Staffordshire Hoard
Encyclopedia
The Staffordshire Hoard is the largest hoard
of Anglo-Saxon
gold and silver metalwork . Discovered in a field near the village of Hammerwich
, near Lichfield
, in Staffordshire
, England on 5 July 2009, it consists of some 3,500 items that are nearly all martial in character. The artefacts
have tentatively been dated to the 7th or 8th centuries, placing the origin of the items in the time of the Kingdom of Mercia
.
Experts have theorised about the purpose of the deposit, and whether those who made it were Christians or pagans. The average quality of the workmanship is extremely high, and especially remarkable in view of the large number of individual objects, such as swords or helmets, from which the elements in the hoard came.
The hoard was valued at £3.285 million, and has now been purchased by the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
and the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
.
ist Terry Herbert was exploring an area of farmland near Lichfield in Staffordshire with the permission of the landowner, Fred Johnson. Herbert uncovered what would become known as the Staffordshire Hoard. Over the course of the next five days, enough gold objects were recovered from the plough soil to fill 244 bags. At this point Herbert contacted Duncan Slarke, the Finds Liaison Officer for the Staffordshire and West Midlands Portable Antiquities Scheme
. The landowner granted permission for an excavation to search for the rest of the hoard. This work was funded by English Heritage
who contracted Birmingham Archaeology
to do the fieldwork. The artefacts had been scattered by recent ploughing, and an area 9 by was excavated in the search.
A geophysical
survey of the field in which the hoard was found discovered what could be a ditch close to the find. Although excavations revealed no dating evidence for the feature, further investigation is planned. In total recovered were 3,500 pieces. A final geophysical survey using specialist equipment provided by the Home Office
did not suggest any further artefacts remained, so it is thought all of the hoard has been found. Because of the importance of the find, the exact site of the hoard was initially kept secret.
On 24 September 2009, Andrew Haigh, the coroner
for South Staffordshire declared the hoard to be treasure, meaning it belongs to the Crown
. On the same day, the discovery was publicly announced. It caused a media sensation, attracting worldwide attention. The website about the Staffordshire Hoard that had been set up to showcase the finds received over 10 million views in the first week after the announcement. At this point, the full contents of the hoard was uncertain as 56 blocks of soil were yet to be taken apart by Birmingham Archaeology. Despite this, some of the finds were put on display at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
, attracting 40,000 people and causing queues several hours long to see the objects.
The objects were on display at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery from the date when their discovery was publicly announced until 13 October 2009. A further selection of pieces from the Hoard also went on display at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent. Key items and numerous smaller pieces were then taken to the British Museum
, London, where cataloguing, and some initial cleaning and conservation work commenced. As of 24 September 2009, 1,381 objects had been recovered, of which 864 have a mass of less than 3 gram (0.0964522390856816 ozt), 507 less than 1 gram (0.0321507463618939 ozt), leaving just 10 larger items. X-rays of unexamined lumps of earth suggest that there are more to be revealed. Early analysis established that the hoard was not associated with a burial.
ship burial
in 1939.
Most of the items in the hoard appear to be military-related, and there are no domestic objects, such as vessels or eating utensils, or feminine jewellery, which are the more common Anglo-Saxon gold finds. Reportedly, the contents "show every sign of being carefully selected". There is broad agreement that the typical object in the hoard was made in the 7th century, but the date when a hoard was actually deposited is some point after that of the latest object found. Debate has already begun as to the date of some objects, and the process of forming views as to which objects are the latest, and their dates will no doubt take many years or decades.
A summary of the preliminary contents of the hoard, as of late 2009, is shown in the table below. This excludes items such as the gold horse's head that were in one of the 33 soil blocks that had not been examined at the time of publication of these figures.
collars and many gold hilt plates, some with inlays of cloisonné
garnet
in zoomorphic
designs (see lead picture). The 86 sword pommels found, constitute the largest ever discovery of pommels in a single context, with many different types (some previously unknown) supporting the idea that the pommels were manufactured over a wide range of time.
