Unwrapping the Galloway Hoard

The Galloway hoard is the richest, most varied and well-preserved collection of precious and exotic objects surviving from Viking-age Britain and Ireland. Buried around AD 900, it is both Scotland's earliest Viking-age silver bullion hoard and the largest collection of gold surviving from that period in Britain and Ireland. Beyond the silver, familiar from most Viking-age hoards, and the much rarer gold, is an unprecedented array of inorganic materials such as bronze, glass, and rock crystal, entangled with the outstandingly rare preservation of organic materials (wood, leather, wool, linen, and silk).

For example: a gold-mounted rock-crystal jar, likely to originate from the Byzantine Empire or perhaps beyond in the Islamic caliphate, is wrapped in several layers of textile including Scotland's earliest examples of silk; both this exotic fabric and the crystal jar could have travelled thousands of miles to reach Scotland.

Most hoards are usually interpreted as buried wealth, with the focus on events surrounding the moment of burial. The Galloway hoard challenges this view, and presents a rare opportunity to ask in much more detail about: how, and why, people assembled and collected hoards during the Viking Age? Four distinct caches within the Galloway hoard, exceptionally preserved with associated textiles, leather wrappings and a wooden box, take us beyond the usual perspective of hoards as a single mass of objects.

Through a range of digital imaging techniques, scientific analysis and radiocarbon dating we will piece together clues from the history (biographies) of objects in order to examine the process of assembling the different parts of this spectacularly rich collection in the years (and perhaps even centuries) before its final burial.

This project brings together expertise in hoards and hoarding at National Museums Scotland and archaeological textiles and leather at University of Glasgow. Three Postdoctoral Research Assistants will tackle different aspects of the hoard: the silver which forms the bulk of the contents; the gold, glass, rock crystal and other inorganic materials; and the 250 detached fragments of organic material (mostly textiles).

The latter will be identified, analysed and mapped back within the four caches, especially the wrapped lidded vessel containing complex bundles. Once recorded and studied these organic fragments will then form the basis for a fine-grained radiocarbon dating programme by Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC). Integrating this with all the other project findings will produce rare insights into the biographies of the many objects and the accumulation of this hoard before its final deposition.

We will be collaborating with a range of specialist institutions. The breadth and depth of the contextual setting of the Galloway hoard stretching from Britain to the Byzantine Empire, and perhaps beyond, will attract international specialists to five workshops:1) Wrapping and Reliquaries; 2)Silk and International Connections; 3) Late Anglo-Saxon Metalwork; 4) Viking-age Gold; 5) Mixed Materials, Exotica, Curios and Heirlooms.

Originating from distant lands, accumulated over many years, and containing sacred and secular items, the objects, bundles and composition of the Galloway hoard has currently unrealised potential to challenge our understanding of what constitutes a hoard in Early Medieval Europe and beyond. The significance of the Galloway hoard extends beyond the Viking Age, not just because of its international context, but because of its exceptional preservation.

This significance will be assessed in a final symposium focusing on new approaches to assembling and collecting hoards. Key outputs will include two books from the workshops and symposium, targeted journal articles, an exhibition in four venues around Scotland accompanied by public and schools programmes, rich digital media activity and dedicated pages on National Museums Scotland's website.