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Book chapter
Preface to Late Roman silver: the Traprain treasure in context
The Traprain Law treasure from east Lothian in south-east Scotland is the most dramatic hoard of late Roman Hacksilber yet found. The interpretation of these bent, broken and crushed silver fragments has long been debated. Were they loot broken up by uncultured barbarians, or some form of diplomatic gift? This...Hunter, Fraser ; Painter, Kenneth
Silverwork, Silverware, Scotland, Romans, and Traprain Law
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Journal article
Traprain law and the Roman world
Hunter, Fraser
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Book
Late Roman Silver: The Traprain Treasure in Context
The Traprain Law treasure from east Lothian in south-east Scotland is the most dramatic hoard of late Roman Hacksilber yet found. The interpretation of these bent, broken and crushed silver fragments has long been debated. Were they loot broken up by uncultured barbarians, or some form of diplomatic gift? This...Hunter, Fraser
Scotland, Romans, Silver, and Traprain Law
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Book chapter
Recycling power and place: the many lives of Traprain Law, South East Scotland
Recycling is a basic anthropological process of humankind. The reutilization of materials or of ideas from the Past is a process determined by various natural or cultural causes. Recycling can be motivated by a crisis or by a complex symbolic cause like the incorporation of the Past into the Present....Armit, Ian ; Dunwell, A ; Hunter, Fraser
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Book chapter
Hacksilber inside and outside the late Roman world: a view from Traprain Law
Renewed study of the hoard of late Roman Hacksilber from Traprain Law (UK) is casting fresh light on this important find and on the wider phenomenon of Hacksilber. It is increasingly clear that such finds of sub-divided, broken-up Roman silver objects are not purely a 'barbarian' phenomenon, but were a...Painter, Kenneth ; Hunter, Fraser
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Book
Scotland’s Early Silver: transforming Roman pay-offs to Pictish treasures
Based on the exhibition Scotland's Early Silver, opening at the National Museum of Scotland, 13 October - 25 February 18. In Scotland, silver, not gold, was the most important and powerful precious metal for a thousand years, from the arrival of the Roman army until the dawn of the Viking...Blackwell, Alice ; Goldberg, D Martin ; Hunter, Fraser
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Book chapter
Scientific analysis of the Traprain Treasure.
Based on the exhibition Scotland's Early Silver, opening at the National Museum of ~Scotland, 13 October - 25 February 18. In Scotland, silver, not gold, was the most important and powerful precious metal for a thousand years, from the arrival of the Roman army until the dawn of the Viking...Troalen, Lore ; Lang, Janet
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Book chapter
Recycling of ancient silver: a scientist’s view.
Based on the exhibition Scotland's Early Silver, opening at the National Museum of Scotland, 13 October - 25 February 18. In Scotland, silver, not gold, was the most important and powerful precious metal for a thousand years, from the arrival of the Roman army until the dawn of the Viking...Troalen, Lore
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Journal article
Scotland's Early Silver: the most precious metal for 1,000 years
Alice Blackwell takes a look at some of the valuable and beautiful items which form part of National Museum of Scotland's winter exhibition of 1,000 years of silver in ScotlandBlackwell, Alice
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Journal article
Denarii diplomacy: exploring Scotland’s silver age
Silver was introduced to the inhabitants of Iron Age Scotland by the Roman army. An exhibition currently running in Edinburgh reveals the impact of this exotic material throughout the 1st millennium AD.Blackwell, Alice
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Hunter, Fraser
Denarius, Scotland , Roman , Traprain Law, and Birnie
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Still image
Half of a silver platter from Traprain Law, 410 - 425 AD
Half of a silver platter with the head of Hercules in medallion and hunting scenes outside, from Traprain Law, 410 - 425 AD. Exhibited in Scotland's Early Silver at National Museum of Scotland (13 Oct 2017 - 25 Feb 2018) and now on display in the National Museum of Scotland,...National Museums Scotland
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Journal article
A century of Roman silver - new views on the Traprain Treasure
Dr Fraser Hunter provides a timely reassessment of the Traprain Treasure with the results of a ten-year research project that invites us to reassess why the treasure was 'hacked' and what this can tell us about Roman links to Scotland.Hunter, Fraser
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Book
The late Roman silver treasure from Traprain Law
Excavated from Traprain Law, East Lothian, Scotland, in May 1919, was one of the most spectacular discoveries of Roman silver ever made in Europe - and the biggest hoard of `hacksilver': 23kg, battered, crushed and chopped up. Blame for the destruction has hitherto been laid at the door of `barbarians'...Hunter, Fraser ; Kaufmann-Heinimann, Annemarie ; Painter, Kenneth
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Journal article
Investigating the Traprain Law Roman treasure
National Museums Scotland has one of the most important late Roman treasures in Europe, the Traprain Treasure, found in 1919 on Traprain Law, East Lothian, a hill top some 20 miles east of Edinburgh. The treasure is the largest and most important hoard of late Roman silver from beyond the...Tate, Jim ; Troalen, Lore
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Blog post
