When was the staffordshire hoard buried

But who had collected the astonishing stash of gold, garnet weapons and ornaments he had found? Why had they been buried?

And why were so many of them broken? After a decade of conservation and analysis, archaeologists have finally revealed their conclusions about these tantalising questions and others, with the publication of the first major academic research into what became known as the Staffordshire hoard. The royal treasury was probably buried in haste at a time of turmoil, but for reasons that can only be guessed at, it was never reclaimed.

The landowner Fred Johnson granted permission for an excavation to search for the rest of the hoard. The subsequent excavation was funded by English Heritage who contracted Birmingham Archaeology to do the fieldwork. Ploughing had scattered the artefacts, so it was decided to excavate an area 9 by 13 metres 30 by 43 feet Excavations revealed no dating evidence for the hoard, which was found not to be associated with a burial.

The discovery was announced on 24th September and attracted worldwide attention. Absolutely the metalwork equivalent of finding a new Lindisfarne Gospels or Book of Kells. In December it was announced that 91 additional items of gold and silver metalwork had been found in the field where the Staffordshire Hoard was discovered in The hoard was discovered very near Watling Street.

One of the major thoroughfares of Roman Britain, it ran for about miles from Dover past Wroxeter and was probably still in use when the hoard was buried. Most of the items in the hoard are military, but it is not possible to say if the hoard was the spoils from a single battle or a long and highly successful military career.

The only non-marital items are three crosses. The largest cross is missing some of its decorative settings and may have been an altar or processional cross. The crosses have been folded possibly to fit into a small space before being buried. This suggests that the hoard was hidden in a wild area, far from any human settlement. A few more objects from the hoard were found in , when the field was ploughed again for the first time since the original find. With the help of record donations from the public and some major grants, the finds were purchased by Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent City Councils on behalf of the nation.

The two museums have been working together on a large-scale conservation and research project. Along with archaeologists, scientists, historians and curators from across the UK and Europe, specialist scientific analysis, investigative cleaning and X-ray photography of these amazing finds has taken place. Find out more about this conservation and research project by viewing the learning resource: The Science behind the Staffordshire Hoard.

What is the Staffordshire Hoard? When was the hoard buried? Who buried the hoard? Where was the hoard discovered? Why did they bury the hoard? Pupil activity What reasons can you think of as to why the hoard was buried?

Originally the hoard was probably deeper underground than this. It appears that the soil above the hoard had been eroded down the hill slope by ploughing, gradually reducing the amount of earth above the hoard. When Fred Johnson, the farmer, ploughed the field in autumn , he went just deep enough to disturb the hoard and spread the objects through the plough soil.

The excavators found no other Anglo-Saxon features where the hoard had been buried. There were no buildings, no burials, and no signs of a battle.