by Siorna McFarlane

THE STAFFORDSHIRE HOARD

Seventy years after the Sutton Hoo burial was discovered, the largest hoard of Anglo Saxon treasure in the United Kingdom was unearthed from farmland in Staffordshire, in what would have been the Midland Kingdom of Mercia. 

Sutton Hoo Vs Staffordshire

It's understandable that people are excited about this new discovery. It's been practically a lifetime since someone discovered a treasure hoard of this nature and nothing on this scale has ever been found in Britain before (Leahy and Bland, 2009:9). Naturally, comparisons are, and need to be, made with the Anglo Saxon burial mounds at Sutton Hoo to try and assemble a context for the artefacts found, but there have been rumblings that this find is in someway 'better' than Sutton Hoo.

On a basic level, the Staffordshire Hoard has more gold, weighing in at 5kg, compared to Sutton Hoo's 1.66 kg precious metal total, and there are more objects, totalling one thousand six hundred and sixty two (Leahy and Bland, 2009:8), with seven hundred and twelve of these made of gold (Leahy and Bland, 2009:9). Yet, the question of whether the Staffordshire Hoard is better that Sutton Hoo (or any other Anglo Saxon find) is, in archaeological terms, redundant as multiple finds only serve to add to our understanding, they do not 'subtract from one another' (Leahy, per.comm.2010).

Comparisons

There are obvious similarities between some of the artefacts discovered at Sutton Hoo and those from the Staffordshire Hoard, such as the pyramid shaped strap fittings inlaid with garnets, gold button fittings and helmets.

The Sutton Hoo helmet is perhaps one of the most recognisable symbols of British archaeology (Aston quoted in Taylor, 2005:150). Fragments from at least one decorated helmet have been discovered from Staffordshire that share a resemblance to the Sutton Hoo design (Leahy and Bland, 2009:22).

The artefacts from both sites share the European art design, Salin's Style II, which consists of whole animals that flow, or interlock, together. These can be seen from the gold lid purse found in the ship burial from Sutton Hoo and on twenty-seven of the objects from the Staffordshire Hoard (Leahy, 2009:4).

However, this latest find is not a ship burial with all the trappings of sending royalty off to next world. There are no textiles, drinking horns, coins or female dress fittings (brooches, necklaces or pendants). Instead the find is a rich hoard of 'war gear' (Leahy and Bland, 2009:9), with sword hilts, pommel caps and a possible eagle mount for a shield (Leahy and Bland. 2009:40). Strikingly these sword features are missing one vital ingredient; namely the actual sword blade. In fact no iron from this period was found on site, unlike at Sutton Hoo, and nor did the Staffordshire hoard include the most common artefact found in male graves, the triangular three rivet gold buckle (Speake quoted in Leahy, 2009. 4). Which begs the question, what is this hoard?

Reason for Deposit

All theories are speculations at this point, but a few have been put forward such as,

a) The hoard was for a grave

b) The hoard was a sacrifice, or ritual burial.

c) The hoard was hidden in the face of an external threat.

d) The hoard was stolen and perhaps buried to be recovered later.

e) The hoard was a royal treasury deposit.

The theory of trophy hunting has also been suggested and holds a certain appeal. Here the collector(s) would have taken trophies from their opponents, emasculating the enemy by removing their sword fittings and helmets after victory (Leahy, pers.comm.2010). This idea brings the hoard to life with imagery of the military culture and the original collector(s) motivation behind acquiring this hoard.

There are also a few Christian artefacts, with at least three crosses and an inscription from the book of Numbers, Chapter 10 v35. This could indicate that the find had a religious purpose, but since the inscription has a military connotation of disposing and driving away enemies and one of the crosses was purposefully folded before burial, a strictly religious reason seems unlikely. In fact the folded cross could support the trophy hunting theory, with the idea that crushing the cross of your enemy, even if that enemy shares the same religion, would demonstrate a triumphal power over your opponents (Leahy, pers.comm.2010). Less dramatically, it could have been folded simply to fit into a smaller space upon burial (Leahy and Bland, 2009:36). 

Date of Deposit

As with the reasons for deposit, the dating of the hoard is in the realm of speculation, albeit educated speculation.

