Ancient Roman god figure discovered – and it’s the 1,000th find by local history hunters this year

His record is put to shame by our local history hunters. Contributors to the North and East Yorkshire Portable Antiquities Scheme have just notched up their 1,000th discovery this year.

And he is quite a discovery – a 2,000-year-old figurine of the Roman god Mercury.

Fashioned from a copper alloy, the figure of the god of merchants and travellers was found by Dave Cooper, member of the York and District Metal Detecting Club, in a field near Selby.

Rebecca Griffiths, portable antiquities finds officer at York Museums Trust, said thousands of archaeological objects were discovered by members of the public every year.

Each year Rebecca and a small team of volunteers add more than 2,000 new artefacts to the database.

The Yorkshire Museum has acquired a number of items that have been found by members of the public, many of which are currently on display. These include the Bedale Hoard, the Escrick Ring and the silver Stillingfleet boar badge of Richard III.

Although the 1000th find has not been acquired by a museum, the full record can be viewed here.

Found an archaeological object that you would like to find out more about? Then come along to one of the portable antiquities scheme finds days – see panel for dates.