Viking-age jar found by metal detectorist to go on display for first time
It was buried near Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway around 900AD, where it remained until it was discovered by a metal detectorist in 2014.
The jar is due to go on display at Kirkcudbright Galleries on November 8, near where it was discovered.
The 5cm high jar resembles an ornate perfume bottle and is decorated in gold filigree.
It is thought to have had an ecclesiastical function within the Catholic Church, as the gold inscription written on the jar says 'Bishop Hyguald had me made'.
Due to gaps in church records in the 9th century, finding out who Bishop Hyguald was has proved difficult for researchers, but they have concluded he was most likely a Northumbrian bishop.
Dumfries and Galloway was previously part of the medieval kingdom of Northumbria.
A further translation of an Old English runic inscription from the arm ring in the Galloway Hoard has been proposed, describing a portion of the hoard as 'the community's wealth'.
The jar, found wrapped in linen, was carefully unwrapped over a number of months in order not to damage the item, meaning it is only now available for display.
Martin Goldberg from National Museums Scotland said: 'The rock crystal jar is one of the highlight objects from the Galloway Hoard.
'From the beautiful rock crystal itself, originally carved in the form of a classical Corinthian column two thousand years ago, to the incredibly intricate gold decoration added hundreds of years later and including a clear inscription identifying its owner, this one object exemplifies the complex, connected and historic nature of the Galloway Hoard.
'The jar was the subject of international attention when we first revealed the inscription, and it's great to be able to put it on display it for the first time in Kirkcudbright.'
Maureen Johnstone, chairwoman of Dumfries and Galloway Council's education, skills and community wellbeing committee, added: 'We are excited to see this important and unique object in Kirkcudbright.
'Dumfries and Galloway Council is very proud of the ongoing partnership with National Museums Scotland which has already produced two superb exhibitions at Kirkcudbright Galleries.
'I have no doubt the rock crystal jar will be a fascinating exhibit, I am looking forward to it.'
The Viking Age hoard 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.
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The Guardian
20 hours ago
- The Guardian
Unburied treasure: Viking hoard found by Scottish detectorist comes to South Australia
In AD900, marauding Vikings buried a hoard of treasure – jewellery, gold, silver and more – in Scotland. It wasn't until 2014 that it was unearthed. Metal detectorist Derek McLennan was prospecting in a ploughed field near Dumfries and Galloway when he came across the hoard, which turned out to be the most significant Viking-age collection ever found in the UK or Ireland. Now the Galloway hoard is making its international debut in Adelaide, on exhibition at the SA Museum. By chance, the very detector McLennan used (a waterproof, all-terrain CTX 3030, for the cognoscenti) was made by an Australian company based in Adelaide, Minelab. Minelab's engineering general manager, Mark Lawrie, says it was a 'bizarre' and 'happy' coincidence, and the museum confirmed it had no relationship with the company. Minelab sells detectors for coins and treasures, for gold prospecting and for finding landmines in conflict zones. With names such as Excalibor, Equinox and Manticore, the machines have helped customers around the world find treasures such as a pirate knife, sterling silver with an ivory handle and a Bronze-age torc. There are coins and rings, and American civil war relics, arrowheads and, in one case, a 1906 dog registration tag. And then there was that amazing cache in Scotland. 'I unearthed the first piece; initially I didn't understand what I had found because I thought it was a silver spoon, and then I turned it over and wiped my thumb across it and I saw the saltire-type of design and knew instantly it was Viking. Then my senses exploded,' McLennan said at the time. In Scotland, treasure seekers are paid for their finds – in this case, National Museums Scotland paid Derek McLennan a reward of almost £2m (about A$4m) for the 5kg of gold, silver, textiles and other objects he found. When he discovered it, the hoard of treasure was topped with a layer of silver bullion with an Anglo-Saxon cross, thought to be a decoy. Under it was another layer – of gravel – under which was a much larger stash of silver bullion, then elaborate, silver arm-rings and a box of gold objects, including a gold bird-pin. Next was a silver-gilt vessel, packed with valuables and wrapped in fabric, and inscribed with a 'fire-altar' associated with Zoroastrianism, the state religion of the last Persian imperial dynasty, in modern-day Iran. The Vikings buried their loot as they fled danger, perhaps hoping to later recover it – or to see it in the afterlife. Content coordinator at the SA Museum, Stephen Zagala, says apart from the looted treasures in the hoard, there are other objects that are perhaps more interesting. 'It's these glass beads and curios and heirlooms which are really more like a time capsule than a treasure hoard,' he says. 'Heirlooms that have been passed down over several generations, and they intended to pass them on further, and it never happened. 'They were just left in the ground for a thousand years.' One of his favourite objects is the rattle-stone, also known as a charm-stone. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email 'The inside has been eroded by water and left some sort of little fossil or other bit of stone inside, so that it rattles when you shake it like a seed pod,' he says. Zagala explains that the rattle-stone was often used in Scandinavia to help 'loosen' a baby during childbirth. 'It speaks to magic and mysticism,' he says. 'It speaks to maternal care and memories and relationships in a community.' Mark Lawrie says Minelab started working with McLennan and his wife, Sharon – who is from Kalgoorlie – after their 2014 find. They are now field testers who help Minelab fine-tune its technology. They are testing, for example, technology to weed coke – which sends similar signals as metals do – from burned wood in Scotland, to be used for energy. While detectorists hunt for archaeological treasure and Viking hoards in Europe, in Australia it's more about looking for gold, old coins or lost objects. Australia's famous gold nuggets are one of the reasons Minelab is in Australia. Another is that an inventor in the 1990s worked out how to get detectors to work on the iron-heavy red dirt of the outback. Now, Lawrie says, they have a big market in Africa. There, people on the poverty line can make a living out of finding gold. Minelab also makes landmine detectors for humanitarian projects in Cambodia, Laos, Afghanistan and Ukraine, 'everywhere where there has been conflict,' he says. Lawrie is a detectorist himself and describes it as 'meditative'. 'If you like hunting, or fishing, anything to do with dreaming of the thing you're going to get, and then preparing all your equipment and then going and doing it and, by and large, not actually finding anything most of the time, but being OK with that … that's very similar,' he says. 'They sometimes call it 'dirt fishing'.' Researchers will be studying the Galloway hoard for years, if not decades to come, particularly the more exotic items: the surviving silk, those curios, a rock crystal jar. And there are two balls of compact earth containing flecks of gold, which might have been gathered from a religious shrine or sacred place. But for now they're calling these things, which McLennan fished out of the earth, 'dirt balls'.
