About the Staffordshire Hoard

Strictly speaking, the Staffordshire Hoard predated the period with which we are here most concerned. However, the Hoard was an exciting and educational discovery and cast a lot of light upon an era generally perceived in a certain, limited way, and it must be perceived as being of great value to our representation.

The Hoard, for those who have avoided all news about it, is a valuable and illuminating collection of mostly martial objects that was discovered in 2009 by Terry Herbert on the land of Fred Johnson (and they both did the right thing, so that makes the story even better).  It was the largest discovery of its kind so far, and its immensity overshadowed even that of the Sutton Hoo discovery of 1939. To see the artifacts, take a look at http://www.flickr.com/photos/finds/sets/72157622378376316/with/3944490322/, or go to the official web site at http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/

Today, in his blog, old friend Steve Muhlberger quoted some of a lecture that Guy Halsall made on the Hoard, and it revived my bubbling enthusiasm. It deals quite a bit with warfare and the acquisition of trophies when victorious, so it is not something you’ll see much of here, but by gum, it is the Staffordshire Hoard! I had seen this some time ago, but Steve’s note brought it to the forefront of my brain, and I realized that I had noted or recommended it here. So for a very interesting article on the Hoard, set your sights for http://600transformer.blogspot.com/2010/05/when-i-was-writing-this-paper-i-was.html

Steve’s always intriguing blog is at http://smuhlberger.blogspot.com/