Uncovering the Mysteries of the Roman Provincial Mint (sort of)

This week’s guest post is by PhD student Francesca Lam-March from King’s College London, who was awarded the Friends of Butser Ancient Farm bursary in 2025.

When you look at the humble Roman As (little bronze coin) or even the brash Sestertius (big bronze coin), do you ever think about how that coin came to be? I do. Although they don't age as well as their gold and silver cousins, these bronze coins were, in their day, every bit as shiny and very pretty to look at. These circular flashy tokens were the currency (mainly) minted by the Roman provinces, the cities with the means and the wealth to produce their own local currency. Yet, despite a hefty dataset of thousands of coin types, we know relatively little about them. 

How did these coins come to be? Where were they made? And by who?

These questions have become a large branch of my PhD research and inspired me to apply for the Friends of Buster Ancient Farm bursary in 2025, to see if I could find out more. Quickly, I realised this was a multistep process.

Roman coin from Bilbilis

3D scan of coin

My first challenge, and the topic of this blog, was to make a bronze coin. A bronze coin is a circular pellet (generally) made from tin and copper melted together. I made mine in a modern 6kg metal melting furnace fired with propane gas. And with the generous help of the Friends of Butser Ancient Farm I was able to buy the metal and have a place to fire up the furnace and conduct these experiments.

Engraved coin die

Map denoting where Bilbilis is

My chosen coin to replicate was a chunky (29mm) sestertii sized coin from Bilbilis - a municipium (city) located around 400km west of Barcelona. The Romans were adept hands in casting their blanks, as the weight disparities between the blanks was no more than 4g. Unsure of how to repeat such accuracy, I developed three types of mold: Graphite, Steel and Sand.

The graphite and steel molds were created with a CNC machine. The flan molds were 30mm in diameter and were connected with a 10mm wide channel to allow the bronze to flow through. The molds were open molds based on styles seen from Roman Paphos. The problem was that the open molds were heavily oxidising. This was the first red flag that this was a more complex business than I'd thought.

Steel molds

Graphite molds

Oxidised coin blanks

The sand casting proved much better as the mold was closed. But the pockets for the flans proved tricky to get right, because I was using a punch as a template. In the end I 3D printed a template which yielded much better results.

3D printed mold or sand casting

Bronze coin blanks

Next, I set about striking the coins, with the generous help of Dr Will Wootton on striking duty and Dr Katy Mortimer on temperature checking duty. 

My first attempt was to strike the coin in the die, cold. This meant inserting the coin and the die into a tree stump to hold it steady and striking the coin as hard as possible. To my surprise - nothing. Not one part of the design of the die transferred.

I struck again, but this time I tried heating the coin to 100 degrees. Nothing. 200 degrees. Still nothing. A whopping cherry red hot, 400 degrees. Only the outer rim of the coin transferred.

Oxidised coins - turned grey!

And what was still more confusing is that my shiney bronze coin had turned grey with oxidisation! 

This left me puzzled - with even more questions than before. Why is it so hard to strike a bronze coin? What key step am I missing? 

What I have no doubt of, however, is the value of experimental archaeology. We can learn so much more from experimentation, about not only the complexity of the processes but also the lives of the people behind them.

Part two on annealing, striking (again) and polishing the coins to follow soon!

How to Raise a Legion of Young Readers

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In anticipation of World Book Day this week, we’re celebrating all things literary! Bestselling children’s author Caroline Lawrence shares her ideas on how to get kids reading, and we share a few ancient costume ideas for inspiration. We’re also exploring the art of making ink from oak trees, and talking about a fascinating archaeological discovery that may change everything we know about the earliest writing.

How to Get Kids Reading (Willingly)

How can we engage young minds with books and storytelling in the age of digital distraction?

This month on the Butser blog, we sat down with one of our favourite children’s writers Caroline Lawrence - author of the bestselling Roman Mysteries series - to talk about how we can inspire children to spend more time reading.

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How to Make Anglo-Saxon Ink

What do you get when you cross a parasitic wasp, an oak tree and a water reed? Find out in our latest video on YouTube, as two members of the Butser team have a go at making ink in the style of the Anglo-Saxons!

