The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Experts unravelling the mystery behind Viking treasure trove
RESEARCH: Name on ring suggests people may have spoken English
Research into a £2 million Viking-age hoard found in a field has uncovered the name of one of its original owners on a silver arm ring.
An expert examining Anglo-saxon runic inscriptions on arm rings in the hoard found the name “Ecgbeorht”, which would be Egbert in its modern form.
The discovery suggests the treasure, known as the Galloway Hoard, may have been left by people who considered themselves part of the English-speaking world rather than Scandinavians.
Metal detectorist Derek Mclennan uncovered the 10th Century treasure trove, which includes silver bracelets and brooches, a gold ring, an enamelled Christian cross and a bird-shaped gold pin, in a field in Dumfries and Galloway in 2014.
National Museums Scotland raised £1.98 million to acquire the array of more than 100 items for the nation and it is currently being conserved and
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Arm rings of this sort are most commonly associated with Viking discoveries around the Irish Sea coastlands. DR DAVID PARSONS
researched at the National Museums Collection Centre in Edinburgh.
Dr David Parsons of Wales University examined the runes which are found on five of the silver arm rings.
He said: “Arm rings of this sort are most commonly associated with Viking discoveries around the Irish Sea coastlands.
“Yet these runes are not of the familiar Scandinavian variety common around this date on the nearby Isle of Man, but of a distinctively Anglo-saxon type.
“While several of the texts are abbreviated and uncertain, one is splendidly clear: it reads Ecgbeorht, Egbert, a common and thoroughly Anglo-saxon man’s name.
“There is some reason, therefore, to suspect that the Galloway ‘Viking’ Hoard may have been deposited by a people who, to judge by name and choice of script, may have considered themselves part of the English-speaking world.
“It is even possible that these were locals: Galloway had been part of Anglosaxon Northumbria since the early 8th Century, and was referred to as the ‘Saxon coast’ in the Irish chronicles as late as the 10th Century.”
An exhibition of the Galloway Hoard will be at the National Museum of Scotland in May, and will then tour until 2022 visiting The Mcmanus in Dundee and Aberdeen Art Gallery.