Anglo-Saxon gold hoard is the biggest - and could get bigger

The man who discovered the Staffordshire hoard Terry Herbert, metal detector enthusiast, uncovered a hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold so large it will "redefine the Dark Ages"
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This hoard will change lives. Terry Herbert, the finder, and the anonymous landowner will be well compensated: by how much no one knows, but such is the scale of the treasure that when the valuation committee meets, it will have to consider the depressive effect of unleashing on to the market a record quantity of supreme gold artistry. The farmer who not long ago sold the field to its present owner might lose a few nights' sleep, too.

But what does it mean for the rest of us? How exceptional is the Staffordshire hoard? And how will it change the way we think about our past, about Anglo-Saxon kingship, war, art and the origins of England?

Without question this is the largest group of gold artefacts ever found in British soil. Many of the pieces are of the highest quality design and technique, from a time that excelled in the creation of fine jewellery and weaponry. There really is nothing like it, but it reminds me of a prehistoric find made near Salisbury in the 1980s.

Here, too, archaeologists were staggered by the sheer scale: there were more than 500 bronze items, including curious miniature shields. But that hoard was illegally excavated and sold, and we will never fully understand it. By contrast, thanks to Herbert's professional skills and attitude, we know everything we could about the Staffordshire gold's context. That adds immensely to its academic value.

We don't yet know how big it is. The present list runs to 1,345 objects, including 56 lumps of earth. X-rays show them to be studded with pieces of metal. You can make out tiny decorative animals and jewel settings, but until the lumps are taken apart we will not know what's there. In other words, archaeologists have the prospect of themselves being able to excavate part of the country's most spectacular ancient hoard.

As for what it means, at this stage no one knows (a career's battle spoil from a king's hall, perhaps?). It represents that cultural maelstrom between the departure of the Romans and the formation of England: think iconic kings like Penda and Aethelbald, carving out Mercia as it becomes one of the most powerful kingdoms in Britain.

Leslie Webster, a former British Museum curator and specialist in Anglo-Saxon culture, saw the treasure last week. "It will make historians, literary scholars, archaeologists and art historians," she says, "think again about rising (and failing) kingdoms, the transition from paganism to Christianity, the conduct of battle and the nature of fine metalwork to name only a few of the many huge issues it raises." And, she adds wistfully, perhaps we'll all realise "that Anglo-Saxons are different from Vikings and so much more interesting".

For now, the discovery is a black hole into which everything we thought we knew about the era, along with the Lindisfarne gospels, the Sutton Hoo treasures and to take but one small example a sword handle for which the British Museum paid £125,000 two years ago (there are 310 sword parts in the new hoard), has been swept into disarray. On seeing the find, normally restrained academics immediately began to compare it to Sutton Hoo. And, almost as soon, the process was reversed: "How will this change the way we think about the ship burials?"

Delicate ornament, stunning craftsmanship and gold were like Kalashnikovs in the battle for land and loyalty. Now, 1,300 years on, they command our intellect and our awe. "It's going to shake up all our ideas," says Webster. "And what fun that will be!" The Mercian flag is on the march.

Guardian

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• treasure hunt
• Anglo-Saxon
• gold
• Terry Herbert
• metal detector

[yourLoyalBaron]

You know he should get an OBE or something. A lot of persons would've melted the stuff down for the gold and scored some quick cash. Good for him that he did the right thing and helped preserve a part of the heritage of tens of millions of people.

[MikeofWyoming]

The Brittish are so blessed with rich history. I would love to live somewhere there was thousands of years of human history that didn't involve rock paintings and obsidion arrowheads.

[irishkerry]

@MikeofWyoming i live in ireland where we have thousands of years of history vikings celts and much more and in uk metal detecting is a big in Ireland no one does it realy just got my detector so il keep you posted

[AhKillez]

Forkboy: I agree with you. It defeats the hard work and tons of time to go through all the b.s. just for the thrill of finding it and have it pryed from your hands and get jack shit for it. Government or no gov, something like this just defeats the purpose of hardwork in this situation. A jip

[Xxcon2000xX]

I seen it at Lichfield it's amazing

[MrAmaan4you]

yoy yoyo u nw much muni this gezzza goin get yo wow wow lot off muni

[Drizzleize]

did blizzard hire this guy for warcraft 2?

[F0rkb0y]

Theres stories of ppl here in the US of getting all their findings taking away from them by government orgs.,so now that I know this if I EVER find gold artifacts I guess Ill just have to melt it down into 1 big chunk and sell it!It kind of sucks that the gov.would ruin the possability of finding something extrordinary with their greed.Read about the gold find off the FL. shore,and what the guy that found it got out of it!LOL!

[LanderskieChannel]

Those were celtic designs...i am pretty sure being an artist/designer that always do researching, those gol items were from Irish People,caus ethey were the original creators of such designs.

[grobo11]

@seonidh This is the English BBC, this came on only in England. Maybe it's the Scottish medias fault for not making the Scottish public aware. ANd the BBC will be more biased towards England because there are 50 million English compared to the 5 million Scot's.

[seonidh]

@grobo11 but it does show you the bias of the bbc and london based media. Four torcs 1300 years old found a month after this hoard in scotland and nothing from the media.