Magiovinium Mystery Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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A Puzzle Cache placed in or near Magiovinium. The co-ordinates above are for the centre of Magiovinium. They are NOT the co-ordinates of the cache.
There are traces of the Roman settlement Magiovinium on the edge of the present day town of Fenny Stratford. A rectangular enclosure of 2.2 hectares measuring 150 metres by 122 metres, lying about 500 metres south-east along Watling street, near to the south side of the road and delineated by double-ditches, has been identified as a possible Roman fort. Pottery recovered from the ditch infill suggests it was constructed during the Neronian period, and deserted some time during the Flavian period. Possibly the oldest known gold coin in Britain was found here, a gold stater of the mid-second century. Roman remains have been found either side of the road along a 1.2 kilometre stretch of Watling Street, from the crossing of the River Ouzel to the south-east towards Little Brickhill. Pottery recovered from the site ranges from the mid-first century through to the fourth century, and the latest reported coin found during diggings on the site is an issue of Valentinian. Although only the south-eastern arc of the settlement's defences are visible (on Aerial Photos), the rest of its perimeter can be conjectured to follow the contours of a natural scarp on the northern side, and bounded to the west by a cemetery. Three cemeteries are known; the first, containing second century cremations lay to either side of a branch-road north off Watling Street; the second containing inhumations and cremations extended along Watling Street to the south-east, and the third, containing only inhumation burials lay on the south side of Watling Street at the opposite (north-western) end of the settlement. During 1990 several finds of Roman metalwork and other artefacts were reported to the Milton Keynes Archaeology unit, by metal-detector users, searching on the line of the Fenny Stratford bypass which at the time was being constructed to the south of Milton Keynes, close to the boundary of the scheduled area, covering the site of small Roman town of Magiovinium. Of particular note among these discoveries was the finding of three coarse-ware vessels containing quantities of copper-alloy coin blanks and pellets and a pair of possible iron coin dies. The hoard remains the property of the landowners, Buckinghamshire County Council, and can be seen at the County Museum in Aylesbury. The Milton Keynes Hoard : There has long believed to be further hoards buried in the Milton Keynes area. You could try looking for them using a metal detector or you could join the growing band of both professional and amateur treasure hunters and archaeologists, some of whom believe that this strange text found right here in Magiovinium in the inhumation of a wealthy second century Roman citizen, describes the location of one such hoard : HEHET YYHT TTER THEE YYHTR Good luck. Oh, and if you find anything really valuable, its mine. Depending on your approach direction to the cache site, there are some busy roads nearby, so take appropriate care and keep dogs and children under control. First to Find : Awarded to We-do-checks-and-cache for tenacity, sleepless nights and much poring & scribbling over the puzzle.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Vs VOZ jba'g fbyir vg, gel UNY.
Chg lbhfrys va gur fubrf bs bhe cbbe hasbeghangr frpbaq praghel Pvgvmra.
Lbh ner jrypbzr gb rznvy zr sbe shegure uvagf.