In 2014, a remarkable and unprecendented discovery was made in a plowed field in western Scotland—the Galloway Hoard, the most significant collection of Viking Age artifacts ever unearthed in Britain or Ireland. Despite the sheer magnitude of this treasure, there were no immediate clues indicating its origins or the reasons behind its burial. However, after years of painstaking research, experts may have finally uncovered the identity of those who once owned this extraordinary hoard over a millennium ago.
Icredibly, the valuable Galloway hoard was not the property of a single individual, but rather belonged to an entire community—just as it does today. The exact identity of this community is for now unknown, but whoever they were the treasure was theirs and shared equally.
The key to solving this mystery lay in an inscription on one of the four intricately designed silver “ribbon” arm rings that were recovered as part of the hoard. After a long and determined effort this ancient writing has finally been deciphered, and the runic text literally translates to: “This is the community’s wealth [property].”
Dr. Martin Goldberg, National Museums of Scotland’s principal curator of early medieval and Viking collections, expressed excitement over the discovery, which coincided with the hoard’s first international exhibition in Adelaide, Australia.
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“We’re spreading the wealth. Everybody owns a bit of this hoard – just like the inscription says,” he said in a statement published by the Guardian. “The idea that the wealth this hoard represents would be communally held is fascinating.”
Inscribed arm ring plus other arm rings found as part of Galloway Hoard. (National Museums of Scotland/Public Domain).
Deciphering the Runes
Experts faced significant challenges in interpreting the inscription, which read: “DIS IS ЇIGNA ˑFˑ.”
The term “ЇIGNAF” did not correspond to any known language from early medieval Britain or Ireland. However, a breakthrough occurred when researchers identified the final rune, “F,” flanked by dots, as “feoh,” meaning wealth or property. The preceding letters, “ЇIGNA,” were then linked to the Old English word “higna,” meaning community. The first word, “DIS,” was likely a misspelling of “this,” possibly pronounced “D-i-s,” much like certain modern Irish dialects (the latter discovery raises the question of how many other translations of ancient documents might have been thrown off by spelling mistakes).
The term “higna” frequently appears in Anglo-Saxon texts to denote religious communities. Goldberg noted, “It’s really interesting to see it inscribed on an arm ring, the type of thing that would otherwise be in land grants and property claims.”
Dr. David Parsons, an expert in runic studies at the University of Wales, acknowledged the unusual nature of the inscription.
Selection of Viking age beads from the Galloway Hoard. (National Museums of Scotland/Public Domain).
“There are a number of things which are technically wrong when we compare it with what we know about correct runic writing. However, if we think about both spoken and written English today, there are a huge range of regional and idiomatic variations and, if we allow for this, then it becomes possible to accept this as a plausible reading. In the context of what we can deduce about the Galloway hoard, it becomes really quite compelling.”
Previously, scholars believed the hoard may have had multiple owners, as three of the arm rings bear elements of Old English names.
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Relics from an Era of Turmoil
Buried around AD 900 and unearthed near Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway, the treasure is among the most significant archaeological finds of the 21st century in the UK. It includes an Anglo-Saxon silver cross crafted by an exceptionally skilled goldsmith, a rock crystal jar inscribed in Latin with the phrase “Bishop Hyguald had me made,” and layers of finely woven gold thread produced by master medieval artisans. In total, the hoard consists of more than 100 gold, silver, glass, crystal, stone, and earthenware objects from the Viking Age, which in Britain began with the first Viking raids in the last eighth century.
Ornamented silver pectoral cross with wire chain from the viking age Galloway Hoard. (National Museums of Scotland/Public Domain).
While the discovery of the inscription sheds light on the hoard’s ownership, many questions remain. Goldberg and his team continue to investigate the circumstances that led to a community’s wealth being buried, and which specific community it belonged to.
This era was marked by Viking incursions, with Alfred the Great, the King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886 and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until 899, resisting the most aggressive Scandinavian advances while laying the groundwork for medieval England and Alba, the prototype for Scotland.
One prevailing theory suggests that the hoard was hidden during a period of ecclesiastical looting, as monasteries became frequent targets of Viking raids. Clearly the community it belonged to perceived a threat, and given the fact that the hoard was never retrieved, the threat seems likely to have been quite real.
Top image: Senior Curator at National Museums Scotland, Martin Goldberg, looking at objects from the Viking age Galloway Hoard.
Source: National Museums of Scotland/CC BY-SA 4.0.
By Nathan Falde
Source: www.ancient-origins.net