Yara Souza, an archaeology student from Orlando, discovered a rare ninth-century gold object during her first excavation in Redesdale, Northumberland, during July. The gold object measures about one and a half inches, bears decorative ornamentation on one end, and dates to the 800s. The find occurred within the first 90 minutes of the group dig near the route of Dere Street, a major Roman road linking York and Edinburgh that later formed part of the A68. Experts consider the object high-status and possibly religious or ceremonial, and its location suggests elite use of the thoroughfare long after Roman rule.
'I couldn't believe I'd found something so quickly into my first ever excavation. It was actually quite overwhelming,' Souza said.
'This is an exciting find of exceptional quality and I'm delighted for Yara that she has made this discovery at the beginning of her career as an archaeologist,' said James Gerrard, Professor of Roman Archaeology at Newcastle University and Souza's tutor
'We know that Dere Street continued to be a major thoroughfare long after the Romans and it's clear from this discovery that high status people were using it. It is possible that this pair of objects may have been deliberately buried.'
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