On the 10th anniversary of its discovery, new research and conservation has revealed the West Asian origin of the lidded vessel which contained many of the unique treasures that comprise the Viking-age Galloway Hoard, and which will go on public display for the first time later this month.
On its discovery, the vessel was found wrapped in textiles which in themselves are an extremely rare survival from the burial of the Hoard, around AD900, in Galloway in the southwest of Scotland.
Those textiles have been carefully studied and retained for further analysis with as much as possible preserved in situ on the vessel. This delicate balance of careful conservation work and research has revealed the intricately decorated surface of the vessel for the first time since it was put in the ground over 1000 years ago.
Where the surface of the vessel had previously only been viewed through x-ray scans, laser cleaning has helped to reveal further details of the design, including crowns, fire altars, leopards and tigers.
This remarkable imagery is unusual in western Europe and suggested an association with the iconography of Zoroastrianism, the state religion of the Sasanian Empire, the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th–8th centuries AD. New scientific analysis has confirmed that materials used to make the vessel originated in what is now central Iran.
Dr Martin Goldberg from National Museums Scotland said: “We had suspected from x-ray scanning the vessel that it may have originated somewhere in central or western Asia, but it’s only now that we’ve carefully conserved and analysed it that we can say this is definitively the case.
“It’s further evidence of the cosmopolitan make-up of the Galloway Hoard. We now know that the Viking-age silver that makes up most of the Hoard was melted down from coins and metalwork from early medieval England.
“Some objects, like the lidded vessel, stood out from the rest and the scientific analysis now confirms this. It is incredible to imagine how the vessel made its journey halfway round the known world, from Iran to this distant corner of southwest Scotland.”
Dr Jane Kershaw, an expert on Viking age silver from the University of Oxford, said: “Taking tiny samples from both the vessel body and the niello – the black silver-sulphide inlays that outline the decoration – we assessed the provenance of the silver.
“It was immediately clear that the vessel was unlike any other silver contained in the hoard: instead, the results point to origins in the Sasanian Empire, what is today Iran. Elemental analysis using portable X-ray Fluorescence revealed that the vessel is an alloy of silver and relatively pure copper, which is typical of Sasanian silver, but not contemporary European silver.
” In addition, the isotopes of the lead contained within the silver metal and niello match ore from Iran. We can even go so far as to say that the niello derives from the famous mine of Nakhlak in central Iran. It’s fantastic to have scientific confirmation for the distant origins of this remarkable object.”
The original vessel will go on display for the first time later this month as part of the British Museum’s forthcoming exhibition, Silk Roads (26 Sep 2024 to 23 Feb 2025).
Dr Sue Brunning from the British Museum said: “We’re delighted that visitors to Silk Roads will be the first in the world to see this key object from the Galloway Hoard. Among its remarkable contents were Scotland’s earliest recorded silk, and so it is a highly appropriate inclusion in the exhibition.
“For the first time it will be displayed alongside a similar vessel found in northern Britain and also used as a Viking-age treasure container, but the Galloway vessel is the only one confirmed as originating beyond Europe, in lands far to the east. It was, itself, a long-distance traveller on the Silk Roads’ sprawling networks.”
The Galloway Hoard contains the richest collection of rare and unique Viking-age objects ever found in Britain or Ireland. Buried around the end of the 9th century, the Hoard brings together a stunning variety of objects and materials in one discovery. It was discovered on 1st September 2014 by metal detectorists and excavated by the Dumfries and Galloway Council archaeologist.
It was acquired by National Museums Scotland in 2017 with the support of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Art Fund and the Scottish Government as well as a major public fundraising campaign.
Since then, it has been undergoing extensive conservation and research at the National Museums Collection Centre in Edinburgh under the auspices of an AHRC-funded research project, Unwrapping the Galloway Hoard, undertaken in partnership with the University of Glasgow.
While little can be said with certainty about who buried the Galloway Hoard and why, several discoveries from the conservation and research work have offered tantalising hints of the deeper history behind this collection, which probably accumulated over several centuries.
These include a Christian pectoral cross depicting symbols of the four evangelists, the runic inscription of the name ‘Egbert’ on a silver arm ring, and the revelation of a spectacular rock crystal jar decorated with gold filigree bearing the words ‘Bishop Hyguald had me made’. Along with the West Asian origin of the vessel, the many unusual objects in the Galloway Hoard take us well beyond the usual stereotype of Viking raiders.
This Hoard tells us a richer story about complex interactions with neighbours and newcomers, connections with previous generations and the rest of the known world.
An online event, Galloway Hoard: A Decade of Discovery, hosted by Sally Magnusson and featuring several members of the research team, will be held on 11 September, showcasing some of the remarkable discoveries made to date.
The Galloway Hoard will eventually go on long-term display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh with a significant and representative portion of it also displayed long-term at Kirkcudbright Galleries.