British Museum reveals bumper haul of treasures found by the public

Finds reported to England’s Portable Antiquities Scheme include medieval bone rosary bead and 3,000-year-old gold dress fastener

Caroline Nunneley was mudlarking along the shore of the Thames in London – inching on her hands and knees while scanning the mud for archaeological finds – when she suddenly spotted a miniature human skull looking up at her.

She picked up the small, exquisitely carved object and showed it to a friend. “We turned it over and we went: ‘Whoa.’ Because we hadn’t realised that there was a face on the other side.”