. Yet the cross is folded; either prior to burial "to make it fit into a small space" or as a sign that the burial deposit was made by pagans. On the other hand, the statement notes, "Christians were also quite capable of despoiling each other's shrines."
in Latin: SURGE DNE DISEPENTUR INIMICI TUI ET FUGENT QUI ODERUNT TE A FACIE TUA ("Surge Domine et dissipentur inimici tui et fugiant qui oderunt te a facie tua"), which translates as: "Rise up, Lord; may Your enemies be scattered and those who hate You be driven from Your face."
Michelle Brown, Professor of Medieval Manuscripts Studies in London, believes that, based on the use of uncial
letter forms, the style of lettering used implies a date of 7th or early 8th century, whereas Professor Elisabeth Okasha of University College Cork, an expert on early medieval inscriptions, has identified traits in the insular majuscule script that are similar to later inscriptions datable to the 8th or early 9th century.
The gold strip may have been originally fastened to a shield or a sword belt, but Nicholas Brooks, Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at Birmingham University, interprets the gold strip as an arm of a cross: a round cabochon
jewel would have been fitted to the terminal end, and the other end would have fitted into the central fitting of the cross. He suggests that the majuscule script used on the gold strip would have been in widespread use from 635 onwards, and so the gold strip could date to the mid 7th century, contemporaneous with the gold and garnet pommels and other sword jewels in the hoard.
, notes that there are two possible reasons behind the burial of the hoard: either it was a votive deposit
(an offering to the gods) or "a treasure chest that got lost, or they couldn't come back for it." Lewis comments that "from my 21st-century perspective, I find it bewildering that someone could shove so much metalwork into the ground as an offering. That seems like overkill."
Kevin Leahy, National Finds Adviser of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, says that the quantity of gold is extremely impressive and that, "more importantly, the craftsmanship is consummate, this was the very best that the Anglo-Saxon metalworkers could do, and they were very good." Leahy says that the finds must originate from the highest possible levels of the Saxon elite. Leahy comments that the find does not consist simply of loot, pointing out that swords were specifically singled out, that most of the gold and silver items appear to have been intentionally removed from the objects they were previously attached to, and that, if the depositer was just after the gold, fittings from sword belts would have been discovered. Leahy theorizes that the intention behind the removal of the gold fittings may have been to depersonalise the objects; removing the identity of the previous owners. The blades may have then been reused.
Leahy observes that the hoard appears to be a collection of trophies, yet that it is impossible to say whether the hoard consists of the spoils of a single battle or is the result of a long series of successful military engagements. Leahy says that the reason for the burial is unknown, and theorizes that the deposit "may have been tribute to Heathen gods or concealed in the face of a perceived, but all too real, threat, which led to it not being recovered." Leahy notes that further work will result in a better understanding of how the hoard came to be buried.
Leahy points out that the find includes dozens of pommel caps—decorative attachments to sword handles—and that Beowulf
contains a reference to warriors stripping the pommels of their enemies' swords.
Nicholas Brooks has suggested that the hoard may have belonged to the Mercian court armourer. He theorizes that under the system of heriot
, the Mercian king would have received weapons and gold bullion from Anglo-Saxon nobles at their death, and that the Mercian court would have distributed these weapons to men who came into its service. Brooks takes the absence of strap-ends, strap attachments and buckles in the hoard to indicate that the weapons were broken down into their constituent parts, and that the different parts of the weapons were the responsibility of different offices: the court leather-worker would have been responsible for providing those entering Mercian service with adorned belts and harnesses, whereas the court armourer would only have been responsible for metal objects such as the hilt collars, hilt plates and pommel caps that make up the majority of pieces in the hoard.
in the 7th and 8th centuries, an era for which contemporary written texts are scant, aside from Bede
, whose Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
, finished in 731, was written from the Christian perspective of a monk in Northumbria
; Bede, moreover, appears to have had no contacts in Mercia. Archaeology and written sources are used to gather information regarding the missing cultural history.
The site of the discovery, at Johnsons Farm near Brownhills, is immediately south of Watling Street
, and only 2.5 miles (4 km) west of the important Roman staging post
of Letocetum
. Watling Street was a major Roman road that would have seen continued use in the Anglo-Saxon period, and it acted as the demarcation line between the Anglo-Saxon and Danish-ruled parts of England during the 9th century.
