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Reflections on My PAS Internship – by Kerrie Hoffman, PAS Finds Liaison Assistant

Kerrie Hoffman, Finds Liaison Assistant with the Portable Antiquities Scheme, reflects upon her experience as an intern.

In October 2015 I shared ‘My Journey so Far’ after two months as an Intern with the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) at the Yorkshire Museum. I am now at the end of that internship and I can’t believe 7 months has gone by so fast! Each week has bought with it new but immensely rewarding challenges.

When you last heard from me I was preparing for my curator’s talk entitled ‘Favourite Finds of PAS’. This was a resounding success! I was able to talk about prehistoric finds similar to those recently recorded by the PAS, and also provided objects for visitors to handle. Included within this was a beautiful Bronze Age socketed hammer.

The benefit of the PAS database is that anyone can view the record I created for this object, from academics to those simply having a browse. Have a look at the record yourself – YORYM-ABCCE1.

Image of a Bronze Age socketed hammer (1100-800BC)

Above: Image of a Bronze Age socketed hammer (1100-800BC)

My Last Tray…

It is strange to think this is my last tray of finds, I just need to make sure the images are uploaded and all the required information is present and then they can be returned to the finder.

Kerrie's last tray of finds, prehistoric flint tools.

Above: My last tray of finds – prehistoric flint tools.

It may initially appear that the PAS process only metal detected finds, however this tray of flint tools shows that non-metal objects are also bought in and are equally as important.

Without the scheme objects such as this would be lost, and through the work of Finds Liaison Officers more members of the public are aware of the importance of finds for both the archaeological record and local community.

I always had an interest in flint, and through close examination and research my knowledge has expanded greatly. I can now identify and record many different objects using the correct terminology!

Star Finds

I thought I would now share with you a few finds I recorded during my internship. Such a variety passes through the office, from complete treasure pieces to small fragments of coins, pottery and brooches (plus many more!).

A selection of star finds.

Above: A selection of my star finds.

Top left in the image above is a fragment of a silver siliqua of Valens dating to 364-367AD. Quite often we see fragments such as this where enough can be seen to identify the object. On other occasions we may have a piece of a copper-alloy brooch with a date range of a few hundred years. Either way this information has been recorded online to be studied further.

The image top left shows a silver gilt book clasp (14th to 15th century). I produced the in depth report before the object was submitted for consideration as treasure. I hope to keep track of this object to its final destination, be that a museum or returned to the finder.

The final object is an intricate Roman brooch dating from the mid-1st to 2nd century AD. This brooch shows just how much work went into creating such objects, and also that quite often it is difficult to fit objects into a defined category – this brooch has features of two different design types. There is so much we don’t know and won’t know, but these objects bring us closer to understanding our past.

Temporary Display

Within my role I worked with Rebecca Griffiths to create a temporary display in the Yorkshire Museum. This was a great opportunity to spread the word about the PAS to visitors and hopefully encourage more people to record finds. I was able to use my previous design experience to bring together text and images to create an information board.

The display also enabled us to show a number of objects from the museum collection which represent the objects recorded by the PAS in York. You can see the results of our efforts in the image below, we are both very pleased with the result and I hope some of you are able to see it in person.

Rebecca Griffiths and myself next to the temporary display.

Above: Rebecca Griffiths and myself next to the temporary display.

What Next?

Throughout my internship I have had the pleasure of networking with FLO’s, volunteers and other interns across the country through training events and meetings. PASt explorers is a five year HLF funded project which aims to create community finds recording teams. They provide a number of training sessions related to finds recording, photography, and using the database for volunteers. I encourage people to contact their local FLO to get involved.

I have become more aware of the important work of the Portable Antiquities Scheme and hope to share this knowledge with others. Although my internship finishes I do hope to carry on as a volunteer to further broaden my knowledge and also support the York team.