Britain's Secret Treasures

by Mary-Ann Ochota

For hundreds of thousands of years our ancestors have walked these isles burying, dropping and throwing away their belongings, and now these treaures lie waiting for us, keeping their secrets until we uncover them once more.
Every year, hundreds of vaulable artefacts are discovered by ordinary members of the British public. Here in "Britain's Secret Treasures," which accompanies the ITV series, the British Museum chooses eighty of the most fascinating finds ever reported and Mary-Ann Ochota shares with us the moving histories that bring each piece to life. There is also a detailed chapter showing you how you can get involved in archaeology too.
From hoards of Roman gold and Bronze Age drinking vessels to tiny Viking spindle whorls and weapons from dozens of wars, all manner of treausres are described here. Some help prove that our ancestors were alive over half a million years ago, some saw their modern-day finders receive a generous reward, all provide an insight into the wodnerful, dynamic, colourful history of our nation.

Genres: History, Archaeology, Nonfiction

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 26, 2013

About the author

Mary-Ann Ochota writes about archaeology and anthropology, and you can also find her presenting on TV and radio. She's presented cult show Time Team, has romped round the UK with Clive Anderson on Mystic Britain on Smithsonian Channel, and explored Life After Chernobyl for Discovery.

She's presented radio documentaries for BBC Radio 4 and the World Service on subjects as diverse as deep ocean geology, the history of sound recording and dark tourism.

Mary-Ann is a hiking ambassador for the British Mountaineering Council, a loo-minary for the charity Toilet Twinning and a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Find her on twitter and instagram @MaryAnnOchota.

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this after watching the series on TV. I you're interested in archaeology there are some great stories about the finds and nice pics to go with them. The workmanship in some of these ancient gold artifacts is fantastic.

[John Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not seen the TV series, but the book was quite interesting. There is a fair amount of historical background on the artifacts, and pictures, although some items deserved close-ups of specifics, which were not provided. It's amazing how some items have survived many hundreds or even thousands of years, and it's difficult to imagine how difficult it must be to restore them to a viewable condition.
Each item has a potted story of how they were found (many by metal detector), where they are now, and in some cases the assessed value. The value may be a bit of a waste of time - people could get excited about a $3 million item, but a $2,000 item would be ho hum.
Readers will learn a little of the legal situation regarding such finds - some items are classified as treasure, which come under the control of the State.
I read this a bit at a time over a period of a week, in between other projects. It's an easy read, as each item has no more than two or three pages devoted to it.
It is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in historical artifacts, and I give it a rating of 3.8.

[Rosalind · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable collection of finds by the public - not all detectorists - with good explanation of their significance. I liked the C17th lady's vizier (to keep her skin white), and a decorative boss from Charles II's horses. Up to date to 2014 or so

[Weasel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is an interesting read, but the format is a bit frustrating.

For some reason, not given by the author, each area is opened with a just readable map with the finds to be discussed numbered. These numbers are not the order that the finds appear in the chapter. Nor do they appear by county within the chapter, or chronologically. They are just in a random order (most obvious in the Scotland and Ireland chapter where it goes back and forth between the countries). Maybe the order they appeared in the programmes....

There are also the little injects into the middle of chapters - and a passing overview of Scotland and Irish rules v the more detailed version of the English & Welsh rules. Not sure if the valuations are needed - it swings a little towards the 'find and report so you can get this much maybe' side of things (with added every time someone doesn't just dig it all up carelessly they are described in a heroic and strong manner for resisting the urge). A few little errors as well, but overall interesting.

[Jane Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is based on an ITV series, and is something of a catalogue, but it's interesting nonetheless. Most of the finds discussed were found by metal detectorists and properly reported so that professional excavations could be carried out. Some are immensely valuable, others not, but all come with a potted background history (which is not very well written).

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Many of these objects were featured in the TV programme that I had already seen, which was disappointing, but the entries that weren't featured were really interesting - I want to go out and dig for treasure now!