IoA/BM Wilson Lecture James Graham-Campbell

Wednesday 18 October: the ninth Sir David Wilson Lecture in Medieval Studies by Professor James Graham-Campbell (UCL): The Galloway (2014) Hoard: Vikings (and Anglo-Saxons) in South-West Scotland

The Galloway (2014) Viking hoard consists of over 100 objects of gold and silver, part contained in a lidded Carolingian vessel (with textile wrappings). It was buried in the late 9th/early 10th century, as two separate deposits in a single pit, apparently inside a timber building within a large (?ecclesiastical) enclosure.

The lower deposit consists of three parcels: (1) the Carolingian cup (and contents); (2) a bundle of five silver arm-rings, with a putative wooden box containing an Anglo-Saxon gold bird pin, finger-ring and ingot; and (3) a bag of silver ingots and Hiberno-Scandinavian arm-rings, some with short runic inscriptions using the Anglo-Saxon futhorc. The upper deposit consists of ingots and arm-rings, together with an Anglo-Saxon pendant cross, decorated with the evangelists' symbols.

The contents of the cup include a gold-mounted flask and pendant, a gold ingot and arm-ring, nine Anglo-Saxon silver brooches and mounts, with some beads and pendants, including a crystal ball and a re-used coin of Coenwulf (796-821), resting on an Irish bossed penannular brooch.

A joint meeting with the Institute of Historical Research Earlier Middle Ages seminar at 6:15pm in the Lecture Theatre G6 at the IoA followed by a launch party for the seminar series in the Staff Common Room