Staffordshire Hoard: Difference between revisions
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Michelle Brown, Professor of Mediaeval Manuscripts Studies in London believes the style of lettering used implies a date of 7th or early 8th century - based on the use of uncial letter forms; whereas Professor Okasha of the University of Cork has identified traits - the use of insular majuscule - which |
Michelle Brown, Professor of Mediaeval Manuscripts Studies in London believes the style of lettering used implies a date of 7th or early 8th century - based on the use of uncial letter forms; whereas Professor Okasha of the University of Cork has identified traits - the use of insular majuscule - which suggest a date of 8th or early 9th century. <ref name="ca">{{cite web|url=http://www.archaeology.co.uk/staffordshire-hoard/the-inscriptions.htm|title=The Inscriptions|publisher=Current Archaeology|accessdate=2009-09-24}}</ref> |
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Most of the other treasures unearthed in the hoard appear to be military-related, and the strip may have been fastened to a shield or a sword belt.<ref name="ap">{{cite web|url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j6bU4AZHX9m-PnJ7hHtgYNxlgpdgD9ATNGLO1|title=Largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure found in UK|publisher=Associated Press|accessdate=2009-09-24}}</ref> There are no feminine finds, which are the more common Anglo-Saxon gold finds, and the contents "show every sign of being carefully selected".<ref name="sh">{{cite web|url=http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/file_download/5/summaryofhoard.pdf|title=The Staffordshire Hoard: Discovery and Initial Assessment|publisher=Portable Antiquities Scheme|accessdate=2009-09-24}}</ref> |
Most of the other treasures unearthed in the hoard appear to be military-related, and the strip may have been fastened to a shield or a sword belt.<ref name="ap">{{cite web|url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j6bU4AZHX9m-PnJ7hHtgYNxlgpdgD9ATNGLO1|title=Largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure found in UK|publisher=Associated Press|accessdate=2009-09-24}}</ref> There are no feminine finds, which are the more common Anglo-Saxon gold finds, and the contents "show every sign of being carefully selected".<ref name="sh">{{cite web|url=http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/file_download/5/summaryofhoard.pdf|title=The Staffordshire Hoard: Discovery and Initial Assessment|publisher=Portable Antiquities Scheme|accessdate=2009-09-24}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 22:07, 24 September 2009
The Staffordshire Hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver was discovered in a field in Staffordshire, Great Britain, on 5 July 2009. The hoard of about 5 kg (11 lb) of gold and 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) of silver is the largest ever treasure trove of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver objects discovered, eclipsing, at least in quantity, the 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) hoard found in the Sutton Hoo ship burial in 1939.[1] The artifacts have been tentatively dated to around 600–800 AD, with some estimating the burial to have taken place as precisely as to within 25 years of 700 AD.
Discovery
Terry Herbert of Burntwood in Staffordshire, an amateur metal detectorist of 18 years, uncovered a few scraps of gold on a friend's farm near Lichfield in July 2009.[2] The hoard was reported to the local officer of the Portable Antiquities Scheme and was then declared treasure by the South Staffordshire coroner, meaning it belongs to the Crown. The hoard is believed to be worth in excess of £1 million, which will be shared between the landowner and Herbert.[1]
Following the discovery archaeological recovery of the hoard was completed by Birmingham Archaeology, associated with the University of Birmingham, and the Staffordshire County Council, under the direction of Roger Bland, head of portable antiquities and treasure at the British Museum. Due to the importance of the find the site of the hoard has been kept secret, though no traces of any graves, buildings or other structures have been found.[1] The discovery was announced on 24 September 2009, with the site being only reported as "near Burntwood".[3]
The objects are currently conserved in the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery where they have gone on display before being transferred to the British Museum. As of 24 September 2009, 1,345 objects have been recovered, but 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.
Contents
The contents include finely worked silver and gold sword decorations removed from weaponry, such as a sword hilt collar with garnet inlays and two crosses, one mangled as bullion.
One of the objects is a small strip of gold inscribed with a Latin translation of Numbers 10:35 in the Old Testament. The inscription is SVRGE DNE DISEPENTVR INIMICI TVI ET FVGENT QVI ODERVNT TE A FACIE TVA (Surge, Domine, disepentur inimici tui et fugent 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." [4]
Michelle Brown, Professor of Mediaeval Manuscripts Studies in London believes the style of lettering used implies a date of 7th or early 8th century - based on the use of uncial letter forms; whereas Professor Okasha of the University of Cork has identified traits - the use of insular majuscule - which suggest a date of 8th or early 9th century. [4]
Most of the other treasures unearthed in the hoard appear to be military-related, and the strip may have been fastened to a shield or a sword belt.[5] There are no feminine finds, which are the more common Anglo-Saxon gold finds, and the contents "show every sign of being carefully selected".[6]
Historical background
Staffordshire was part of the kingdom of Mercia in the seventh century, an era for which 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, however, appears to have had no contacts in Mercia.[7] Archaeology helps inform the missing cultural history.
The value of the hoard suggests that the individual for whom the objects were secreted was a leading noble. Dr Michael Lewis, Deputy head of Portable Antiquities Scheme, British Museum, stated: "We'll probably never find the owners, although the best bet is a ruler from the kingdom of Mercia, where it was found."[2] The intentionally crumpled condition of the gold cross is a reminder of the incomplete and tentative Christianization of Mercia, where the last king of Oswiu's line, Ceolred, who despoiled monasteries, was described by Saint Boniface as dying in a crazed frenzy at a banquet, "raving mad, talking with devils and cursing the priests of God".[8] The hoard is unusual for its period, the half-century centred upon 700 AD; most Anglo-Saxon hoards date from the period of upheaval connected with the Viking raids and Danish invasion of the ninth century. Lichfield was a major religious centre in Mercia, after Saint Chad moved the episcopal see there from Repton in 669.
Significance
The hoard has been described by Leslie Webster, former keeper of the department of prehistory at the British Museum, as "absolutely the equivalent of finding a new Lindisfarne Gospels or Book of Kells" and "this is going to alter our perceptions of Anglo-Saxon England as radically, if not more so, as the Sutton Hoo discoveries".[1][2]
Dr Bland 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." He commented the hoard was thought to date back to between 675 and 725 AD, during the time of the kingdom of Mercia.[3]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "Largest ever hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold found in Staffordshire". Guardian. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
- ^ a b c "Huge Anglo-Saxon gold hoard found". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
- ^ a b "Anglo-Saxon gold: largest ever hoard officially declared treasure". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
- ^ a b "The Inscriptions". Current Archaeology. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
- ^ "Largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure found in UK". Associated Press. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
- ^ "The Staffordshire Hoard: Discovery and Initial Assessment" (PDF). Portable Antiquities Scheme. Retrieved 2009-09-24.
- ^ Barbara Yorke, "The Origins of Mercia" in M.P. Brown and C.A. Farr, Mercia: an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in Europe, 2005:100.
- ^ Ephraim Emerton, Thomas F. X. Noble, eds. The letters of Saint Boniface: LVII [73]: Letter of Boniface and other bishops to Ethelbald of Mercia, 746/47.