2 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Secrets of the Galloway Hoard Revealed

Experts have uncovered fascinating secrets of a Viking Age hoard discovered by a metal detector to be presented to the public. A 10th-century treasure of over 100 items including gold, silver, jewelry, a rare Anglo-Saxon cross, and textiles, was found in a field in Dumfries and Galloway in 2014 and acquired by National Museums Scotland (NMS) in 2017.

The 3D model obtained through X-ray imaging allowed the researchers to see beneath the textiles that had been hidden for more than 1,000 years, thereby glimpsing the decorative surface of the vessel decorated with leopards, tigers, and Zoroastrian fire altars.

The ornamentation indicated that the metalwork is from Central Asia rather than the Carolingian (Holy Roman) Empire, as predicted, and radiocarbon analysis of the wool wrapping dates it to AD 680-780, predating the Viking period by up to 200 years.

Dr Martin Goldberg, principal curator of medieval archaeology and history at NMS, said: “This is only the third silver-gilt and decorated vessel to be found as part of a Viking-age hoard in the UK, and so we might have expected it to be like the other two.

“However, the 3D model reveals that the vessel is not from the Carolingian (Holy Roman) Empire of continental Europe as we’d expected based on other similar examples. Instead, the decoration and design suggests that it is a piece of Central Asian metalwork from halfway round the known world.

Viking age hoard. Photo: National Museums Scotland/PA
Viking age hoard. Photo: National Museums Scotland/PA

“What was revealed was decoration that is unlike the other two, they were made in a Christian context in the Carolingian empire probably sometime in the 9th century AD.

“Our vessel has non-Christian symbolism on it and in particular there is a central icon which is a Zoroastrian fire altar and Zoroastrianism was the state religion of the Sasanian empire, which is much further to the east in central

Asia, what was Persia and is modern day Iran, and there are leopards and tigers in the vegetation on the vessel and the whole thing just has a much different symbolism.

viking hoard
Viking age hoard. Photo: National Museums Scotland/PA

“It was quite a surprise, it’s really opened up that international picture.”< Dr Chris Breward, director of NMS, described the hoard as “probably the most significant find from the period of the Vikings in Britain or Ireland that we know of”.

The exhibition, which opens on Saturday, demonstrates how the trove was buried in four separate parcels: two of silver bullion and one consisting of a cluster of four lavishly designed silver “ribbon” arm-rings linked together and covering a little wooden box holding three gold pieces.

Galloway Hoard
National Museums Scotland/PA

The final parcel was a lidded, silver-gilt vase covered in layers of cloth and stuffed with expertly wrapped artifacts that looked like antiquities or heirlooms. They include beads, pendants, brooches, bracelets, and elaborate belt-set, a rock crystal jar, and other curios, often strung or wrapped with silk, as well as two mysterious balls of dirt containing tiny specks of gold.

It is unknown why the treasure, which contained artifacts belonging to four different owners, was buried, however, they were often concealed by persons under fear or stress in the goal of subsequently reclaiming them.

Research into the hoard, found by metal detectorist Derek McLennan, continues through a £1 million project led by NMS in partnership with the University of Glasgow.

The exhibition Galloway Hoard: Viking-age Treasure will be open at NMS in Chambers Street, Edinburgh, until September 12 when it will then tour to Kirkcudbright Galleries and Aberdeen Art Gallery.

National Museums Scotland

Related Articles

1st Century BCE Medusa Mask Mold Discovered in Ancient Finziade, Sicily

24 January 2025

24 January 2025

At the Finziade archaeological site in the Sicilian town of Licata, archaeologists have discovered a mask mold that could represent...

A large hall from the time of Viking Harald Bluetooth discovered

26 December 2022

26 December 2022

A large hall from the reign of King Harald Bluetooth of Denmark and Norway was unearthed during housing construction work...

Delikkemer Aqueduct: A Roman Engineering Wonder Along the Lycian Way

17 May 2025

17 May 2025

Hidden among the lush forests of southwestern Turkey, the Delikkemer Aqueduct stands as a testament to ancient Roman ingenuity. Located...

Unique Iron Age Divination Spoon Found on the Isle of Man

21 February 2025

21 February 2025

A unique bronze spoon, dating back 2,000 years and believed to have played a role in divination rituals, has been...

Archaeologists discovered an enigmatic complex of rooms, interiors of which covered with figural scenes unique to Christian art

7 April 2023

7 April 2023

Archaeologists of the Polish Center of Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Warsaw discovered an enigmatic complex of rooms made...

A Temple Guardian From The 13th Century Found At Cambodia’s Angkor Wat

17 September 2024

17 September 2024

While clearing rubble from a collapsed gate at the Banteay Prei Temple within Cambodia’s Angkor Wat Archaeological Park, workers stumbled...

A 2600-year-old Clay Pot was Repurposed As Trash Bin in An Iranian Museum

13 November 2023

13 November 2023

A clay pot dating back to the 2600-year-old Medes period is now serving as a trash bin in a museum...

1000-Year-Old Tomb Found in Perre Ancient City in southeast Turkey

1 July 2021

1 July 2021

A 1,000-year-old tomb was unearthed in the ancient city of Perre in Adiyaman province. Perre is one of the five...

The excavations in Selinunte, Italy, which has the largest Agora in the Ancient World, “The results have gone well beyond expectations”

29 July 2022

29 July 2022

In the Selinunte, one of the most important archaeological sites of the Greek period in Italy, the outlines of the...

Ancient Roman 3rd-century defensive wall found in Germany

24 March 2024

24 March 2024

An exciting archaeological discovery was made during construction work in Aachen’s city center, Germany. At the corner of Pontstrasse and...

In Oman, a 4,000-year-old Early Bronze Age settlement was unearthed

25 January 2022

25 January 2022

A large settlement dating back more than 4,000 years has been discovered in Oman. Archaeological excavations in the Wilayat of Rustaq,...

Archaeologists have unearthed a trove of artifacts at the necropolis of Saqqara

9 June 2022

9 June 2022

Archaeologists at the necropolis of Saqqara, near Cairo, have discovered a cache of 250 complete mummies in painted wooden sarcophagi...

A secret chamber has been found in the famous Gorham Cave Complex

29 September 2021

29 September 2021

A cave chamber sealed off by sand for some 40,000 years has been discovered in Vanguard Cave inside the Gorham’s...

The remains of two new Doric temples are discovered under the Italian site of Paestum

15 January 2024

15 January 2024

Archaeologists have unearthed two new temples in the Doric style in Paestum, an ancient Greek colony in southern Italy. The...

Sacred Hill of Moon God Sin “Sogmatar”

23 June 2022

23 June 2022

Sogmatar, Şanlıurfa is 53 kilometers from Harran. It is located in Yağmurlu village, where there are important springs in the...