THE STAFFORDSHIRE HOARD
KEVIN LEAHY
The Staffordshire Hoard has been a revelation to everyone involved. Both the quantity and the quality of the material are stunning. Conservation and cleaning of the finds is under way, and as layers of earth are painstakingly removed, animals and faces are appearing under the microscope. Archaeologists are now beginning to place the finds in their Anglo-Saxon context by comparing them with earlier discoveries and making links with sites like Sutton Hoo in Suffolk. The images that follow, some of which are appearing for the first time, give an impression of what has been found and the upcoming challenges, including conservation; scientific analysis; and making this remarkable material available through books, broadcasts, and museum displays.
Pectoral cross with gold filigree and a central garnet. This would have been worn by a senior cleric or a pious aristocrat. Its shape is similar to the cross found in the grave of St. Cuthbert, who died in 687. (photo credit bm1.1)
Settings for gems from the processional cross, opposite. Only one setting retains a gem—a garnet damaged and repaired in Anglo-Saxon times. (photo credit bm1.2)
Strip of metal, perhaps the arm of a cross. At one end is an empty D-shaped setting. On both faces is a biblical inscription from the Book of Numbers. (photo credit bm1.3)
Altar, or processional cross, made from thin sheet gold with chased decoration, now folded and bent. Its decoration is similar to that seen on metal mounts from the early seventh-century Sutton Hoo ship burial. (photo credit bm1.4)
L-shaped gold strip with fine garnet settings covering three faces. The function of this object is unknown, but it may have come from the cover of a book. (photo credit bm1.5)
Pommel cap decorated with finely cut geometric garnets. Traces of wear can be seen on its top. (photo credit bm1.6)
Pommel cap with garnet inlay but with some of the cells blanked off with gold plates, a technique known as lidded cloisonné. (photo credit bm1.7)
Cap decorated with lidded cloisonné representing two crossing animals. A foot can be seen to the right of the vertical bar. (photo credit bm1.8)
Pommel cap decorated with garnets forming a winged disk. These round-topped caps may be later in the series than the more common cocked hat type. (photo credit bm1.9)
Pommel cap with fine garnet inlay. The pin on the right is one of the rivets that held the cap in place on the sword hilt. (photo credit bm1.10)
The interlace decoration on this cap may be cut, or be applied, flattened, filigree. (photo credit bm1.11)
This filigree represents two back-to-back animals. At top center are two opposed hooked L lines representing the backs of the animals’ heads (the same motif appears on the next page, right top). From these run the animals’ interlaced, paper clip-like jaws. (photo credit bm1.12)
The filigree decoration on this cap appears coarser than on other objects but represents the range that we see in the Staffordshire Hoard. (photo credit bm1.13)
Fish made from gold and decorated with filigree. The function of these tiny and very fine objects is unknown, and they seem out of place among all the war gear. (photo credit bm1.14)
Although this looks like a seahorse, it is unlikely to be one. The animal represented could be a horse, a wolf, a bear, or even a hog. The fineness of the filigree work is amazing. (photo credit bm1.15)
A bent and broken gold plate showing two birds of prey clutching a fish (center). One bird’s hooked beak can be seen on the left. Behind it is a shield-shaped panel marking its hip, from which extend the talons. This object may have been fitted on a shield. (photo credit bm1.16)
Garnet inlaid plate representing two eagles. In its center, the backs of the eagles’ heads are marked by the two back-to-back L-shaped stones from which the hooked beaks extend. One stone (center right) is missing, revealing the waffle-patterned foil set beneath. These foils scattered the light and made the stone glitter. (photo credit bm1.17)
TWo filigree decorated plates, each showing two back-to-back eagles (only their garnet eyes can be seen clearly). They may have been fixed to the grip of a sword. (photo credit bm1.18)
An amazing pommel, in the center of which is what appears to be the head of a helmeted man but, seen another way, also represents a boar’s head. The Anglo-Saxons liked this ambiguity. (photo credit bm1.19)
Silver gilt cheekpiece from a helmet decorated with rows of animals, some of which have the L-shaped line at the backs of their heads (see detail, inset). The section of this object is like half a seashell with a raised flange down one side. (photo credit bm1.20) (photo credit bm1.21)
Crest fittings from an Anglo-Saxon helmet. The crest was fitted into a channeled strip, hook-shaped on the illustration. Its decoration is similar to that of the cheekpiece, suggesting that they came from the same helmet. The horse-head terminal fits into one end of the channeled strip. (photo credit bm1.22) (photo credit bm1.23)
