I wasn’t officially working today, but I couldn’t resist going back to the site with my partner and his kids. On the way there Anna texted me a picture – it was the bottom of the pot! They had finally found it. It seems a little taller than it is wide – will it beat the Cunetio hoard to be the biggest coin hoard from the country? By the time we arrived at the site almost all the coins had been removed. Dave arrived shortly after – in the nick of time, having had to work that morning. Alan’s partner, son and dog were also there as well as two archaeologist friends of his, and the landowner’s sister and her husband. When finally the last piece of pot was lifted out we all cheered! It was pretty amazing to see the original pit that had been dug at the end of the 3rd century.

As the hole was being backfilled (the kids were brilliantly enthusiastic with the shovels, then relayed and jumped up and down on the turf so it looked as if we’d never even been there!) Dave chucked a couple of modern coins into the hole. It felt really weird waving goodbye to everyone and driving away – for three days a field in Somerset has been all I could think about, and now it is time to share that story with the wider world.