Tag Us in Your Visit!

Thanks to Churcher’s College Junior School for tagging us in their recent visit! Year 4 had a great multi-sensory day learning about the Anglo-Saxons, making their own jewellery, wattling fences and hearing stories around the fire in our Saxon longhall.

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In the news this week:
Writing Marks Found on Mammoth Tusks

Until now, historians thought the first written words were formed in ancient Mesopotamia around 5,000 years ago. But a 45,000-year-old mammoth tusk has been found in a cave in Germany, covered with lines, notches, dots and crosses scratched into the surface. Researchers now believe these marks might be the earliest form of writing - although their precise meaning still remains a mystery.

This is a great way to talk to children about the power of writing to document our lives and experiences. Here are some example questions and activities you could use to engage with the young minds in your classroom:

1. Living in the late Stone Age would have been hard, but people still found time to draw and write. Why do you think creating art has always been so important alongside basic survival skills? 

2. What sort of thing do you think Stone Age people may have been writing about? What were their daily experiences? What did they like to do, and what did they fear? 

3. Write a first-person diary entry from the perspective of somebody living in this German cave in the Stone Age. Will you include an exciting, possibly life-threatening event? Or did they share the same everyday habits and routines as us?

The Power of Kids’ Literacy: An Interview with Caroline Lawrence

To celebrate World Book Day this week, we spoke to one of our favourite children’s authors Caroline Lawrence about how to engage young minds with books and storytelling in the age of digital distraction. We have always been a huge fan of Caroline’s work - and we are honoured that her numerous visits to Butser have even inspired some of her titles! This interview was also included in our latest educational newsletter Lessons from the Past - a free, bi-monthly newsletter packed with learning resources themed around the ancient world.

Bestselling children’s author Caroline Lawrence

Many education specialists see reading as the foundation of all learning. In your experience, what makes children's literacy so powerful, and how can stories unlock confidence and curiosity in young readers? 

From time immemorial, stories have taught children how to think about themselves and the world they live in. For many children with busy, distracted or absent parents, this is the only way for them to learn important concepts and ideas. Stories encourage empathy because they show how other people think and live. This is vitally important for us as humans to get on with each other. Stories also provide an escape for children who might be suffering stress or anxiety caused by death, sickness, bullying or a looming change in their lives. Stories show that other people in other places and times had things just as bad, or even worse, than they do. 

You've inspired countless children to fall in love with reading through The Roman Mysteries and other stories. Why do you think historical fiction is so effective at helping children connect with the past?

One thing I love about writing historical fiction (and reading it, too) is that it gives the reader a little distance from the present. Sometimes certain topics are too scary for children to think about, but if you can write about these problems for children in another place in time children find it easier to read about. Although the books might be set in the past, the solutions are often the same because emotionally we haven't changed in thousands of years! There’s a famous line from L. P. Hartley’s novel The Go-Between: ‘The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.’ By reading about people in the past, children are reading about people in different cultures and countries in a way, which again, makes them more empathic. 

Caroline’s Roman Mysteries series spans 17 books

The young characters in your stories solve puzzles, make mistakes and grow in courage. Why is it so important for children to see people their own age at the centre of adventure and discovery?

Many children's stories (like mine) have children who are on their own. They are either orphaned or have only one parent or are just neglected and left on their own. This is not because we children’s authors are sadists, but because we want to show children at the centre of adventure and discovery, just as you said!

In an era of distraction, lack of focus and excessive screen time, do you have any advice for teachers and parents who are struggling to engage children with reading? 

I think this is the most important question you've asked. We do live in a world of distraction and fractured concentration! I think many of us adults have noticed a change in our ability to concentrate. I certainly have. Some scholars and educators have suggested that we are now in a ‘post-literate world’. This is fancy language which just means children are not reading in anywhere like the same number that they used to. I agree with this! As parents, educators and writers, we can either bemoan this fact or we can adapt. One way of adapting is to encourage children to absorb stories in different ways which are more suited to their diminished concentration levels. Of course we must encouraged children to read long chapter books. But we must also find new ways of storytelling. Because it is storytelling that is the most important thing - not just the act of reading.