Foil showing running or kneeling warriors, each carrying a round shield and a spear and with a sword at his side. Their heads are thrown back to look upward, with their hair streaming out behind them. (photo credit bm1.24)
Foil showing a procession of animals, their circular eyes and V-shaped jaws at the top of the strip. (photo credit bm1.25)
Foil showing the faces of two mustached warriors. (photo credit bm1.26)
At Sutton Hoo, small gold buckles like this were found with the helmet. (photo credit bm1.27)
Detail of the channeled strip that held the helmet crest (see this page), showing four interlaced snakes. (photo credit bm1.28)
This fine filigree shows something of the sophistication of the technique. Each strand making up the interlaced animals consists of a length of beaded wire flanked by two smaller wires. These were skillfully soldered onto the gold backing plate to create a design of great delicacy. (photo creditbm1.29) (photo credit bm1.30)
The function of these plates and strips is unknown, and we have not seen anything like them before. Possible interpretations include shrine or cross mounts, or fittings from a book or from saddles. (photo credit bm1.31) (photo credit bm1.32)
Again, the use of this plate is unknown. The only clues are small nail holes on its back where it was fixed to something, but we know not what. (photo credit bm1.33)
This strip is set with garnets on three faces and must belong with the L-shaped fitting shown on INDEX 01, bottom right. This is one of the few objects damaged by the plow. (photo credit bm1.34)
Garnet-set strip with windows containing small panels bearing filigree snakes. The use of this object is, at present, unknown. (photo credit bm1.35)
Garnet-set strip with a clawlike projection at one end. This was designed to fit around something, and it will be interesting to see how it relates to other objects. Again a mystery, but the high-quality workmanship shows it to have been an important object. (photo credit bm1.36)
A ladderlike strip set with garnets. Originally, the windows would have been filled with filigree panels as seen on the artifact above, at right. The damage suffered by this object allows us to see how it was made. (photo credit bm1.37)
Two gold and garnet sword buttons. At Sutton Hoo buttons like these were found in situ on one face of the scabbard and were likely to have been used to attach it to a belt. (photo credit bm1.38)
Two sword-hilt rings bearing garnets with grooved decoration. The upper ring had lost one of its garnets, which had been replaced with amber. (photo credit bm1.39)
Hilt plate decorated with biting animals similar to some seen on the seventh-century Book of Durrow. The slot for the blade has one square-cut end showing that this plate was used on a single-edged seax. (photo credit bm1.40)
These elegant fittings are decorated with similar lidded cloisonné animals and must have formed a set. They are mounts not for a sword, but for a single-edged seax. (photo credit bm1.41)
Two golden snakes presenting a great mystery—what did they mean, and how were they used? A snake can carry many meanings: good, evil, healing, wisdom, treachery. The fine wire pins on some snakes look too fine to attach them to anything. (photo credit bm1.42)
Possibly a head from a golden snake (photo credit bm1.43)
This crushed and broken plate once formed part of a sword guard constructed like a sandwich. Between it and a corresponding plate would have been a layer of tough material such as bone, ivory, or horn. (photo credit bm1.44)
Gold and garnet setting containing a glass gem. Both glass and enamel were materials used by the Celts, not the Anglo-Saxons, and this glass gem may have come from a Welsh workshop. (photo credit bm1.45)
This remarkable conical object is made of gold and set with garnets. It contains small panels showing two animals (see detail at right) each trying to bite off the other’s only leg. Its function is unknown. (photo credit bm1.46) (photo credit bm1.47)
Side and top view of a sword pyramid. Its underside is hollow, with a bar across its open mouth. A strap fitted around the bar would have held the sword in its scabbard. (photo credit bm1.48) (photo credit bm1.49)
Sword pyramid decorated with two birds facing each other, their heads down and open beaks touching. At the top their tails cross. (photo credit bm1.50)
ROMAN BRITAIN
The Romans brought stability and ended the scourge of tribal warfare in Britain. The army soon moved to the north and west, leaving much of Britain as a semiautonomous “civilian zone.” Here grew several towns linked by a system of roads, and, although we see the strong influence of Roman art and culture, some objects still reflect Celtic tastes. The first to third centuries seem to have been prosperous; large numbers of small metal objects, together with imported pottery and glass, are found on rural sites, which shows that people had access to more than the basics. By the fourth century life was getting harder everywhere in the empire, although large numbers of late Roman coins suggest that Britain had an active economy in the last century of Roman rule. The following century would see all this swept away as large areas of Roman Britain became Anglo-Saxon England.