Massive Anglo-Saxon gold hoard found in England

dimejinky99

Looks like a guy with an old metal detector found one of the most significant hoards in the history of these Isles but I'm wondering..

Irish law generally is derivative on English law and if that had been found here, it'd autimatically it would belong to the state. They wouldn't be allowed seel it, it'd be taken and examined and put on display. Can anyone explain the 'treasure' caveat that I'm reading in the articles about this? as in they aren't artifacts(yes they ****ing are!!) but they're treasure?

not begrudging them their find, fair play to them but better it went on display than in some rich guys private collection where nobody can see them no?

here's the article...

A massive hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver found by a metal detector enthusiast beneath a field in Staffordshire is so significant that it is has been likened to the discovery of a “new Book of Kells”.

The haul of at least 1,345 items was officially declared to be treasure by a coroner this morning and will now be valued by a committee of experts.

Dr Roger Bland, head of portable antiquities and treasure at the British Museum, said: “I can’t say anything other than we expect it to be a seven-figure sum.”

The cache - the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold yet found - was hailed today as “a fantastically important discovery”.

The haul was found by metal detectorist Terry Herbert (55), just below the surface of a cultivated field in south Staffordshire in July.

South Staffordshire coroner Andrew Haigh said: “This is a magnificent find, both in terms of its content and its likely history.”

Dr Bland told the inquest in Cannock the significance of the find was “only beginning to dawn” on the small number of experts who have examined it. “It is at least as significant as any of the major discoveries of this period that have been made in the past," he said.

Conceding it may be difficult to establish the story which lies behind the astonishing find, Dr Bland added: “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.”

Archaeologist Dr Kevin Leahy said none of the experts involved in the discovery had seen anything like it before.

He told a press conference at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery: “These are the best craftsmen the Anglo Saxons have got, working with the best materials, and producing incredible results.”

Ian Wykes, head of Staffordshire County Council’s historic environment team, said some of the objects - many of them related to warfare - were found lying on top of the soil.

Archaeologists were “fairly confident” there was no more treasure buried at the site, he added.

Dr Bland said the hoard - thought to date back to between 675 and 725AD - was unearthed in what was once the Kingdom of Mercia. “I think wealth of this kind must have belonged to a king but we cannot say that for absolute certain,” he said.

A total of 1,345 items have been examined by experts, although the list includes 56 clods of earth which have been X-rayed and are known to contain further metal artefacts, meaning the total number of items is likely to rise to around 1,500.

More than 30 other objects found with the hoard have been deemed to be of modern date and were not found to be treasure.

Dr Bland confirmed that copper alloy, garnets and glass objects were discovered at the undisclosed site, but the “great majority” of the treasure was gold or silver.

Experts have so far established that there are at least 650 items of gold in the haul, weighing more than 5kg (11lb), and 530 silver objects totalling more than 1kg (2.2lb) in weight.

Dr Bland said the Staffordshire find was quite different from the Sutton Hoo burial site, which was uncovered in Suffolk in 1939.

The finder of the haul and the owner of the land have agreed to split the proceeds of the sale of the artefacts, which include sword pommels and at least two crosses.

Mr Haigh heard just 30 minutes of evidence before deciding that the haul should be formally classed as treasure.

Expressing hopes that the collection will eventually be bought by a museum and go on display in Britain, preferably in the West Midlands region, the coroner said: “This is a massive and fantastic find.

“These seem to be largely male items, probably military-linked items. Having heard the evidence, it is clear to me ... that these 1,345 items should be considered to be treasure.”

Archaeologists have said the discovery in Staffordshire is so significant that it is akin to the discovery of a “new Book of Kells”.

Mr Herbert, from Burntwood, Staffordshire, has described unearthing the haul as “more fun than winning the lottery”.

“My mates at the (metal detecting) club always say that if there is a gold coin in a field, I will be the one to find it. I dread to think what they’ll say when they hear about this,” he said.

PA

McArmalite

I notice that some of the designs are similiar to Celtic art, which has mostly curves and spirals and avoiding straight lines. Obviously there was a cross over there.

Nodin

The thing is, that the style popularily identified as "Celtic" bears much in common with Scandanvian/'Viking' and Germanic/'Saxon' styles. The book of Kells for instance, is certainly in that latter category.

(Not that I'm an expert, it just came up in a magazine article on a Scandanvian tattooist I read).

Doozie

Our law is different to Irish Law in the we cannot use metal detectors to deliberately seek out 'treasure' and more specifically near an archaeological site or monument. You need a license to use a metal detector and this does prevent treasure hunters and people 'discovering' artefacts and then not handing them over. However I know the Irish metal detector society find such limitations to the use of their equipment very frustrating.
The other thing is that you were correct in what you said, that any artefact or historical object found by a person in Ireland belong to the state and the Irish people but must be handed over to the National Museum or Ireland for care.
I did'nt get that the article denyed that the discovery were not artefacts but that they were and that they could sell them on to the highest bidder...which is very unnerving.