Salin's Style II in Britain suggests a date of the late sixth to early seventh century (Leahy, 2009:5), while a number of sword pyramids date the find to the late seventh century (Leahy and Bland, 2009:11), and the lettering from the Christian inscription has been dated to the eighth and ninth centuries (Okasha quoted in Leahy, 2009:5). This all serves to demonstrate that for the mean time the date is still up for discussion. It is hoped that radio carbon dating from some of the wooden finds will draw a clearer picture (Leahy and Bland, 2009:11).

Location

The story of how the find was discovered has been well publicized. The metal detectorist, Terry Herbert, was scouring the top soil of a ploughed field, enclosed from the 1830s, near to the M6 Motorway (Leahy, pers.com.2010). Realizing the find was Treasure, as defined by the Treasure Act 1996, Mr. Harding reported the discovery to the Staffordshire Finds Liaison Officer and, soon after, the Birmingham Archaeology team and Terry Herbert excavated the site (Leahy and Bland, 2009:6). This was done in secrecy to protect the find from so called 'nighthawkers' (people who remove objects that are protected by law from sites), but was a difficult endeavour since the location was extremely exposed to the public. Site security men were employed and described to curious dog walkers as, 'Health and Safety Officers' for the archaeologists, and the excuse of a murder investigation was also used at one point to quell interest (Leahy, pers.comm.2010).

The Staffordshire Hoard excavation and what it could mean for Anglo Saxon history, also offers a perfect example of the necessity for the Portable Antiquities Scheme, with its Finds Liaison Officers based around the country. Before the Scheme was established Anglo Saxon finds were predominantly found in Kent and East Anglia, so a discovery near Birmingham would come as a bit of a shock (Leahy, pers.comm.2009), and could have skewed interpretation on the burial. Since the introduction of the Scheme, the database of finds have been able to map the clusters of discoveries, identifying that buried Anglo Saxon gold and silver are spread out to this area as well, smaller, but not so that a hoard of this magnitude comes as a complete surprise (Leahy, pers.comm.2009). Government funding for the Portable Antiquities Scheme runs out in 2011 and the thought that the only out reach programme, which connects amateur enthusiast and chance finders with a documented record for a nation to appreciate, might end is one that is tinged with sadness.

What Happens Next?

The nation has until 17th April to find £3,280,000, the net worth recommended by the Treasure Valuation Committee (Leahy and Bland, 2009:46). This is a lot of money especially in a recession where everyone's budget is a little tight. Sitting and writing this article makes it very easy to cry for Terry Herbert and Fred Johnson, the land owner, to lower their asking price, even by a million (five hundred thousand each). Certainly, with time running out this cry might get a little louder. At present the Art Fund campaign is 'approaching £1.5 million' (Clark, pers.comm. 2010). Yet, Mr Herbert went out there with the metal detector and Mr Johnson owns the land. They should receive what the artefacts are worth.

If the Nation are unable to raise the funds, the hoard could be made available to the open market, presumably by auction, and the collection which has been together since the 'Dark Ages' will no doubt be dispersed through out the world. The chance of continued research and interpretation of the hoard becomes increasingly difficult and at the discretion of wealthy individuals. Another alternative is that, by some miracle, whoever ends up owning the treasure will follow the generous example of Edith Pretty, the land owner of the Sutton Hoo burials, and donate the treasure to the nation, adding another similarity into the mix.

The artefacts can be viewed  at the flickr slide show

Saved

On the 23rd March 2010 the Staffordshire Hoard was saved for the nation with impressive donations from the public, heritage organisations and charities. Fundraising continues to reach a new goal of £1.7 million to conserve, study and display the treasure.

Bibliography

Clark, L. March 2010. Press and Campaign Manager. The Art Fund.

Leahy, K. 2009. 'The Staffordshire Hoard Discovery and Initial Assessment'.

http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/artefacts/

Leahy, K. February 2010. National Finds Advisor. 'Anglo-Saxons & the Staffordshire Hoard'. Lecture at the 'Archaeology 2010' conference at the British Museum.

Leahy, K and Bland, R. 2009. 'The Staffordshire Hoard'. British Museum Press.

Taylor, T. 1995. 'The Time Team Guide to the Archaeological Sites of Britain and Ireland'. Channel 4 Books, a division of Transworld Publishers.

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