The first programme in a new BBC2 series, 'Hidden
Treasures', broadcast 2 Sept, featured recent investigation of a site in
Hertfordshire where a metal detectorist had found six small gold votive plaques,
engraved with figures and inscriptions, and a silver statuette of a goddess. The
dig found several coins, and a Bronze Age chisel, and the base of the statuette.
Most finds were dated to 2nd or 4th C AD, I think. Inscriptions on the
plaques and base showed that the goddess's name was Senua - like many RB
goddesses, she's not named at any other site.
Geophys showed that the ritual site was near a
substantial settlement (not investigated). The site itself appears to have
consisted of a circular ?walkway, about 15 metres across, paved with
chalk, with a rectangular chalk platform at one side, and possibly walled,
but without a 'temple' structure. At the centre of the circle, it's suggested,
was a spring or boggy area into which the deposits were thrown from the
platform.
I suppose the danger of invasion by unscrupulous
detectorists makes broadcasting exact location impossible, but does anyone have
further details?
Christine Buckley