Hoards: The Hidden History of Ancient Britain, British Museum

Is there anything more beguiling than a treasure hoard? Ancient hands on winter nights, burying riches under cover of darkness. Desperate men, planning to return and never quite making it; only for their glittering stash to be dug up, a thousand years late. It's the sort of story that sends hopeful hunters, armed with metal detectors, scurrying cross moors and beaches, hoping to strike gold.

It's all very romantic, and supremely headline-worthy - but these discoveries aren't always what they seem.This year, the British Museum demystify the phenomenon with a small but fascinating exhibition, Hoards: The Hidden History of Ancient Britain. Featuring an array of pre-historic and Roman British hoards, the show explores the history and archeology of buried treasure, as well as elaborating on the reasons why it was buried in the first place. Were these items discarded? Lost? Sacrificed to the gods? Stashed away in times of peril?

The centrepiece of the exhibition is the giant Frome Hoard pot: at 25 inches in diameter, it is the largest pot of Roman coins ever found in Britain, in 2010. The 52, 503 coins inside range from 253-293 AD; years when the Roman empire was torn asunder by civil war and barbarian invasion.

A fascinating glimpse at discoveries that shape the way we think about our ancient past. Get along to this British Museum display as soon as you can (and then buy your very own metal detector...)