The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) is a means by which members of the public can record objects they have found on a large online database. Finds usually come from metal detecting but can also be the result of gardening and field walking.
As a Finds Liaison Officer (FLO) it is my role to record these objects to help preserve the archaeological record and to help paint a picture of archaeological finds in Britain. Although it is voluntary for people to record their finds, we highly encourage people to do so otherwise important finds might be lost. However, people do have a legal duty to record finds which fall under the 1996 Treasure Act.
Last year the PAS recorded its 1,500,000th find and in December we recorded the 5000th find from West Berkshire. There are now over 7000 finds from the county as a whole. This year, to coincide with the Berkshire Archaeological Society’s 150th anniversary I have come up with a list of 150 finds from 150 places in Berkshire. Starting Monday 1stMarch, I’ll be tweeting four of these per week on the @berkshireflo Twitter account using the hashtag #BAS150. For those not on Twitter they will also be loaded to a page on the BAS web site on a weekly basis.
If you want to know more about the scheme in Berkshire, I can be contacted at philip.smither1(at)westberks.gov.uk. I also have a weekly finds blog which can be found through the PAS county page for Berkshire, https://finds.org.uk/counties/berkshire/team/.
Phil Smither, Finds Liaison Officer, Berkshire
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Image: Silver-plated contemporary copy of a denarius of Septimius Severus (AD193 – 211) https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/1020056