I had only been working as Finds Liaison Officer for the North East for a couple of months in 2003 when Bob Middlemass and Rolfe Mitchinson came to see me with a collection of objects they had discovered on the bed of the River Tees at Piercebridge. I'd envisaged that I'd get to record my fair share of Roman artefacts whilst working in the Roman frontier zone. However nothing prepared me for the sheer volume and variety of Roman finds that the divers brought in - and six years later I'm still cataloguing the material and getting to grips with its significance!
What I love most about all the objects is the way each and every one can provide an insight into the lives of people living in Roman Piercebridge. Here's three of my favourite finds:
This gold ring with garnet setting is the most spectacular and costly of all the objects deposited in the river. It demonstrates the wealth of the inhabitants of Roman Piercebridge and the importance of the religious activity at the site.
Due to its small size, it's also likely to have been the personal possession of a woman - in fact, it fits very nicely on my finger!
This enamelled fish brooch is one of three recorded from the river. It is exceptionally well preserved and its pin still works.
Brooches depicting animals, but particularly horses, are often found on temple sites and are thought to have religious significance. It therefore seems appropriate that these brooches come from a watery context!
This broken pipeclay figurine was discovered inside a pot along with several coins and brooches.
Pipeclay figurines of the goddess Venus were made in Gaul and are frequent finds on temple sites throughout Britain. This example is a little more unusual as it appears to represent Mercury.
Amazingly you can still see the fingerprints of the potter who pressed the figurine into its mould - another tangible link with the past.