The hoard has been speculatively connected with king Edwin of Northumbria
(d. 632/633).
Michael Lewis's view is that attempting to link the hoard to a particular individual is not realistic. He notes that, during the period from which the hoard dates, some rulers from Mercia are well known, including Penda
and Offa
. Penda ruled slightly before the period of the hoard, and "Offa is right at the end, so it has to be someone in the middle." Moreover, the historical record for the period shows a dependency on Bede, who wrote from a Christian perspective, yet the Mercians at the time were likely pagans, and therefore "could have been overlooked by Bede even though they might have been important, because he wasn't interested in them—-for whatever reason." Lewis comments that the hoard will assist in looking back at literary sources and historical figures with more scrutiny.
or Book of Kells
" and stated further that "this is going to alter our perceptions of Anglo-Saxon England as radically, if not more so, as the Sutton Hoo
discoveries".
Dr Roger Bland, Head of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, said: "It is a fantastically important discovery. It is assumed that the items were buried by their owners at a time of danger with the intention of later coming back and recovering them."
at £3.285 million, which, under the provisions of the 1996 Treasure Act
, is the sum that must be paid as a reward to the finder and landowner, to be shared equally, by any museum that wishes to acquire the hoard.
After the hoard was valued, it was announced that the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
intended to jointly acquire the entire hoard, and a public appeal was launched to raise the £3.285 million needed to purchase the hoard. The Art Fund co-ordinated the appeal. If the sum had not been raised by 17 April 2010, the Hoard might have been sold on the open market and the unique collection permanently broken up.
However, on 23 March 2010 it was announced that the sum had been raised three weeks before the deadline, after a grant of £1.285 million from the National Heritage Memorial Fund
(NHMF) was added to the money already collected from individuals, councils, and other groups and associations. Although the purchase price has been achieved, the Art Fund appeal is still continuing, in order to raise a further £1.7 million to help fund the conservation, study and display of the hoard.
Terry Herbert, the finder of the hoard, and Fred Johnson, the farmer on whose land the hoard was found, each received a half share of the £3.285 million raised by the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery. A feud later ensued between the two men.
(from 24 September 2009 until 13 October 2009), and subsequently part of the Hoard was put on display at the British Museum
(from 3 November 2009 until 17 April 2010).
Eighty items from the hoard, including a gold horse's head that has not previously been exhibited, went on display at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent
from 13 February 2010 until 7 March 2010.
Key items from the Hoard are on long-term temporary display at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery. Approximately 80 Hoard objects are on display in Gallery 16 in Birmingham and a further 80 in Stoke-on-Trent.
The hoard will be put on permanent display at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, but there are plans to make some items from the hoard available on loan to historic Mercian sites, such as Tamworth Castle
and Lichfield Cathedral
, as part of the Mercian Trail
.
Hoard
In archaeology, a hoard is a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground. This would usually be with the intention of later recovery by the hoarder; hoarders sometimes died before retrieving the hoard, and these surviving hoards may be uncovered by...
of Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon art
Anglo-Saxon art covers art produced within the Anglo-Saxon period of English history, beginning with the Migration period style that the Anglo-Saxons brought with them from the continent in the 5th century, and ending in 1066 with the Norman Conquest of a large Anglo-Saxon nation-state whose...
gold and silver metalwork . Discovered in a field near the village of Hammerwich
Hammerwich
Hammerwich is a village and civil parish in Lichfield District, Staffordshire, England. It is situated to the south east of Burntwood.The name may derive from the Old English hamor and wic , or possibly, 'a smith's workshop' or 'a hammer-making workshop'.Charcoal burning, nail making, agriculture...
, near Lichfield
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
, in Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, England on 5 July 2009, it consists of some 3,500 items that are nearly all martial in character. The artefacts
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
have tentatively been dated to the 7th or 8th centuries, placing the origin of the items in the time of the Kingdom of Mercia
Mercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
.
Experts have theorised about the purpose of the deposit, and whether those who made it were Christians or pagans. The average quality of the workmanship is extremely high, and especially remarkable in view of the large number of individual objects, such as swords or helmets, from which the elements in the hoard came.
