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Talk given at the Fitzwilliam Museum, 27th July 2001
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The Staffordshire Hoard
Helen Geake, Finds Adviser, Portable Antiquities Scheme
The
Dai
ly M
ail,
Sept
embe
r 25
th 2
009
The Potteries Museum in Stoke-on-Trent
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
Sutton Hoo Mound 1, c. 625 AD
…France, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Syria, Egypt, Byzantium…
…and Britain!
objects from…
peoples and kingdoms, from Bede’s Ecclesiastical
History of the English People (731 AD)
England in the 7th century AD
(hoard site in pink)
Distribution map of Anglo-Saxon burials, c. 430-c. 700 (from Lucy 2000)
(Hoard site in pink)
Penda, ruled c. 630 to 655 – killed 5 kings:
Edwin* of Northumbria 633
Oswald* of Northumbria 642
Sigeberht* and Ecgric of East Anglia 636
Anna* of East Anglia 654
Bede’s information about Mercia in the seventh century
* great Christian king and one of Bede’s heroes
Lots of gold!approximately: 5 kg gold 1.5 kg silver 0.5 kg copper alloy
Spear
Helmet
Sword
Seax
Shield
The usual equipment of the Anglo-Saxon warrior
pommel
hilt plates
hilt collar
Some components of a sword hilt
hilt plates
(this reconstructed sword is from Sutton Hoo in Suffolk)
About 90 pommels
from a sword (large) probably from a seax (small)
Over 350 hilt fittings
hilt plate from a seax
hilt plate from a sword
elaborate hilt collar
simple wire hilt collar
4 rings from sword pommels
Scabbard fittings from the Staffordshire Hoard
(reconstruction of the Sutton Hoo sword)
Helmet from Benty Grange, Derbyshire Peak District (c. 650 AD)
Reconstruction of the Benty Grange helmet
with horn plates in between the iron bands and bristles on the boar
A reconstruction of the Sutton Hoo helmet
hinged cheekpieces
Iron helmet from Wollaston, Northamptonshire
Helmet cheekpiece from the Staffordshire Hoard
compare to the Sutton Hoo helmet
61.3% gold, 36.8% silver, 3.4% copper
Helmet crest from the Staffordshire Hoard
again, compare to the Sutton Hoo helmet
Sutton Hoo helmet showing stamped foil decoration
Someone gripping and stabbingWarriors with round shields
and eagle-crested helmets
People running or kneeling
Silver foils, probably from a helmet
Lots of bits of helmet!
Two small crosses...
…a medium-sized one…
…and an enormous one with huge garnets!
detail of the ornament
detail of the ornament
Byzantinering-cut garnet
One arm from a cross?
[S] U R G E d N E d I S E P E n T U R I N I M I C I T U I Et[F] U G E n T q U I O d E R U N [T] T E α F α C I E T U α
[s]urge domine disepentur inimici tui et [f]ugent qui oderunt te a facie tua
Rise up, o Lord, and may Thy enemies be dispersed and those who hate Thee be driven from thy face (Numbers 10, 35)
Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him (Psalm 67/68, 2)
Mystery objects
cloisonné cell-work from a hilt collar
cabochon-cut garnets from part of a sword pyramid
This object is one inch (2½ cm) long
stamped gold foil underneath the garnets
Garnets cut at an angle on a sword pyramid (the sword pyramid is 2 cm square)
Garnets with a ribbed edge (the hilt collar is 3 cm across)
Glass settings from the Staffordshire Hoard
Tiny bits of blue glass on a sword pyramid
‘Millefiori’ glass on a stud
Detail of a millefiori glass settings from one of the sword pyramids
Filigree on hilt collars
animals and birds in cloisonné garnets
Interlacing animals on the helmet cheekpiece
heads with jaws
feet or paws
close-up detail
hip or shoulder joint the complete object
Animal head visible
Possible animal head just visible
No animal elements discernable
What was the hoard for?• Deliberately hidden for safekeeping? • Lost by mistake? • A gift to the gods?
• The contents of a royal treasury• Plunder from a battle (with blades removed)• Tribute from defeated kingdom(s)• A goldsmith’s hoard, awaiting recycling• Theft of one of the above• A sacrificial deposit
Site location
Excavating the findspot of the hoard
The Book of Durrow f. 192v (no precise date)
Seax hilt-plate from the Staffordshire Hoard
http://finds.org.uk/staffshoardsymposium
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