The many lives of the Traprain Treasure’s Roman silver
One of the greatest treasures of our museum is the late Roman silver hoard from Traprain Law in East Lothian, which fills three display cases in the Early People gallery. Found in excavations in 1919, it’s been on display pretty much constantly since 1920. Now, more than a century after...Hunter, Fraser
Traprain Treasure, Silver, and Roman
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Book chapter
Foreword
The late Roman silver hoard from Traprain Law is one of the treasures of National Museums Scotland and has excited international attention since its discovery a century ago.Breward, Christopher
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Book chapter
Introduction
On 12 May 1919, a workman was digging on the Iron Age hillfort of Traprain Law in East Lothian, some 30km east of Edinburgh in south-east Scotland [p1]. The work had only restarted for a fortnight: excavations had been in abeyance for three years in the turmoil of the Great...Hunter, Fraser ; Kaufmann-Heinimann, Annemarie ; Painter, Kenneth
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Book chapter
'I have had a great day': A O Curle and the discovery of the Traprain Treasure
The recovery of the Traprain Treasure was by far the greatest moment in Alexander Ormiston Curle's antiquarian career [Illus 1.1]. It is safe to assume that at the outset of the work in East Lothian on behalf of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, he had no expectation of such...Clarke, David
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Book chapter
Insights from unidentified fragments
Alexander Curle's published catalogue consists of 152 entries, which correlate directly with National Museums Scotland catalogue nos GVA 1-152. His entry 144 is for a 'collection of irregularly-shaped fragments of undecorated, thin pieces of plate which has probably broken off platters or other flat dishes.Hunter, Fraser
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Book chapter
The technology of the Traprain Treasure
When the hoard was first found, according to Alexander Curle, the metal was greyish-brown and 'appeared to be embedded in a purple paste'.Troalen, Lore ; Lang, Janet
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Book chapter
Hacking the Traprain Treasure
The Traprain Law Treasure1 has traditionally been viewed as a group of late Roman silver that met an unfortunate fate. Most vessels had been completely distorted, often by multiple hacking phases, with fittings removed, rims severed, footrings pushed out of position and sometimes even split lengthwise. Many had been crushed...Hunter, Fraser
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Book chapter
Hacksilber in the Roman period and beyond
Although Alexander Curle was able to call on the Ballinrees (Coleraine) hoard from Northern Ireland as a parallel for the hacking of Traprain, it was not until Wilhelm Grunhagen's 1954 study of the Großbodungen hoard (Thüringen/Germany) [Illus 41.1] that Hacksilber saw serious study as a concept in the Roman period....Hunter, Fraser
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Book chapter
A context for the Treasure: Traprain Law and Rome's northern frontier
The discovery of the Traprain Treasure was the most dramatic moment in a spectacular and long-running excavation. While nothing else quite matched the excitement of this find, the results of work at Traprain Law redefined perspectives on the Scottish Iron Age and relations with the Roman world. This chapter will...Hunter, Fraser
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Book chapter
After the Traprain Treasure: Hacksilber hoarding in 5th/6th-century Scotland
After the supply of late Roman silver was cut off in the 5th century, this precious metal became a finite resource in northern Britain until new supplies were introduced during the Viking Age. In between these two periods of abundant supply, the chronology of silver use and recycling in early...Goldberg, Martin ; Blackwell, Alice
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Book chapter
The Treasure of Traprain: conclusions and questions
Tackling the Hacksilber hoard from Traprain Law is an imposing project. Not only in the primary publication by Alexander Curle a masterly analysis that has survived the test of time, but the sheer scale of the material is daunting. Our work suggests that the surviving 23kg consisted of 327 individual...Hunter, Fraser ; Kaufmann-Heinimann, Annemarie ; Painter, Kenneth
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Book chapter
Compositional data from the Traprain Treasure
Analysis of the Traprain Law Treasure was under-taken in the science laboratory of National Museums Scotland between 2008 and 2018. Ninety-three fragments of the silver were investigated by X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) and particle-induced X-ray emission analysis (uPIXE)Troalen, Lore ; Tate, Jim
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Book chapter
Technical case studies of particular vessel types
The objects in the Traprain Law hoard have been grouped according to their shape and function. The characteristics and construction of each major group are discussed below, with examples. Radio-graphs referenced here can be found in the Catalogue section.Lang, Janet ; Troalen, Lore
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Book chapter
Other hoards with Roman Hacksilber
This appendix offers background and analysis of all Hacksilber hoards, defined here as hoards with cut, folded or crushed Roman plate.Hunter, Fraser
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Book chapter
AA: Vessel fragments not allocated to types
Among the material not catalogued by Curl was a box of 'scrap' (see Chapter 31). It is presented here in the following categories: decorated elements; other unusual elements; feature sherds (rims, base); fragments with lathe grooves; body sherds and non-diagnostic material.Hunter, Fraser