Dr Martin Goldberg examines a golden bird pin from the hoard. Picture: Stewart Attwood
Posted on 11/27/2019 8:51:36 AM PST by SunkenCiv
A painstaking clean-up operation on a haul of Viking-age treasures found buried on church land in Scotland is unlocking new secrets about their origins...
Tiny traces of linen, silk, wood and leather have been analysed during two years of detective work on the hoard has helped develop theories that some objects are several centuries older than previously thought.
The careful wrapping of more than 100 gold, silver and jewelled treasures is set to shed new light on how long it was accumulated for before being buried in Galloway nearly 1,000 years ago...
He said: "We have a better understanding now of the international range of hoard. There were always clues about the origins of some of the material and the amazing trajectories that brought them across Europe and Asia to be buried in Galloway. But we are learning more about the specifics about where things have come from and how old various things might be and for how long the hoard may have been accumulated for. We're sticking to AD 900 for the burial but some objects are looking like they are several centuries older."
...Goldberg added: "We know how many hard objects there were in the hoard, but we are still dealing with an unknown quantity of textiles. Some objects were wrapped in multiple layers of material. We're still working on identifying how many there were and what different types of material were in the hoard.
"But we know there is silk, linen, wood and leather. The range of organic materials in the hoard is very unusual.
"We're used to seeing hoards of gold and silver, but we're just not used to seeing that kind of preservation.
(Excerpt) Read more at scotsman.com ...
[discontinued humor desk] "Did you hoard that all yourself?"
"No, my sister hoard half of it."
1000 years from now the hoard will be wrapped in plastic.
Boy I remember the time I ran into a bunch of Vikings.
I wouldn’t recommend it..
Were you carrying a football?..................
lol
Incredible how these older cultures were so masterful at craftsmanship.
They also thought that they were the most important people in history.
Then they were gone.
Makes you think.
Where would a Scottish Viking come across a flamingo? Imported, me thinks. Great looking design, though. Maybe they could focus more on the pin than the narcissist holding it.
Ah, thank you. Detail looks incredible.
Nice, except the guy thinks he’s something. Wonder what 1000 years from now will be found? IPhone cases...with their pictures? Haha...pet peeve of mine...the “cloud”ing of life.
Makes me recall my next door neighbor. In the country that is half a mile away.
His name was Galloway and as good a neighbor as one could want. He is gone now but his kids use his house as a vacation house now.
Or Sterilite containers...
Thanks for the links to those sites.
Wow! Incredible artifacts and craftsmanship. Interesting how they may have used the silver ingots as currency.
Have to laugh that they still haven’t officially pegged the “bird pin” ID, but it just screams “Flamingo!”
If that pin is supposed to be an Ibis it would be Egyptian in origin.
Not necessarily. https://e360.yale.edu/features/after-a-400-year-absence-waldrapp-rare-ibis-returns-to-european-skies
Vikings traveled into the Mediterranean, Black Sea & up the Danube. There they encountered arabs and traded with them.
A lot of viking hoards contain arab silver coins and other trade goods.
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