See Pictures of an Elite Viking’s Prized Possessions

All symmetry and curving lines, the hoard’s sole penannular brooch was crafted in Scotland or Ireland for a high-status man or woman.

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.

Partly flattened, this silver arm ring could have been used by a Viking chief to reward loyal followers.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Wrapped in a delicate silver chain, an enamelled Christian cross was meant to be worn as a pendant.

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.

Intertwining snakes or serpents form an intricate design on a silver disk brooch from the hoard.

The work of a master metalsmith, this disc brooch may have been stolen from an Anglo-Saxon settlement during a Viking attack.

A hinged silver strap may have once enclosed a precious, rectangular-shaped object—possibly a book.