The hoard was valued at £3.285 million, and has now been purchased by the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England.Entrance to the Museum and Art Gallery is free, but some major exhibitions in the Gas Hall incur an entrance fee...
and the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery is in Hanley, one of the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. Admission is free.One of the four local authority museums in the City, the other three being Gladstone Pottery Museum, Ford Green Hall and Etruria Industrial Museum, The Potteries Museum & Art...
.
Discovery
On 5 July 2009, metal detectorMetal detector
A metal detector is a device which responds to metal that may not be readily apparent.The simplest form of a metal detector consists of an oscillator producing an alternating current that passes through a coil producing an alternating magnetic field...
ist Terry Herbert was exploring an area of farmland near Lichfield in Staffordshire with the permission of the landowner, Fred Johnson. Herbert uncovered what would become known as the Staffordshire Hoard. Over the course of the next five days, enough gold objects were recovered from the plough soil to fill 244 bags. At this point Herbert contacted Duncan Slarke, the Finds Liaison Officer for the Staffordshire and West Midlands Portable Antiquities Scheme
Portable Antiquities Scheme
The Portable Antiquities Scheme is a voluntary programme run by the United Kingdom government to record the increasing numbers of small finds of archaeological interest found by members of the public...
. The landowner granted permission for an excavation to search for the rest of the hoard. This work was funded by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
who contracted Birmingham Archaeology
Birmingham Archaeology
Birmingham Archaeology is the commercial arm of the Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity at the University of Birmingham...
to do the fieldwork. The artefacts had been scattered by recent ploughing, and an area 9 by was excavated in the search.
A geophysical
Geophysics
Geophysics is the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and...
survey of the field in which the hoard was found discovered what could be a ditch close to the find. Although excavations revealed no dating evidence for the feature, further investigation is planned. In total recovered were 3,500 pieces. A final geophysical survey using specialist equipment provided by the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
did not suggest any further artefacts remained, so it is thought all of the hoard has been found. Because of the importance of the find, the exact site of the hoard was initially kept secret.
On 24 September 2009, Andrew Haigh, the coroner
Coroner
A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
for South Staffordshire declared the hoard to be treasure, meaning it belongs to the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
. On the same day, the discovery was publicly announced. It caused a media sensation, attracting worldwide attention. The website about the Staffordshire Hoard that had been set up to showcase the finds received over 10 million views in the first week after the announcement. At this point, the full contents of the hoard was uncertain as 56 blocks of soil were yet to be taken apart by Birmingham Archaeology. Despite this, some of the finds were put on display at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England.Entrance to the Museum and Art Gallery is free, but some major exhibitions in the Gas Hall incur an entrance fee...
, attracting 40,000 people and causing queues several hours long to see the objects.
The objects were on display at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery from the date when their discovery was publicly announced until 13 October 2009. A further selection of pieces from the Hoard also went on display at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent. Key items and numerous smaller pieces were then taken to the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, London, where cataloguing, and some initial cleaning and conservation work commenced. As of 24 September 2009, 1,381 objects had been recovered, of which 864 have a mass of less than 3 gram (0.0964522390856816 ozt), 507 less than 1 gram (0.0321507463618939 ozt), leaving just 10 larger items. X-rays of unexamined lumps of earth suggest that there are more to be revealed. Early analysis established that the hoard was not associated with a burial.
2010 excavation
In late March 2010, a team of archaeologists carried out a follow-up excavation on the site, digging 100 metres (109.4 yd) of trenches and pits in the field. According to Staffordshire county archaeologist, Stephen Dean, there is no more gold or treasure to recover from the site, and the aim of the new excavation is to look for dating and environmental evidence. Archaeologists hope to be able to use this evidence to determine what the landscape looked like at the time that the hoard was deposited.Contents
The hoard consists of approximately 3,500 pieces, comprising up to 5 kg (11 lb) of gold and 1.3 kg (2.9 lb) of silver, and is the largest treasure of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver objects discovered to date, eclipsing, at least in quantity, the 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) hoard found in the Sutton HooSutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo, near to Woodbridge, in the English county of Suffolk, is the site of two 6th and early 7th century cemeteries. One contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance, now held in the British...
ship burial
Ship burial
A ship burial or boat grave is a burial in which a ship or boat is used either as a container for the dead and the grave goods, or as a part of the grave goods itself. If the ship is very small, it is called a boat grave...
in 1939.
