Ancient Celtic sacred site with coins uncovered in Cotswolds

Archaeologists working near Cirencester over the Oxfordshire border in Gloucestershire have made the discovery.

This includes coins and iron spearheads, as well as miniature bronze shields and spearheads, at a major ‘votive’ site dating back to the late Iron Age.

The site was first discovered by a metal detectorist in 2020 when a hoard of more than 150 silver and bronze coins and metalwork, which has now been acquired by the Corinium Museum in Cirencester, was uncovered.

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An ancient Celtic sacred site has been uncovered by archaeologists in the Cotswolds. (Image: Royal Agricultural University)

This further archaeological work, conducted by the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) as part of a training excavation for the university’s MSc students, has now revealed the scale and national importance of the site.

Working with the original finder and in collaboration with the landowner, archaeologists were able to relocate the original hoard pit and place it in its historic context.

Professor Mark Horton, the RAU’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research, who is also Director of the University’s Cultural Heritage Institute, which offers MSc programmes in Archaeology, Cultural Heritage, and Historic Building Conservation, ran the excavations.

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An ancient Celtic sacred site has been uncovered by archaeologists in the Cotswolds. (Image: Royal Agricultural University)

He explained: “Our archaeologists found that the hoard had been inserted into a sacred precinct marked out by a large area of cobbled pavement.

“These stones were worn flat by extensive wear, which suggests that some form of mass processional activity took place around the central area of the sacred site.

“During our excavations, we also discovered multiple spears which had been inserted, often vertically, into the soil to ‘protect’ this central area.

“Some were iron, but others were miniature spears, sometimes less than an inch in length, made of bronze.

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Professor Mark Horton of the Royal Agricultural University. (Image: Royal Agricultural University)

“Model swords and scabbards, daggers, and shields, also made of bronze, were found scattered around this central deposit.

“These would have been used as ritual offerings, known as ‘votives’, and many of these had been deliberately broken into pieces to signify that they were offerings to the gods and were not to be recovered and reused.”

The site rested over a series of small pits cut into the local Cotswold limestone and filled with a fine soil, which the archaeologists believe had been introduced to the site.

These pits were completely empty of any artefacts, and the researchers think these holes may have been deliberately cut into the bedrock to plant trees or bushes.

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An ancient Celtic sacred site has been uncovered by archaeologists in the Cotswolds. (Image: Royal Agricultural University)

Professor Horton added: “This is a major find. We know so little about the Iron Age or Celtic religion beyond the literary sources, written by the classical authors.

“Here we have direct archaeological evidence of religious practices at the very end of the Iron Age, on the eve of the Roman invasion.

“The many coins found show that the site belonged to the Dobunni tribe, whose capital was at Bagendon, just a few miles away from our dig site.

“Our newly discovered site was likely a natural place, or possibly a grove of trees, where offerings were made to the Celtic gods.”

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An ancient Celtic sacred site has been uncovered by archaeologists in the Cotswolds. (Image: Royal Agricultural University)

Many of the coins from the hoard feature a distinctive three-tailed horse motif, which is believed to be typical of the Dobunni tribe.

The original hoard of coins, which was officially declared Treasure under the Treasure Act, has now been secured by Cirencester’s Corinium Museum, which raised £13,250 for its acquisition.

£25,000 is now needed to be raised for the objects’ conservation and display, and a fundraising campaign is being led by the Friends of Corinium Museum, with the aim of getting the hoard on display to the public sometime next year.

The excavation site has now been refilled to protect the site, but Professor Horton hopes that the RAU will be able to undertake another excavation next year.