More than 1,000 years after it was buried in a field in southern Scotland, a Viking treasure pot has been opened and its contents revealed in photographs, allowing the public to see for the first time the results of a painstaking effort to remove and preserve the items within.
According to BBC News , the Carolingian pot, which was buried in Dumfries and was filled with artifacts dating back to the 9th and 10th century AD, was discovered by a metal detectorist by the name of Derek McLennan in 2014 as part of a larger cache of treasure.
The treasure pot in question
The pot contained, among other objects: a half-dozen silver Anglo-Saxon disc brooches, a silver brooch originally from Ireland, Byzantium silk from the area around modern-day Istanbul, a gold ingot, and several carefully-wrapped objects made of gold and crystal, the UK news outlet said.
None of the recovered items are currently on display, so the new images are the only way for the public to get a glimpse of them. The collection will eventually be offered to museums throughout Scotland, and the man who discovered them will be eligible for a finder’s fee equal to the market value of the artifacts – a cost that must be covered by the museum receiving them.
A pendant found in the treasure trove. Credit: Robert Clark, National Geographic
‘More questions than answers’
Richard Welander of Historic Environment Scotland, the organization that is funding the project, told BBC News that before the removal of the objects, the pot was given a CT scan “in order that we could get a rough idea what was in there and best plan the delicate extraction process.”
The CT scan was completed at Borders General Hospital in November 2014, and while the medical facility typically uses the technology on patients, it had also previously used the scanner to analyze the remains of a Roman soldier’s head discovered at an excavation site at Trimontium, near Melrose. Dr. John Reid, consultant radiographer at the hospital, said that the scans were conducted at a time when they would not interfere with the treatment of patients.
“That exercise offered us a tantalizing glimpse but didn’t prepare me for what was to come,” said Welander. “These stunning objects provide us with an unparalleled insight to what was going on in the minds of the Vikings in Galloway all those years ago. They tell us about the sensibilities of the time, reveal displays of regal rivalries, and even betray an underlying sense of humor, which the Vikings aren’t always renowned for!”
Additional research needs to be performed on the objects, Stuart Campbell of the Treasure Trove Unit, which is assisting in the conservation project, told BBC News. The objects in the hoard are so complex, he said, that they have raised “more questions than… answers,” he said, “and like all the best archaeology, this find doesn’t give easy answers. Questions about the motivations and cultural identity of the individuals who buried it will occupy scholars and researchers for years to come.”
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Image credit: Historic Environment Scotland
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