Grave Looting in Darkest England. Hanson's Will Take the Haul off yer Hands (No Need Responsibly to Record it First)

 

Photomontage using material from Hanson's auction catalogue*

Hanson's Historica Auction  in a few days, lots 98 to 110 looks like somebody's emptied grave goods from an Anglo-Saxon cemetery straight onto the market ("not in the grave-robbing fer th' munny"). Not a single one of these items visited the FLO's office in the rush to flog them off. There is no mention in the "descriptions" of where these items are from or what each of them was found with, the only references cited are a metal detectorist's "Noddy Book of British Artefacts" (not even the PAS finds guide published a few years back).

There is also (Lot 103) a matching pair of saucer brooches, which almost certainly were hoiked out of a female burial, no PAS involvement here either:

A pair of Anglo-Saxon saucer brooches. A very fine matching pair of chip-carved and gilded saucer brooches found together near Evesham, Worcestershire c.1992. The front faces have extensive geometric pseudo-basketwork decoration and much of the original gilding survives. 5th - 6th century AD. Cf. Hammond 'British Artefacts (vol. 1) fig. 1.1.6.6d-e. 41mm, 28.3g and 42mm, 21.8g.

Where is Derby Museum's Michelle Ray when you need her, eh?

Hanson's of course not been averse to making money from products of grave robbery and desecration of human remains in the past http://paul-barford.blogspot.com/2019/02/profiting-from-disturbing-dead-uk-grave.html

* Image © Hanson' Limited, fair use for purposes of comment or criticism for non-profit educational purposes.