Most of the items in the hoard appear to be military-related, and there are no domestic objects, such as vessels or eating utensils, or feminine jewellery, which are the more common Anglo-Saxon gold finds. Reportedly, the contents "show every sign of being carefully selected". There is broad agreement that the typical object in the hoard was made in the 7th century, but the date when a hoard was actually deposited is some point after that of the latest object found. Debate has already begun as to the date of some objects, and the process of forming views as to which objects are the latest, and their dates will no doubt take many years or decades.
A summary of the preliminary contents of the hoard, as of late 2009, is shown in the table below. This excludes items such as the gold horse's head that were in one of the 33 soil blocks that had not been examined at the time of publication of these figures.
| Description | Gold | Silver | Base metal | Composite metals | Stone or glass | Uncertain | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appliqué | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Bead | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Boss | 6 | 1 | 7 | ||||
| Brooch | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Buckle and plate | 2 | 2 | |||||
| Button | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Cross | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Dome | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Edging | 11 | 69 | 6 | 1 | 87 | ||
| Fish | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Fitting | 35 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 53 | ||
| Foil | 16 | 16 | |||||
| Fragment | 79 | 177 | 29 | 19 | 4 | 7 | 315 |
| Garnet | 26 | 26 | |||||
| Glass gem | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Mount | 15 | 4 | 19 | ||||
| Panel | 3 | 3 | |||||
| Pin | 2 | 5 | 7 | ||||
| Plate | 58 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 74 | |
| Ring | 12 | 1 | 13 | ||||
| Rivet | 27 | 29 | 5 | 4 | 65 | ||
| Setting | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||||
| Sheet metal | 36 | 233 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 286 | |
| Slag | 2 | 2 | |||||
| Snake | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Spillage | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Stone | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Strip | 94 | 102 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 203 | |
| Stud | 9 | 3 | 1 | 13 | |||
| Sword hilt plate or fitting | 178 | 29 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 217 | |
| Sword pommel | 69 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 86 | ||
| Sword pyramid | 8 | 1 | 1 | 10 | |||
| Sword scabbard loop | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Wire | 34 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 49 | ||
| Unidentified | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 18 |
| Total | 712 | 707 | 78 | 39 | 36 | 22 | 1,594 |
Weaponry
The contents include many finely worked silver and gold sword decorations removed from weaponry, including 66 gold sword hiltHilt
The hilt of a sword is its handle, consisting of a guard,grip and pommel. The guard may contain a crossguard or quillons. A ricasso may also be present, but this is rarely the case...
collars and many gold hilt plates, some with inlays of cloisonné
Cloisonné
Cloisonné is an ancient technique for decorating metalwork objects, in recent centuries using vitreous enamel, and in older periods also inlays of cut gemstones, glass, and other materials. The resulting objects can also be called cloisonné...
garnet
Garnet
The garnet group includes a group of minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. The name "garnet" may come from either the Middle English word gernet meaning 'dark red', or the Latin granatus , possibly a reference to the Punica granatum , a plant with red seeds...
in zoomorphic
Zoomorphism
Zoomorphism is the shaping of something in animal form or terms. Examples include:*Art that imagines humans as animals*Art that portrays one species of animal like another species of animal*Art that creates patterns using animal imagery, or animal style...
designs (see lead picture). The 86 sword pommels found, constitute the largest ever discovery of pommels in a single context, with many different types (some previously unknown) supporting the idea that the pommels were manufactured over a wide range of time.
Crosses
The Staffordshire Hoard official press statement notes that the only items in the hoard that are obviously non-martial are two (or possibly three) crosses. The largest of the three crosses is missing some decorative settings (yet some are present but detached) but otherwise remains intact, and it may have been an altar or processional crossProcessional Cross
A processional cross is a crucifix or cross which is carried in Christian processions. Such crosses have a long history: the Gregorian mission of Saint Augustine of Canterbury to England carried one before them "like a standard", according to Bede. Other sources suggest that all churches were...
