Which museum are they in?

Thanks for posting this thread.

Catch

HI, Dave here...I know Bruce won't mind me chipping in here, he'ls busy sword making today. Bruce will be able to load up images from Dr.Marchants when we return sometime next week and he is making his discs of images of the finds available to us...Bruce is so much better then myself with computer technology :lol:

The scabbards are copper alloy with a mixture of decorative features, reposse work, open fretwork, enamel, coral and glass inlays in a local variation of the La Tene style the sword hilts are variously, whale and elephant ivory, horn and antler.

The swords within the scabbards are pretty corroded and fragile and so remain within them.

Drawings of of the swords and spear heads have been drawn in preparation for the publication on the finds in an archaeological journal.

The cache deposistion has been dated to 70 AD due to the roman pottary shards in the backfil soil.

The cache is housed in The Treasury House Beverley East Yorkshire.

Kasper you can contact Dr David Marchant at the East Riding of Yorkshire Museums Service if you use a google search.

Dave

I very much look forward to the pictures and wouldn't mind getting my hands on the article as well!

Ohh... my soon to be in-laws live close to there, might have to pay them a visit so I can pop across to Beverly at some point!

Hello David,
when you find out which archeological revue will carry the article, can you give us a head's up ? Much appreciated. JCH

Hi Guys, Iv'e just finished making 2 Schiavonas and 2 Grosse Messers so I will be able to Get the pics of these swords and spearheads this week plus seek permission to forward the initial publication document to those that have requested it. The guy I'm making these four swords for is also making a copy of one of these Celtic swords for the museum so I will get some pics of that for us all to salivate over!
Regards.
Bruce
PS, Lawrence, they were found in September 2002, By metal detectorists, Mick Carr, John Connell and Patrick Walby on farmland at South Cave, East Yorkshire.

here is a link to a small pic of the swords

Ironage Swords

best
Craig

As far as I recall, this is one of the panels from one of the scabbards. These, being copper alloy, are very well preserved.

http://www.eastriding.gov.uk/cs/culture-and-i...?acat=6908

best

Harry A

Hi Guys,
As promised here are a selection of the photos of the weapons cache. We are gratefully indebted to Dr David Marchant of the East Riding Museums service for allowing us access to the images prior to major publication.
Also here is the weblink for more info, ( keywords Archeaology, South Cave)
http://www.eastriding.gov.uk/culture/museums/collections/

Kasper, Dave Huggins has spoken to Dr Marchant and he is happy undertake any discussion with you on this subject.
PM Dave and he will pass on Dr Marchants Email address.

I will post the 12 page document of the initial report in the articles section of myArmoury in the near future. Please note that this document is subject to copyright and should not be used in any other publication or for any profit making purposes.

Jean Carle, fuller details on the weapons cache will be published later in the subscription archeological journal, Britannia, in Jan-Feb next year.
enjoy
all the best,
Bruce

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Thanks Bruce, I will be on the look out for Brittania . Those scabbards are extraordinary. JCH