News of the hoard’s discovery electrified not only the general public, but also the wide community of Anglo-Saxon scholars and specialists. No one had seen anything like it. Previously, there had been discoveries of hoards of coins and other precious objects dating from the long Roman occupation of Britain, as well as discoveries of spectacular Anglo-Saxon burial sites. But the objects pulled from the earth of a Staffordshire field in July 2009 were something novel—a hoard of gold, silver, and objects set with garnets from early Anglo-Saxon times. The quality of the workmanship that had woven the intricate animal-motif cloisonné and had laid the dainty filigree was of the highest order, leading some to remark that the hoard was the metalwork equivalent of such legendary illuminated manuscripts as the Lindisfarne Gospels or the Book of Kells.
Consisting of some 3,500 pieces from hundreds of individual objects that filled 244 bags, the Staffordshire Hoard was remarkable not only for what was in it, but also for what was not. There were no domestic or feminine objects; almost everything that could be identified was military in character. There were sword pommel fittings and saddle pieces, scabbard mounts and strap buckles, hilt ornaments and helmet fittings—but no women’s brooches or other jewelry. Also remarkable was that many objects bore evidence of deliberate mutilation, of having been wrenched apart and bent and folded with determined effort. The hoard, then, was a pile of expensive, broken military hardware deposited for unknown reasons 1,300 years ago in a politically and militarily turbulent region in turbulent times.
Who buried the hoard? And why? Thrilling and historic, the Staffordshire Hoard was, above all, enigmatic. And in order to attempt to understand the circumstances of the hoard’s burial it is necessary to draw upon the rich and diverse material that historians and archaeologists working in this era have amassed. Changing approaches to archaeology, as well as new technologies developed over recent years, make this a particularly exciting time for Anglo-Saxon studies.
The Staffordshire Hoard, then, is our guiding talisman through the murky, rugged, and fascinating world of the Anglo-Saxons. It will lead us on a journey that traverses the ruined landscape of Rome’s occupation of Britain and the settlements of the earliest Anglo-Saxon immigrants. It will take us through misty lore, brushing against King Arthur and skirting dragons, as well as to such revelatory technologies as DNA samplings and stable-isotope analysis, to warrior graves and sword rituals, to Beowulf and the magnificent English language. This journey is our best way of understanding why, in approximately A.D. 650, some unknown agent chose to bury a multimillion-dollar hoard of gold in the Staffordshire ground.