BBC News
23-06-2025
- BBC News
Crystal jar from Viking treasure hoard to go on show in Kirkcudbright
A rock crystal jar from a significant Viking hoard discovered near Dumfries will be displayed for the first time later this Galloway Hoard was unearthed in a field by metal detectorist Derek McLennan in 2014 and is thought to be one of the most important archaeological finds in the UK this about AD 900, it contained a variety of objects and materials, including pendants, brooches, bracelets and relics. The jar, which resembles an ornate perfume bottle decorated in gold embellishments, will go on display at Kirkcudbright Galleries on 8 November. National Museums Scotland, which acquired the collection in 2017, said the jar was wrapped in linen and placed in a silk-lined leather pouch, before being packed into a larger lidded vessel with more than 20 other several months, the object was carefully separated from the textile - a rare medieval survival itself which is believed to include Scotland's earliest example of and other precious textile survivals had to be conserved with care, so the jar has never been available for display jar is thought to relate to the Christian church or its clergy and has a Latin inscription written in gold which translates as "Bishop Hyguald had me made". National Museums Scotland said due to gaps in church records in the 9th century, when the hoard is thought to have been buried, it had not been possible to identify Hyguald or exactly where he was based. Dr Martin Goldberg from National Museums Scotland said: "The rock crystal jar is one of the highlight objects from the Galloway Hoard. "From the beautiful rock crystal itself, originally carved in the form of a classical Corinthian column two thousand years ago, to the incredibly intricate gold decoration added hundreds of years later and including a clear inscription identifying its owner, this one object exemplifies the complex, connected and historic nature of the Galloway Hoard. "The jar was the subject of international attention when we first revealed the inscription, and it's great to be able to put it on display it for the first time in Kirkcudbright." Most of the Galloway Hoard is currently on display as part of an international tour which began earlier this showing at the South Australian Museum in Adelaide is due to close in July, as the collection moves to Melbourne for the next leg of the tour.
Daily Record
21-06-2025
- Daily Record
Viking-age jar found by metal detectorist in Scotland to go on display for first time
The rock crystal jar is part of a wider collection of items discovered in 2014 called the Galloway Hoard. A Viking-age rock crystal jar, once owned by a mystery bishop is set to go on public display for the first time. The artefact, previously owned by a bishop, was part of a hoard found by a metal detectorist is to go on public display for the first time later this year. It was buried near Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway around 900AD, where it stayed hidden until a metal detectorist discovered it in 2014. The jar will go on show at Kirkcudbright Galleries on November 8, close to where it was found. Standing 5cm high, the jar resembles a perfume bottle and is decorated with gold filigree. It is believed to have had an ecclesiastical function within the Catholic Church, as the gold inscription written on the jar says 'Bishop Hyguald had me made'. Because church records from the 9th century are patchy, researchers have struggled to identify Bishop Hyguald but believe he was likely a Northumbrian bishop. Dumfries and Galloway was previously part of the medieval kingdom of Northumbria. A further translation of an Old English runic inscription from the arm ring in the Galloway Hoard has been proposed, describing a portion of the hoard as 'the community's wealth'. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. The jar, found wrapped in linen, was carefully unwrapped over several months to avoid damage, which is why it's only now ready for display. Martin Goldberg from National Museums Scotland said: 'The rock crystal jar is one of the highlight objects from the Galloway Hoard. 'From the beautiful rock crystal itself, originally carved in the form of a classical Corinthian column two thousand years ago, to the incredibly intricate gold decoration added hundreds of years later and including a clear inscription identifying its owner, this one object exemplifies the complex, connected and historic nature of the Galloway Hoard. 'The jar was the subject of international attention when we first revealed the inscription, and it's great to be able to put it on display it for the first time in Kirkcudbright.' Maureen Johnstone, chairwoman of Dumfries and Galloway Council's education, skills and community wellbeing committee, added: 'We are excited to see this important and unique object in Kirkcudbright. 'Dumfries and Galloway Council is very proud of the ongoing partnership with National Museums Scotland which has already produced two superb exhibitions at Kirkcudbright Galleries. 'I have no doubt the rock crystal jar will be a fascinating exhibit, I am looking forward to it.' The Viking Age hoard 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.
