A VESSEL which contained treasures from a Viking-age hoard found in Scotland will go on display for the first time this year after it was discovered it travelled halfway across the world.
The lidded vessel is believed to have come from West Asia and was buried in the Scottish Borders around 1000 years ago and is part of the Galloway Hoard which is regarded as the richest collection of rare and unique Viking-age objects ever found in the UK.
The metal artefact was wrapped in textiles, which are described as “an extremely rare survival from the burial of the hoard” from around 900AD, and researchers have been able to analyse the surface of the vessel for the first time.
Previously it could only be seen through X-rays, but laser cleaning has helped to reveal further details of the designs on the vessel, including crowns, fire altars, leopards and tigers.
The imagery discovered is unusual in western Europe, and suggests 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.
Scientific analysis has confirmed that the materials used to make the vessel originated in what is now central Iran.
Dr Martin Goldberg from National Museums Scotland said it is incredible to imagine the vessel’s journey travelling half the world to end up in Scotland.
He 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.”
The vessel is due to go on display for the first time later this year and there will be an online event, Galloway Hoard: A Decade of Discovery, where researchers will be 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.
The Viking burial collection was originally discovered in 2014 by metal detectorists and excavated by Dumfries and Galloway Council archaeologists.
The collection was then 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 undergone extensive conservation and research at the National Museums Collection Centre in Edinburgh.
Dr Jane Kershaw, an expert on Viking age silver from the University of Oxford, explained how researchers discovered the vessel's origins for the first time.
She 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.”
There is little known about who buried the Galloway Hoard and why, but several discoveries from the conservation and research work have offered several hints towards the history behind the collection.
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”.
Researchers said the discovery of the Galloway Hoard showcases a rich story about complex interactions with neighbours and newcomers and goes beyond the stereotype of Viking raiders.