So we can present them with short stories, poems, and even micro-fiction. We can encourage them to listen to audiobooks and storytellers. They’re going to be watching short-form content on their phones so we should make sure this content is excellent. Like almost every parent, I hate the idea of children on their devices all the time. I recently heard about a four-year old who was given a book and kept pressing the cover because she didn’t know how a book worked! She thought it was an electronic pad. 

Caroline has also written non-fiction books about the ancient world and creative writing

What are you currently working on?

My current project is an interactive colouring book based on Homer’s Odyssey. Each page will offer a haiku (a very short poem) telling an aspect of the story or world around the story. Each page will give the child a chance to physically interact by drawing, doodling, colouring and most importantly by writing their own poems in the book. As far as I know, nobody has done this before! Nobody has made a book which combines pictures and words to tell a story and educate, and which encourages the child to physically interact with pencil, pen or crayon. The beauty is that they can’t do it on a pad or phone - they need to physically interact with a book! I hope to publish this book around March 2026, and you can watch my work in progress on my Instagram page @carolinedaylawrence.

Where can we find your stories and books?

You can read any of my 40+ traditional books as physical books, on kindle (or smartphone), or as audiobooks! You can also watch televised versions of my Roman Mysteries on Apple TV! I am also currently producing my four-book Roman Quests series - a sequel to the Roman Mysteries set in Roman Britain (and based heavily on Butser Ancient Farm) - as audiobooks. I will send a code to listen for FREE to the first thirty readers to email me at carolinelawrence@me.com.

How to Weave a Rope Trivet

There is something deeply gratifying about using an object that you have made yourself, because that object becomes more valuable to you. But when was the last time you truly took the time to slow down, unwind and create something for yourself? This week on the Butser blog, our intern Natasha takes us through the mindful art of weaving rope trivets - just in time for our rope trivet workshop in March!

A Brief History of Rope Making

Long before machines and mass production existed, rope was made by braiding or twisting rope-like vegetable fibre or animal hair. In prehistoric times, it was essential for fishing, as well as gathering and capturing animals. Later, the Ancient Egyptians developed rope making tools, since rope was essential for moving heavy building materials.

In western Europe, from the thirteenth century onwards, rope was made in factories called ropewalks - long buildings where fibres were laid down and twisted together to make one rope. At the time everything was operated by hand, although that changed after the industrial revolution. Over the centuries, rope making techniques have continued to change, but the importance of rope itself has never diminished. It remains deeply essential even today, particularly in the nautical world, in construction, and even in everyday life.

Today, traditional rope making is considered an endangered heritage craft. Thanks to Sue Pennison - a traditional rope maker, yacht rigger and Chair of the Trustees of the International Guild of Knot Tyers - visitors to Butser can take part in one of our Woven Rope Trivet Making workshops this March, to help keep the knowledge alive through hands-on practice.

An Introduction to Sue Pennison

Sue Pennison is a lifelong sailor, sailing on the Norfolk Broads as a child and learning a wide variety of knots during her lifetime. Dissatisfied with the range of cord she could buy, however, she decided to buy a rope maker and start making her own! In her eyes:

‘Rope making and knot tying has been an intrinsic part of human life for thousands of years. Under guidance, the elegant simplicity of the process allows people of all ages to get ‘hands on’ and make quality rope and cord. Then there is the joy of turning it into something practical and beautiful.’

About the Workshop

The workshop will take place on 22 March 2026 in our Roman Villa. You’ll not only be stepping into the past by learning a traditional craft, but by experiencing it within the walls of our Roman building - immersing yourself in what it would have been like to live in the past.

During the workshop, you will be able to make your own natural hemp rope using a hand-powered mechanism, as well as creating a traditional heatproof rope trivet with the rope you will have crafted!

This female-led session will be relaxed and welcoming for all participants, regardless of prior knowledge or experience. At the end of the workshop, you will leave with a finished piece that’s both functional and satisfying to use in your own home.

