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History

See Pictures of an Elite Viking’s Prized Possessions

Published 7 Nov 2017, 15:24 GMT, Updated 16 Nov 2017, 10:40 GMT
All symmetry and curving lines, the hoard’s sole penannular brooch was crafted in Scotland or Ireland ...
All symmetry and curving lines, the hoard’s sole penannular brooch was crafted in Scotland or Ireland for a high-status man or woman.
Photograph by Robert Clark, National Geographic; permission of Historic Environment Scotland
Four faces gaze from a silver brooch buried in the Galloway hoard nearly 1,100 years ago. Interred with loving care, the treasures were never retrieved by their Viking owner.
Photograph by Robert Clark, National Geographic; permission of Historic Environment Scotland
Partly flattened, this silver arm ring could have been used by a Viking chief to reward loyal followers.
Photograph by Robert Clark, National Geographic; permission of Historic Environment Scotland
Swaddled in cloth or leather and packed with other valuables in a decorated vessel, this Anglo-Saxon brooch was clearly prized by its Viking owner, who “took just the greatest care of it,” says archaeologist Olwyn Owens.
Photograph by Robert Clark, National Geographic; permission of Historic Environment Scotland
A tangle of silver arm rings lay in the hoard’s upper layer. Viking elites used such jewelry like cash, hacking off pieces of silver to make purchases.
Photograph by Robert Clark, National Geographic; permission of Historic Environment Scotland
Made of gold, this bird-shaped object may have been a decorative pin or a manuscript pointer designed to keep dirty fingers from the lines in a medieval book.
Photograph by Robert Clark, National Geographic; permission of Historic Environment Scotland
Surrounded by swirling tendrils, two mythical creatures embellish one of the nine silver brooches interred in the Galloway hoard. “My heart beats at the sight of them,” says archaeologist Olwyn Owens.
Photograph by Robert Clark, National Geographic; permission of Historic Environment Scotland
Wrapped in a delicate silver chain, an enamelled Christian cross was meant to be worn as a pendant.
Photograph by Robert Clark, National Geographic; permission of Historic Environment Scotland
Treasures from the Viking world, the arm rings are bound to reveal more details in the years to come. The runic inscription on the upper band, for example, has yet to be studied.
Photograph by Robert Clark, National Geographic; permission of Historic Environment Scotland
Intertwining snakes or serpents form an intricate design on a silver disk brooch from the hoard.
Photograph by Robert Clark, National Geographic; permission of Historic Environment Scotland
The work of a master metalsmith, this disc brooch may have been stolen from an Anglo-Saxon settlement during a Viking attack.
Photograph by Robert Clark, National Geographic; permission of Historic Environment Scotland
A hinged silver strap may have once enclosed a precious, rectangular-shaped object—possibly a book.
Photograph by Robert Clark, National Geographic; permission of Historic Environment Scotland
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