. Yet the cross is folded; either prior to burial "to make it fit into a small space" or as a sign that the burial deposit was made by pagans. On the other hand, the statement notes, "Christians were also quite capable of despoiling each other's shrines."
Gold strip
One of the most intriguing items in the hoard is a small strip of gold inscribed on both sides with a quotation from the Old TestamentOld Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
in Latin: SURGE DNE DISEPENTUR INIMICI TUI ET FUGENT QUI ODERUNT TE A FACIE TUA ("Surge Domine et dissipentur inimici tui et fugiant qui oderunt te a facie tua"), which translates as: "Rise up, Lord; may Your enemies be scattered and those who hate You be driven from Your face."
Michelle Brown, Professor of Medieval Manuscripts Studies in London, believes that, based on the use of uncial
Uncial
Uncial is a majuscule script commonly used from the 3rd to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek scribes. Uncial letters are written in either Greek, Latin, or Gothic.-Development:...
letter forms, the style of lettering used implies a date of 7th or early 8th century, whereas Professor Elisabeth Okasha of University College Cork, an expert on early medieval inscriptions, has identified traits in the insular majuscule script that are similar to later inscriptions datable to the 8th or early 9th century.
The gold strip may have been originally fastened to a shield or a sword belt, but Nicholas Brooks, Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at Birmingham University, interprets the gold strip as an arm of a cross: a round cabochon
Cabochon
A cabochon , from the Middle French caboche , is a gemstone which has been shaped and polished as opposed to faceted. The resulting form is usually a convex top with a flat bottom. Cutting en cabochon is usually applied to opaque gems, while faceting is usually applied to transparent stones...
jewel would have been fitted to the terminal end, and the other end would have fitted into the central fitting of the cross. He suggests that the majuscule script used on the gold strip would have been in widespread use from 635 onwards, and so the gold strip could date to the mid 7th century, contemporaneous with the gold and garnet pommels and other sword jewels in the hoard.
Purpose
Michael Lewis, the deputy head of the Portable Antiquities Scheme at the British MuseumBritish Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, notes that there are two possible reasons behind the burial of the hoard: either it was a votive deposit
Votive offering
A votive deposit or votive offering is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for broadly religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally made in order to gain favor with supernatural...
(an offering to the gods) or "a treasure chest that got lost, or they couldn't come back for it." Lewis comments that "from my 21st-century perspective, I find it bewildering that someone could shove so much metalwork into the ground as an offering. That seems like overkill."
Kevin Leahy, National Finds Adviser of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, says that the quantity of gold is extremely impressive and that, "more importantly, the craftsmanship is consummate, this was the very best that the Anglo-Saxon metalworkers could do, and they were very good." Leahy says that the finds must originate from the highest possible levels of the Saxon elite. Leahy comments that the find does not consist simply of loot, pointing out that swords were specifically singled out, that most of the gold and silver items appear to have been intentionally removed from the objects they were previously attached to, and that, if the depositer was just after the gold, fittings from sword belts would have been discovered. Leahy theorizes that the intention behind the removal of the gold fittings may have been to depersonalise the objects; removing the identity of the previous owners. The blades may have then been reused.
Leahy observes that the hoard appears to be a collection of trophies, yet that it is impossible to say whether the hoard consists of the spoils of a single battle or is the result of a long series of successful military engagements. Leahy says that the reason for the burial is unknown, and theorizes that the deposit "may have been tribute to Heathen gods or concealed in the face of a perceived, but all too real, threat, which led to it not being recovered." Leahy notes that further work will result in a better understanding of how the hoard came to be buried.
Leahy points out that the find includes dozens of pommel caps—decorative attachments to sword handles—and that Beowulf
Beowulf
Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
contains a reference to warriors stripping the pommels of their enemies' swords.
Nicholas Brooks has suggested that the hoard may have belonged to the Mercian court armourer. He theorizes that under the system of heriot
Heriot
Heriot, from Old English heregeat , was originally a death-duty in late Anglo-Saxon England, which required that at death, a nobleman provided to his king a given set of military equipment, often including horses, swords, shields, spears and helmets...
