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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Science
Dalya Alberge

Mystery behind Viking-age treasure find in Scotland may finally have been solved

A silver arm ring from the Galloway hoard with a runic inscription
A runic inscription on one of the hoard’s arm rings reads: “This is the community’s wealth [property].” Photograph: National Museums Scotland

When the Galloway hoard was discovered in a ploughed field in western Scotland in 2014, it proved to be the richest collection of Viking-age objects ever found in Britain or Ireland. Now the long-standing mystery of who might have owned it when it was buried more than 1,000 years ago may have been solved.

The spectacular silver and gold treasure had in fact belonged to everybody – “the community” – just as it does today, having been acquired in 2017 by National Museums Scotland (NMS).

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