Our Top Ten Treasures
Encyclopedia
Our Top Ten Treasures was a 2003 special episode of the BBC Television
series Meet the Ancestors
which profiled the ten most important treasures unearthed in Britain
, as voted for by a panel of experts from the British Museum
.
’s attempts to popularise the museum.
Following the broadcast viewers were invited to vote for their favourites in a poll that was won by the Vindolanda Tablets
, with the Sutton Hoo
ship burial in second place.
writing in The Times
criticised the British Museum for co-operating in an, "unashamedly populist television archaeology venture," and another article in the same title stated, "You may not like the idea of a league table of treasures that pits one priceless object against another, but television has its own logic."
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
series Meet the Ancestors
Meet the Ancestors
Meet the Ancestors aka Ancestors was a BBC Television documentary series that documents the archaeological excavation and scientific reconstruction of human remains.-Series one :-Series two :...
which profiled the ten most important treasures unearthed in Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, as voted for by a panel of experts from the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
.
Production
The programme was commissioned for broadcast on New Year’s Day 2003 to tie in with an exhibition at the British Museum as part of new director Neil MacGregorNeil MacGregor
Robert Neil MacGregor, OM, FSA is an art historian and museum director. He was the Editor of the Burlington Magazine from 1981 to 1987, the Director of the National Gallery, London, from 1987 to 2002, and was appointed Director of the British Museum in 2002...
’s attempts to popularise the museum.
Following the broadcast viewers were invited to vote for their favourites in a poll that was won by the Vindolanda Tablets
Vindolanda tablets
The Vindolanda tablets are "the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain". They are also probably our best source of information about life on Hadrian's Wall. Written on fragments of thin, post-card sized wooden leaf-tablets with carbon-based ink, the tablets date to the 1st and 2nd...
, with the Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo, near to Woodbridge, in the English county of Suffolk, is the site of two 6th and early 7th century cemeteries. One contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance, now held in the British...
ship burial in second place.
Reception
Richard MorrisonRichard Morrison
Richard Morrison is the name of:* Richard Morrison , Edward VI's ambassador to Charles V* Richard Morrison , columnist for The Times newspaper...
writing in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
criticised the British Museum for co-operating in an, "unashamedly populist television archaeology venture," and another article in the same title stated, "You may not like the idea of a league table of treasures that pits one priceless object against another, but television has its own logic."
Synopsis
Hart-Davis presents the top ten treasures as voted by the expert panel in reverse order.| Image | Number | Object | Date | Finder | When found | Where found |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | The Bronze Age Ringlemere Gold Cup Ringlemere Cup The Ringlemere Gold Cup is a Bronze Age vessel found in the Ringlemere barrow near Sandwich in the English county of Kent in 2001 by metal detectorist Cliff Bradshaw. Although badly crushed by recent plough damage it can be seen to have been 14 cm high with corrugated sides... |
Bronze Age Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age... |
metal-detectorist Cliff Bradshaw | 2001 2001 in archaeology -Excavations:* Grinnell College project at Mayapan* Excavations at Cival directed by Dr. Francisco Estrada-Belli*French archaeologists begin excavating Ulug Depe, an ancient bronze-age agricultural town in Turkmenistan-Publications:... |
near Dover Dover Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings... |
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| 9 | Cuerdale Silver Hoard Cuerdale Hoard The Cuerdale Hoard is a hoard of more than 8,600 items including silver coins, English and Carolingian jewellery, hacksilver and ingots. It was discovered on 15 May 1840 on the southern bank of a bend of the River Ribble, in an area called Cuerdale in South Ribble near to the city of Preston,... |
10th century | stoneworkers | 1840 1840 in archaeology -Explorations:* John Lloyd Stephens and Frederick Catherwood explore ruins of the Maya civilization including Quiriguá, Q'umarkaj, Palenque, and Uxmal.-Births:*February 7 - Charles Warren, British Biblical archaeologist... |
banks of the River Ribble River Ribble The River Ribble is a river that runs through North Yorkshire and Lancashire, in northern England. The river's drainage basin also includes parts of Greater Manchester around Wigan.-Geography:... |
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| 8 | Fishpool Hoard Fishpool Hoard In 1966 the Fishpool Hoard of 1,237 15th century gold coins, four rings and four other pieces of jewellery, and two lengths of gold chain was discovered by workmen on a building site near present day Cambourne Gardens, in Ravenshead, Nottinghamshire, England, an area that was then known as... |
15th century | workmen | 1966 | Ravenshead Ravenshead Ravenshead is a village and civil parish in the Gedling district of Nottinghamshire, England. It borders Papplewick, Newstead Abbey and Blidworth, and is part of Nottinghamshire's Hidden Valleys area, according to the 2001 census it had a population of 5,636.... , Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west... |
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| 7 | Mildenhall Roman Dinner Service Mildenhall Treasure The West Row Treasure is a major hoard of highly decorated Roman silver tableware from the fourth-century AD, found at West Row, near Mildenhall in the English county of Suffolk... |
Roman | Gordon Butcher, a ploughman | 1942 1942 in archaeology The year 1942 in archaeology involved some significant events.-Finds:*January: Mildenhall Treasure discovered by ploughman Gordon Butcher in Suffolk, England.... |
near Mildenhall, Suffolk Mildenhall, Suffolk Mildenhall is a small market town and civil parish in Suffolk, England. It is run by Forest Heath District Council and has a population of 9,906 people. The town is near the A11 and is located north-west of county town, Ipswich. The large Royal Air Force base, RAF Mildenhall as well as RAF... |