, the Mercian king would have received weapons and gold bullion from Anglo-Saxon nobles at their death, and that the Mercian court would have distributed these weapons to men who came into its service. Brooks takes the absence of strap-ends, strap attachments and buckles in the hoard to indicate that the weapons were broken down into their constituent parts, and that the different parts of the weapons were the responsibility of different offices: the court leather-worker would have been responsible for providing those entering Mercian service with adorned belts and harnesses, whereas the court armourer would only have been responsible for metal objects such as the hilt collars, hilt plates and pommel caps that make up the majority of pieces in the hoard.
Historical background
The area of Staffordshire where the hoard was found was part of the kingdom of MerciaMercia
Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...
in the 7th and 8th centuries, an era for which contemporary written texts are scant, aside from Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
, whose Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum
The Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum is a work in Latin by Bede on the history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict between Roman and Celtic Christianity.It is considered to be one of the most important original references on...
, finished in 731, was written from the Christian perspective of a monk in Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
; Bede, moreover, appears to have had no contacts in Mercia. Archaeology and written sources are used to gather information regarding the missing cultural history.
The site of the discovery, at Johnsons Farm near Brownhills, is immediately south of Watling Street
Watling Street
Watling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Britons mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad...
, and only 2.5 miles (4 km) west of the important Roman staging post
Mansio
In the Roman Empire, a mansio was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or via, maintained by the central government for the use of officials and those on official business whilst travelling.-Background:The roads which traversed the Ancient World, were later surveyed,...
of Letocetum
Letocetum
Letocetum is the remains of a Roman settlement. It was an important military staging post and posting station near the junction of Watling Street, the Roman military road to North Wales , and Icknield Street . The site is now within the parish of Wall, Staffordshire, England...
. Watling Street was a major Roman road that would have seen continued use in the Anglo-Saxon period, and it acted as the demarcation line between the Anglo-Saxon and Danish-ruled parts of England during the 9th century.
The hoard has been speculatively connected with king Edwin of Northumbria
Edwin of Northumbria
Edwin , also known as Eadwine or Æduini, was the King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from about 616 until his death. He converted to Christianity and was baptised in 627; after he fell at the Battle of Hatfield Chase, he was venerated as a saint.Edwin was the son...
(d. 632/633).
Michael Lewis's view is that attempting to link the hoard to a particular individual is not realistic. He notes that, during the period from which the hoard dates, some rulers from Mercia are well known, including Penda
Penda of Mercia
Penda was a 7th-century King of Mercia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom in what is today the English Midlands. A pagan at a time when Christianity was taking hold in many of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, Penda took over the Severn Valley in 628 following the Battle of Cirencester before participating in the...
and Offa
Offa of Mercia
Offa was the King of Mercia from 757 until his death in July 796. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of Æthelbald after defeating the other claimant Beornred. In the early years of Offa's reign it is likely...
. Penda ruled slightly before the period of the hoard, and "Offa is right at the end, so it has to be someone in the middle." Moreover, the historical record for the period shows a dependency on Bede, who wrote from a Christian perspective, yet the Mercians at the time were likely pagans, and therefore "could have been overlooked by Bede even though they might have been important, because he wasn't interested in them—-for whatever reason." Lewis comments that the hoard will assist in looking back at literary sources and historical figures with more scrutiny.
Significance
The Staffordshire hoard is unusual as it contains no feminine objects and consisted mostly of martial items. The hoard has been described by Leslie Webster, former keeper of the department of prehistory at the British Museum, as "absolutely the metalwork equivalent of finding a new Lindisfarne GospelsLindisfarne Gospels
The Lindisfarne Gospels is an illuminated Latin manuscript of the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the British Library...
or Book of Kells
Book of Kells
The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created by Celtic monks ca. 800 or slightly earlier...
" and stated further that "this is going to alter our perceptions of Anglo-Saxon England as radically, if not more so, as the Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo
Sutton Hoo, near to Woodbridge, in the English county of Suffolk, is the site of two 6th and early 7th century cemeteries. One contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance, now held in the British...
discoveries".
