ABSTRACT
This is an interesting assemblage of material which has an indirect bearing on the early conquest of Wales. Known as the Seven Sisters Hoard, it was found by children in 1875 scattered in the bed of a small stream, a tributary of the Dulais, which joins the Nedd, just above Neath. The objects had been washed out of the bank of the stream after heavy rain and flooding the same year. An interval of 29 years elapsed between the discovery and the material coming into the possession of the Cardiff Museum, so it is by no means certain that all the objects recovered in 1875 are yet known; another was, in fact, purchased by the B.M. in 1928, and others may have remained in private hands or unrecognised in other collections. The objects have been studied several times and the latest and fullest account appeared in 1976.1 Most of the bronzes are items of midfirst-century military harness equipment from a well-accoutred trooper. But there are other objects such as five tankard handles and lumps and billets of bronze and castingjets, which clearly indicates that the hoard belonged to a travelling bronze and castingjets, which clearly indicate that the hoard belonged to a travelling scrap in the area. The question arises as to how he obtained possession of the Roman military items. It seems unlikely that they represented scrap discarded by an auxiliary workshop, nor does it seem that the man could have been working for the army, since the site of discovery is far from any known fort. Contracting to civil artisans was possible, but they worked under the close eye of the army staff in compounds attached to the fort. The most feasible solution seems to be that it was loot, taken by a Welsh tribesman after a successful foray or ambush, and exchanged with the bronzesmith for a brooch or similar attractive piece. In these circumstances, the smith must have been operating well clear of the Roman lines, since being found in possession of this material could have been most unfortunate for him; in any case, he would have been anxious to melt it all down so that its identity was totally lost. The probability is, therefore, that the objects came from one of the many guerilla engagements at the time of Scapula (or after his untimely death) and offers a useful assemblage of reasonably closely dated material. It is all of fine quality and some pieces beautifully decorated with red and blue enamel. Some are quite unusual, such as the remarkable strapjunction (Report No. 4), the small strap-slide (Report No. 5).2 The so-called ‘pendant hooks’ (Report Nos 14 and 15) are an intrusive element, and not of Roman origin (the nearest parallel is from the Celtic hoard from Polden Hill in the B.M):3 they possibly had some useful and decorative function on a Celtic war chariot. Another oddity is the bronze sheeting, or object with a circular base (Report No. 6): it cannot be readily seen as a piece of equipment carried in a campaign, unless it was from a box for something like military decorations (i.e. torques and phalerae).
