Our Top Ten Treasures

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.

Our Top Ten Treasures
GenreDocumentary
Directed byPatricia Wheatley
Presented byAdam Hart-Davis
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producers
ProducerPatricia Wheatley
DistributorBBC
Release
Original networkBBC Two
Original release1 January 2003 (2003-01-01)
External links
Website

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 MacGregor’s attempts to popularise the museum.[1]

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.[2][3]

Reception

Richard Morrison writing in The Times criticised the British Museum for co-operating in an, "unashamedly populist television archaeology venture,"[1] 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."[4]

Synopsis

Every year thousands of precious things are dug up in Britain and many of them find their way here to the British Museum in London, together they represent an amazing amount of history. We’ve asked the museum to look out their top exhibits, both single objects and whole hoards, and we’re going to go behind the scenes down into the treasure room to have a look at the top ten treasures of Britain.

Adam Hart-Davis's introduction

Hart-Davis presents the top ten treasures as voted by the expert panel in reverse order.

ImageNumberObjectDateFinderWhen foundWhere found
10The Bronze Age Ringlemere Gold CupBronze Agemetal-detectorist Cliff Bradshaw2001near Dover
9Cuerdale Silver Hoard10th centurystoneworkers1840banks of the River Ribble
8Fishpool Hoard15th centuryworkmen1966Ravenshead, Nottinghamshire
7Mildenhall Roman Dinner ServiceRomanGordon Butcher, a ploughman1942near Mildenhall, Suffolk
6Mold capeBronze Agestoneworkers1833Mold, Flintshire, Wales
5Lewis chessmen12th centuryMalcolm Macleod, small tenant of Pennydonald, Uig1831Uig, Isle of Lewis in 1831 but originating in Scandinavia
4Snettisham HoardCeltic Iron Age1948 onwardsoutside King’s Lynn, Norfolk
3Hoxne HoardRomanmetal-detectorist Eric Lawes1992near Eye, Suffolk
2Sutton Hoo ship burialEarly Anglo-Saxon, 7th centuryBasil Brown and Edith Pretty1940Woodbridge, Suffolk
1Vindolanda tabletsRomanRobin Birley1973near Hadrians Wall

Contributors

  • Robin Birley (Director, Vindolanda Trust)
  • Roger Bland (Head, Portable Antiquities Scheme)
  • Alan Bowman (Centre of Ancient Writing, Oxford University)
  • Cliff Bradshaw (metal-detectorist)
  • Christine Carpenter (Historian, Cambridge University)
  • Martin Carver (Director, Sutton Hoo Research Trust)
  • Barrie Cook (Curator of Coins & Medals, British Museum)
  • Angela Evans (Curator, Anglo-Saxon Collections, British Museum)
  • Irving Finkel (Asst Keeper, Cuneiform Collections, British Museum)
  • J.D. Hill (Curator, Iron Age Collections, British Museum)
  • Richard Hobbs (Curator, Romano-British Collections, British Museum)
  • Catherine Johns (Former Senior Curator, British Museum)
  • Neil MacGregor (Director, British Museum)
  • Ian McIntyre (Metal Conservator, British Museum)
  • Stuart Needham (Curator, Bronze Age Collections, British Museum)
  • Keith Parfitt (Canterbury Archaeological Trust)
  • Jude Plouviez (Suffolk Archaeological Unit)
  • James Robinson (Curator, Medieval Collections, British Museum)
  • Leslie Webster (Formerly Keeper, Medieval & Modern Europe Dept, British Museum)
  • Gareth Williams (Curator of Coins & Medals, British Museum)
  • Jonathan Williams (then Curator of Iron Age and Roman coins (now Keeper, Medieval & Modern Europe Dept), British Museum)

See also

References

  1. Morrison, Richard (6 July 2003). "Saint goes marching on". The Times. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
  2. Naish, John (28 December 2002). "This is treasure talking". The Times. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
  3. Beard, Mary (4 October 2006). "How people lived in Roman Britain". TLS. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
  4. "Play choice: Wednesday January 1". The Times. 28 December 2002. Retrieved 16 July 2008.
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