There are two sessions available:

• The morning session from 10am - 12.30pm

• The afternoon session from 1pm - 3.30pm

Ready to try your hand at a heritage craft? Click here to learn more or sign yourself up to the workshop.

WOVEN ROPE TRIVET WORKSHOP
with heritage ropemaker Sue Pennison

Saturday 22 March 2026

Half-Day Workshop: 10am - 12.30pm OR 1pm - 3.30pm

• Create a traditional rope mat made with a natural hemp rope (formed by participants during the session). Approx 20cm diameter. Heatproof for domestic purposes.

• Relaxing & welcoming, female-led & beginner-friendly, small group size.

• Set in the unique surroundings of a recreated Roman Villa!

Twist, Cut, Weave: Why Hedgelaying Still Matters

Over the last two weeks, we’ve been given the fantastic opportunity of holding a hedgelaying course thanks to funding from the East Hampshire District Council Grow Up! Fund. But what exactly is hedgelaying, and why is this traditional craft still relevant today?

What is Hedgelaying?

Hedgelaying is a traditional countryside craft in which the stems of shrubs or small trees are partially cut and carefully bent over to lie at an angle. These stems are laid along the line of the hedge to create a dense, living barrier. Over time, this process encourages fresh growth from the base of the plant, resulting in a thicker, healthier hedgerow. Unlike simple trimming, hedgelaying keeps the hedge alive and thriving. It has been practiced in the UK for hundreds of years, and different regions have even developed their own style variations.

The Importance of Hedgelaying

Hedgelaying plays an important part in wildlife-friendly agriculture. It acts as a natural barrier for livestock and crops, effectively providing an alternative to modern fencing. Environmentally, hedgerows help prevent soil erosion, reduce flooding and wind damage, as well as providing shelter, food and nesting sites for birds, insects and small mammals. Passing on hands-on knowledge and skills is also becoming more important in an increasingly digital world, and teaching hedgelaying helps preserve and pass on our cultural heritage for future generations.

About the Course

Our hedgelaying courses are led by Darren Hammerton, an expert treewright and hedgelayer. Thanks to Darren, the attendees were able to learn all about hedgelaying in our idyllic landscape, surrounded by nature and listening to the sounds of rustling leaves, birdsong and the crackling of the fire.

Our placement student Natasha observed the course this week and talked with one of the attendees, who said:

‘The course is really enjoyable. I learned a lot from Darren, the learning environment is great, and I loved working with traditional tools and products.’

Thank you again to the East Hampshire District Council Grow Up Fund that made these courses possible. Opportunities like this not only help people develop practical skills, but also strengthen community connections and revive knowledge of ancient crafts.

The East Hampshire District Council Grow Up! Fund

The Grow Up Legacy Programme is an East Hampshire-wide programme that funds community groups in order to run events that promote employment, education, volunteering opportunities and that strengthen engagement in East Hampshire. We recently received funding from the Grow Up Legacy Programme, set up by the East Hampshire District Council, that enabled us to host two four-day long hedgelaying courses. We are very grateful for the funding we have received since we were able to welcome 24 people across both weeks free of charge. This allowed people from all backgrounds, regardless of their prior experience, to come together and gain valuable knowledge.

If you would like to learn more about hedgelaying, you can watch Darren at work on a previous hedgelaying course through our YouTube channel below:

How to Throw a Lupercalia Pancake Party

Who doesn’t love Pancake Day? Hovering on the cusp of spring, a sanctified invitation to dine on sugar-sprinkled stodge for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But did you know that Shrove Tuesday, like so many Christian celebrations, actually has pre-Christian roots? In holy lore, Shrove Tuesday (also known as Mardi Gras or ‘Fat Tuesday’) is a time to confess your sins, burn last year’s palm leaves, choose something to give up for Lent, and eat pancakes, sweets and other rich foods before fasting for 40 days. The theme is purification, just like its pre-Christian predecessor: The Ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia.