Dr Roger Bland, Head of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, said: "It is a fantastically important discovery. It is assumed that the items were buried by their owners at a time of danger with the intention of later coming back and recovering them."
Value
On 25 November 2009 the hoard was valued by the Treasure Valuation CommitteeTreasure Valuation Committee
The Treasure Valuation Committee is an independent body based in London, which offers expert advice to the government on items of declared treasure finds in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland that museums may wish to acquire from the Crown...
at £3.285 million, which, under the provisions of the 1996 Treasure Act
Treasure Act 1996
The Treasure Act of 1996 is an Act of Parliament designed to deal with finds of treasure in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; it does not apply in Scotland. It legally obliges finders of objects which constitute a legally defined term of treasure to report their find to their local coroner...
, is the sum that must be paid as a reward to the finder and landowner, to be shared equally, by any museum that wishes to acquire the hoard.
After the hoard was valued, it was announced that the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery is in Hanley, one of the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. Admission is free.One of the four local authority museums in the City, the other three being Gladstone Pottery Museum, Ford Green Hall and Etruria Industrial Museum, The Potteries Museum & Art...
intended to jointly acquire the entire hoard, and a public appeal was launched to raise the £3.285 million needed to purchase the hoard. The Art Fund co-ordinated the appeal. If the sum had not been raised by 17 April 2010, the Hoard might have been sold on the open market and the unique collection permanently broken up.
However, on 23 March 2010 it was announced that the sum had been raised three weeks before the deadline, after a grant of £1.285 million from the National Heritage Memorial Fund
National Heritage Memorial Fund
The National Heritage Memorial Fund is a non-departmental public body set up under the National Heritage Act 1980 in memory of people who gave their lives for the United Kingdom....
(NHMF) was added to the money already collected from individuals, councils, and other groups and associations. Although the purchase price has been achieved, the Art Fund appeal is still continuing, in order to raise a further £1.7 million to help fund the conservation, study and display of the hoard.
Terry Herbert, the finder of the hoard, and Fred Johnson, the farmer on whose land the hoard was found, each received a half share of the £3.285 million raised by the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery. A feud later ensued between the two men.
Display
The hoard was first displayed at the Birmingham Museum & Art GalleryBirmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England.Entrance to the Museum and Art Gallery is free, but some major exhibitions in the Gas Hall incur an entrance fee...
(from 24 September 2009 until 13 October 2009), and subsequently part of the Hoard was put on display at the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
(from 3 November 2009 until 17 April 2010).
Eighty items from the hoard, including a gold horse's head that has not previously been exhibited, went on display at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
from 13 February 2010 until 7 March 2010.
Key items from the Hoard are on long-term temporary display at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery. Approximately 80 Hoard objects are on display in Gallery 16 in Birmingham and a further 80 in Stoke-on-Trent.
The hoard will be put on permanent display at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, but there are plans to make some items from the hoard available on loan to historic Mercian sites, such as Tamworth Castle
Tamworth Castle
Tamworth Castle, a Grade I listed building, is a Norman castle, located next to the River Tame, in the town of Tamworth in Staffordshire, England....
and Lichfield Cathedral
Lichfield Cathedral
Lichfield Cathedral is situated in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. It is the only medieval English cathedral with three spires. The Diocese of Lichfield covers all of Staffordshire, much of Shropshire and part of the Black Country and West Midlands...
, as part of the Mercian Trail
Mercian Trail
The Mercian Trail is the name given to a group of museums and historical sites in the West Midlands of England that will be used to display objects from the Staffordshire Hoard...
.
See also
- History of Anglo-Saxon EnglandHistory of Anglo-Saxon EnglandAnglo-Saxon England refers to the period of the history of that part of Britain, that became known as England, lasting from the end of Roman occupation and establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 5th century until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror...
- List of hoards in Britain
- Vale of York Hoard 10th-century VikingVikingThe term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
hoard of over 617 silver coins and other items
External links
- Official website
- Officially released Flickr photostream of the hoard
- YouTube video of the Staffordshire Hoard Excavation
- Information about the current Hoard exhibition at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
- Information about the current Hoard exhibition at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery
- National Geographic, Staffordshire Gold Hoard, November 2011