II Finds Reported under the Portable Antiquities Scheme

The Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) was established in 1997 as an initiative to record archaeological objects found by members of the public.Following a pilot phase, it was extended to all of England and Wales from 2003 onwards. 1 Since 2004 surveys of Roman period finds documented by the PAS have been published in Britannia.This twenty-third annual summary outlines the general character of Roman finds reported in 2025 and reports significant individual artefact discoveries recorded by Finds Liaison Officers (FLOs). 2 OverviewIn 2025 29,540 objects of Roman date were documented by the PAS within 16,247 object records.The number of objects exceeds the number of records since a single record may document more than one item, especially in instances of coin hoards as well as in assemblages of ceramics or building materials.As in 2023 and 2024, the quantities of both objects and records compiled in 2025 continue to show the trend of overall increased discovery, reporting and documentation following decreased activity during the Covid pandemic, albeit with a somewhat smaller number of Roman objects recorded in 2025 than in the immediately preceding years.3 The spatial distribution of finds reported in 2025 also follows that previously reported; again the highest numbers of objects and records occur in eastern and central southern counties in England. 4 The lowest numbers were again in northern England, the westernmost counties of south-west England and in Wales, as well as in conurbations (except for London's Thames foreshore).5 The causes of this uneven 1 S. Worrell, 'Roman Britain in 2006 II.Finds reported under the Portable Antiquities Scheme', Britannia 38 (2007), 303.2 From 2019 onwards we have no longer presented artefact quantities by county, since consistently recurring regional differences were established in Britannia reports on PAS finds up to 2018.3 2024 34,469 objects within 16,955 object records, J. Pearce, S. Worrell and E. Wood, 'Roman Britain in 2024 II.Finds reported under the Portable Antiquities Scheme', Britannia 56 (2025), 462; 2023 35,981 objects within 16,249 records, J. Pearce, S. Worrell and E. Wood, 'Roman Britain in 2023 II.Finds reported under the Portable Antiquities Scheme', Britannia 55 (2024), 377.4 For example, the highest numbers of records in 2025 were created for the following counties: Norfolk (1,396); Wiltshire (1,287); Suffolk (1,270) Lincolnshire (1,115); Oxfordshire (966).5 For example, Northumberland 42 records, Cumbria 47 records, Devon 46 records, Cornwall 4 records, Wales 161 records, noting that record numbers mask those of objects recorded e.g. the 6,544 objects from Wales.