The Romans observed Lupercalia every year to purify the city, promote health and boost fertility. The purification instruments used, known as the februa, gave the month of February its name. It coincides with the purification we see in the natural world as February marks the end of winter, when old life sinks into the earth and new growth begins again. It’s a time to purge unwanted thoughts and behaviours, and welcome in a brighter, warmer kind of energy. The Romans called this festival Lupercalia in honour of Lupercus, the Roman god of fertility. In the creation myth of the founding of Rome, Lupercus helped the she-wolf take care of Romulus and Remus, which is why Lupercalia was also a celebration for pregnant and breastfeeding women.

In true Roman fashion, Lupercalia was said to be a booze-fuelled festival of feasting, mating and merrymaking, after which the participants would fast for 40 days. Rituals were held in the Lupercal cave, the Palatine Hill and the Forum, all of which were important locations in the story of Romulus and Remus. Near the cave stood a sanctuary dedicated to Rumina, goddess of breastfeeding, and the wild fig tree, whose pendulous, milky fruits were likened to breasts. The day’s rituals were facilitated by a priesthood called the Luperci or ‘brothers of the wolf’, and included the sacrifice of goats and dogs, a sacrificial feast to follow, and a naked jog around the block carrying the flayed skins of the animals. These were used as whips to strike pregnant and barren women in the hope it would boost their fertility.

This year, as you’re sprinkling sugar and lemon on the fifteenth pancake of the day, consider taking your Pancake Day celebrations back to Ancient Rome by trying a Lupercalia ritual for yourself!

How to Throw a Lupercalia Pancake Party

1. Find a cave with wild fig trees growing outside. Decorate.
2. Choose a nice corner in which to make a Lupercal altar.
3. Invite friends, family, breastfeeding women and ancient priests to join.
4. Approach the altar and sacrifice two male goats, a dog and a plate of salted mealcakes pre-prepared by virgin priestesses.
5. Anoint guests with sacrificial blood, then clean knife with wool soaked in milk.
6. Everyone laughs.
7. Ask priests to cut strips from the animals’ skin.
8. Invite guests to remove their clothes and run naked around the nearest hill carrying the strips of skin. Strike anyone who approaches, particularly pregnant and infertile women.
9. All guests return to cave for pancakes.

What’s On this Half Term?

Star trails over our Iron Age village - photo by Greenglow Photography

In the face of wintery weather, there’s nothing better than soaking up the atmosphere of our ancient houses, meeting our rare breed animals, stretching your legs in the fresh air and sipping hot chocolate with a view over the South Downs.

Opening Times

Saturday 14 Feb - Sunday 15 Feb
(Closed Mon 16 & Tue 17)
Wednesday 18 Feb - Sunday 22 Feb
Open 10am - 4pm
Pre-book your tickets to save £1 per ticket!

This half term, we are celebrating Dark Skies Week with a FREE celestial-themed family trail! Follow the Stars will take you on an ancient journey under the sky. Discover more about how ancient people used the sky above to find their way around the world, and hunt for golden stars around the farm to complete the missing word.

You can also make willow star wands and sun disc pendants to take home, play with Roman boardgames, mosaics and Saxon runes, and meet reeanctors from across the ancient world. Plus, have a go at archery over the weekend of 21-22 Feb!

If you’re looking for last minute holiday clubs for school-age children, we also have a handful of spaces left on our Time Traveller Holiday Club! Your child will experience Butser like never before, spending each fun-filled day with us packed with exciting activities, from making their own clay pots, grinding wheat and baking bread, to trying out weapons, playing ancient games and getting to know the Butser goats - all in the beautiful setting of our ancient buildings in the Hampshire countryside!

For the adults, why not celebrate the new moon with our Lunar Connect & Reset evening yoga circle on Friday 13 February? Reset, recharge and welcome in fresh intentions for the month ahead with our brilliant yoga teacher Holly Hayward. Ground yourself by the fire in our Great Roundhouse, and take the time to check in with your body and your mind. Through gentle movement and reflective practices designed to inspire creativity and self-expression, relax and recharge as the moon begins its cycle anew.