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6 | Mold Cape Mold cape The Mold Cape is a solid sheet-gold object dating from about 1900-1600 BC in the European Bronze Age. It was found at Mold in Flintshire, Wales, in 1833.The cape is thought to have formed part of a ceremonial dress, perhaps with religious connections... |
Bronze Age Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age... |
stoneworkers | 1833 1833 in archaeology -Publications:* Juan Galindo publishes first mention of Maya site of Yaxchilan... |
Mold Mold Molds are fungi that grow in the form of multicellular filaments called hyphae. Molds are not considered to be microbes but microscopic fungi that grow as single cells called yeasts... , Flintshire Flintshire Flintshire is a county in north-east Wales. It borders Denbighshire, Wrexham and the English county of Cheshire. It is named after the historic county of Flintshire, which had notably different borders... , Wales Wales Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²... |
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|5 | Lewis chessmen Lewis chessmen The Lewis Chessmen are a group of 78 12th-century chess pieces, most of which are carved in walrus ivory... |
12th century | Malcolm Macleod, small tenant of Pennydonald, Uig | 1831 1831 in archaeology The year 1831 CE in archaeology included many events, some of which are listed below.See also: 1830 in archaeology, other events of 1831, 1832 in archaeology and the list of years in archaeology.- Explorations :... |
Uig, Isle of Lewis in 1831 but originating in Scandinavia |
| 4 | Snettisham Hoard Snettisham Hoard The Snettisham Hoard, Snettisham Treasure or Snettisham Torc, is a series of discoveries of Iron Age precious metal, found in the Snettisham area of the English county of Norfolk between 1948 and 1973.... |
Celtic Iron Age Iron Age The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing... |
1948 1948 in archaeology The year 1948 in archaeology involved some significant events.-Excavations:* Excavations at Nippur sponsored by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago begin directed by Richard C... onwards |
outside King’s Lynn, Norfolk Norfolk Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county... |
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| 3 | Hoxne hoard Hoxne Hoard The Hoxne Hoard is the largest hoard of late Roman silver and gold discovered in Britain, and the largest collection of gold and silver coins of the fourth and fifth century found anywhere within the Roman Empire... |
Roman | metal-detectorist Eric Lawes | 1992 1992 in archaeology The year 1992 in archaeology involved some significant events.- Excavations:* Tel Dan.* Excavations begin at Kuşaklı .* "Jules Verne" shipwrecks at Marseilles.-Finds:* El Fuerte de Samaipata near Samaipata, Bolivia excavated by Dr... |
near Eye, Suffolk Eye, Suffolk Eye is a small market town in the county of Suffolk, East Anglia, England, south of Diss, and on the River Dove.Eye is twinned with the town of Pouzauges in the Vendée Departement of France.-History:An island... |
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| 2 | Sutton Hoo Sutton Hoo Sutton Hoo, near to Woodbridge, in the English county of Suffolk, is the site of two 6th and early 7th century cemeteries. One contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance, now held in the British... ship burial Ship burial A ship burial or boat grave is a burial in which a ship or boat is used either as a container for the dead and the grave goods, or as a part of the grave goods itself. If the ship is very small, it is called a boat grave... |
Early Anglo-Saxon Anglo-Saxon Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term... , 7th century |
Basil Brown Basil Brown Basil John Wait Brown was a farmer, archaeologist, amateur astronomer and author who most famously discovered the buried ship at Sutton Hoo and excavated its sandy outline on the eve of war in 1939.... and Edith Pretty Edith Pretty -Early life:Pretty was born at Elland, Yorkshire on 1 August 1883, the younger of two daughters of Robert and Elizabeth Dempster. The Dempsters were industrialists who amassed considerable wealth from the manufacture of equipment related to the gas industry... |
1940 1940 in archaeology -Excavations:* Start of excavations at Tell Uqair by Iraqi Directorate General of Antiquities .* Start of excavations at Ahichatra.* Excavations at Brahmagiri by M. H. Krishna of the Mysore state Archaeological Department.... |
Woodbridge Woodbridge Woodbridge is the name of various places around the world:In Australia:*Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called West Midland.*Woodbridge, Tasmania.In Canada:*Woodbridge, OntarioIn the United Kingdom:*Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of... , Suffolk Suffolk Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east... |
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| 1 | Vindolanda tablets Vindolanda tablets The Vindolanda tablets are "the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain". They are also probably our best source of information about life on Hadrian's Wall. Written on fragments of thin, post-card sized wooden leaf-tablets with carbon-based ink, the tablets date to the 1st and 2nd... |
Roman | Robin Birley Robin Birley (archaeologist) Robin Edgar Birley was formerly the Director of Excavations at the Roman site of Vindolanda, and now heads the Vindolanda research committee. The son of Eric Birley , he worked as a Royal Marine and then a teacher before giving this up to run the Vindolanda Trust and excavate the site... |
1973 1973 in archaeology The year 1973 in archaeology involved some significant events.-Excavations:* Meadowcroft Rock Shelter under James M. Adovasio.* Heavenly Horse Tomb , a mounded tomb of Silla royalty in Gyeongju, Korea.... |
near Hadrians Wall |
Contributors
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Neil MacGregor Robert Neil MacGregor, OM, FSA is an art historian and museum director. He was the Editor of the Burlington Magazine from 1981 to 1987, the Director of the National Gallery, London, from 1987 to 2002, and was appointed Director of the British Museum in 2002... (Director, British Museum) |