Fascinating history 🙂Today’s #100ObjectsAH is a silver coin of the local Iron Age Iceni tribe. It was discovered as part of a hoard of silver coins in 1869 at Santon Downham, where they were gathered together and buried nearly two thousand years ago. Buried along with the Iceni coins were some Roman coins up to the reign of Emperor Claudius.
The Iceni tribe inhabited northern East Anglia, encompassing Norfolk, northern Suffolk and the Cambridgeshire Fens. Their coinage has been identified at find spots in the same area, including the hoard at Santon Downham, near Thetford. Production of Iceni coins was taking place for under a hundred years, before the Iceni were brought fully under Roman authority as part of the developing Roman conquest of Britain.
As with other examples dating to the later minting of Iceni coinage, this coin features an inscription alongside imagery - a figure of a horse is depicted above the letters ‘ECEN’. The letters represent the name of the tribe, Iceni. The horse may have been copied and adapted by the Iceni for their coinage from examples from the continent. The frequent use of horses on Iceni coins indicates the importance of horses to this Iron Age society. Much of what we know about the Iceni and other Iron Age British tribes comes from surviving archaeological evidence, objects such as coins and torcs - rigid metal neck ornaments. Unfortunately, we do not have written records created by the Iceni themselves. The records made by the Roman invaders give a one-sided history.
It is not certain why coins such as this one were buried as a hoard at Santon Downham. Roman writings that refer to the Iceni describe a period of troubles caused by hostility to Roman rule. This period dates roughly to the time when the hoard was buried, which may suggest that the two events were connected - that items of value were gathered together and hidden during a crisis. This is supported by additional archaeological evidence. Excavations at the Iceni site at Fison Way, Thetford, found charred wood and fragments of Roman soldiers’ armour dating to a similar time. It would seem that the Fison Way site, six miles from Santon Downham, was eventually burned to the ground. ... See MoreSee Less
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Lovely message from one of our fabulous local makers - thanks Caroline King and loving our new signage? What say you - comment below with a thumbs up #positivepostdayTodays the day. Our local stockists of our artisan products reopen their doors Leaping Hare after lockdown restrictions have been eased for high street shops.
Like many other retailers today, I know they will have mixed feelings of anticipation, nerves and a sense of relief as normality returns.
We wish our dear friends Leaping Hare and other likeminded retailers, a massive good luck today!
Support local. Support the high street. Remember a “hello” and “thank you” costs nothing. Always Be Kind❤️🌈⭐️ ... See MoreSee Less
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We're looking forward to re-opening the shop tomorrow, it's certainly been a while! Lots of goodies for you including fresh local honey and Our Beautiful Thetford books, new stock from Stepping Stones Emporium (including the awesome new shampoo bar). In short, we've been busy ensuring everything is as safe as it can be. We are limiting the number of people in the shop to a maximum of 2 at any time and we have foot operated hand sanitiser just inside the door. Look out for your About Thetford Magazine and the finalists of the calendar competition this month - readers vote for their favourite for the front cover. You can email or text in your vote or call in and let us know. See you all soon 🙂 Lawsons Estate Agents Carl Harding-Palmer ... See MoreSee Less
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