One more thing! Half term visitors from Wednesday to Friday may spot a few industrious workers laying a hedge along the Butser pathways. This course has been offered free to locals through funding by EHDC’s Grow Up! fund. If you’re interested in the traditions and ecological benefits of hedgelaying, you can also watch the video below via the Butser YouTube channel, featuring our excellent treewright Darren Hammerton as he takes us through the stages of laying a hedge.

WIN A BRONZE AXE HEAD!

To celebrate the relaunch of Butser Plus, we are giving away this beautiful bronze axe head made by our resident archaeo-bronzesmith Jim Clift.

This piece is based on an early Bronze Age flanged axe, similar to those in the Arreton Down hoard, excavated on the Isle of Wight in the eighteenth century. In 2012, an English Heritage report even used laser scanning to discover dozens of these axe shapes carved into the stones at Stonehenge!

TO ENTER: Sign up to our Butser Plus platform at any tier between now and 28 February!

This can be a monthly or annual subscription, but must be placed before 23:59 (GMT) on 28 February 2026. At the end of the month, we will choose one lucky winner at random and post their prize to them anywhere in the world. Click here for the full terms & conditions of this prize draw.

Building Butser’s ‘Little Hadrian’

John at work on the wall

The Experimentalists are an exciting volunteer team here at Butser, working on experimental projects to bring our ancient houses to life. They’re currently working on several projects across the farm. In this update, Margaret Taylor (Experimentalist and volunteer librarian) shares a short update on the team’s progress.

Butser Ancient Farm has a reconstructed Roman Villa, based on the one found at Sparsholt, Hampshire. At the front of the Villa there is a beautiful Roman garden, complete with a mosaic and stone seating area, and on the western side there is a flourishing kitchen garden. However, the area between the western Villa wall and the kitchen garden requires attention. The mission is to create an attractive useable area where the Villa inhabitants and visitors can relax.

Therefore, in June last year Butser staff enlisted our team, the Experimentalists, and trained us as ‘Roman soldiers’ to build the western boundary wall. There was already a low wall there; when the Roman Villa was built, it was a training area for new recruits. When they had passed the ‘skills test’ on that wall they were free to use their new found skills on the actual Roman Villa.

Preparing the mortar

Butser staff kindly managed and trained us, provided us with PPE and also provided us with some excellent buffet lunches, as a reward for our work. Building the wall has been a particularly enriching experience for John. He has ‘found his calling’ and would have continued building the wall at his home, if that was possible! It has been an enjoyable and challenging ‘learning curve’ for all of us. Retaining walls need to be strong; a pretty face is not enough. Hadrian’s Wall is still standing - and Butser’s own ‘little Hadrian’ needs to stand the test of time too.

The wall is constructed with a flint and lime mortar. Lime mortar is a traditional building method, which is flexible, allows for movement, and is moisture resistant and durable. We used a ratio of two spades of lime to three spades of sand. We also had to correctly add the appropriate measure of water, with the result that the mixture varied. We had minor set-backs; occasionally, the mix was less good or the wall got wet before the mortar set. Consequently, with the great British weather, we often had to cover the wall with a variety of modern tarpaulins. Crucially, if we did not adhere to ‘flint on flint’, some sections of wall crumbled and we had to redo them. But set-backs have been minor and we have progressed well; the first few metres of the wall are complete and we have now reached the far end of the Villa. So far, we have used 7 tonnes of flint! However, winter has stopped play, as the temperature is required to be 5° C or more, otherwise the mortar will not set.

Roman Soldiers on Hadrian’s Wall would have had the advantage of large numbers of men, and they would have had to work in shifts until the wall was finished. They certainly wouldn’t have been visiting the wall once a week! Would they have completed all the work in good weather, or continue through bad weather?

However, as modern ‘soldiers’ we are spending the winter completing other Butser tasks, retreating to the inside of ‘our’ Iron Age roundhouse (Danebury CS1), sitting around the fire and waiting for summer to arrive so that we can finish ‘our wall’. We will of course, keep readers informed of our progress!

Further study: The Winchester City Museum is an excellent place to visit and discover more about the Roman Villa at Sparsholt.

Update by Margaret Taylor and John Briggs, from The Experimentalists.

Consultation with Maureen and Imogen

The first section of the wall is now finished