Treasure find rewrites Anglo-saxon history

THE discovery of an “exquisite” gold pendant by a student metal detectorist is being credited with rewriting our understanding of Anglo-saxon history.

Thomas Lucking, 23, is in line for a £145,000 payout after unearthing an aristocratic burial site in Norfolk. The find of a female skeleton wearing a pendant of gold imported from Sri Lanka and coins bearing the marks of a continental king is prompting a fundamental reassessment of the seats of power in Anglo-saxon England.

A gold cross among the treasure counts as one of the earliest “potent” symbols of Christianity ever found. The Norwich Castle Museum is now raising the £145,000 needed to buy the trove, nicknamed the “Winfarthing Woman”, whose craftsmanship is the “equal” of the Staffordshire Hoard, according to Dr Tim Pestell, senior curator. “It’s an exceptionally rich find and completely rewrites our understanding of Anglo Saxon history in East Anglia,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “It shows that the person buried in this grave was of the very highest status.”