The Talnotrie Hoard is a 9th-century mixed

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

of jewellery, coinage, metal-working objects and raw materials found in Talnotrie, Scotland, in 1912. Initially assumed to have belonged to a Northumbrian metal-worker, more recent interpretations associate its deposition with the activities of the Viking Great Army.

Discovery

The hoard was discovered at Talnotrie in

Kirkcudbrightshire Kirkcudbrightshire ( ), or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an administrative coun ...

, when a woman called Mrs Gordon was putting peat on the fire in her home and noticed some silver drop out from the peat.Maxwell, Herbert
"Notes on a Hoard of Personal Ornaments, Implements, and Anglo-Saxon and Northumbrian Coins from Talnotrie, Kirkcudbrightshire."
''Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland''. Vol. 47. 1913. Her husband had cut the peat from the hillside near their home and later reported that the objects were in peat layers close to the "glacial clay below the peat". The hoard was published by Sir Herbert Maxwell in 1913.

The hoard consists of a mixed assemblage of coins, jewellery, metal-working objects and raw materials. Jewellery items in the hoard include two silver disc-headed pins, a separate pin-head, a

niello Niello is a black mixture, usually of sulphur, copper, silver, and lead, used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal, especially silver. It is added as a powder or paste, then fired until it melts or at least softens, and flows or is pushed ...

strap-end and a gold finger-ring. Objects associated with metal-working include a lead weight inset with a piece of circular copper-alloy interlace, two oval silver wire loops, and a fragment of or unfinished cross. Raw materials include a piece of

jet Jet, Jets, or The Jet(s) may refer to: Aerospace * Jet aircraft, an aircraft propelled by jet engines ** Jet airliner ** Jet engine ** Jet fuel * Jet Airways, an Indian airline * Wind Jet (ICAO: JET), an Italian airline * Journey to Enceladus a ...

, a piece of unfinished

agate Agate () is a common rock formation, consisting of chalcedony and quartz as its primary components, with a wide variety of colors. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks. The ornamental use of agate was common in ...

, a piece of green glass and a substance similar to

beeswax Beeswax (''cera alba'') is a natural wax produced by honey bees of the genus ''Apis''. The wax is formed into scales by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of worker bees, which discard it in or at the hive. The hive workers ...

. There are also three clay

spindle whorl A spindle whorl is a disc or spherical object fitted onto the spindle to increase and maintain the speed of the spin. Historically, whorls have been made of materials like amber, antler, bone, ceramic, coral, glass, stone, metal (iron, lead, lead ...

s. Coins associated with the hoard include six

styca The styca (; . ''stycas'') was a small coin minted in pre-Viking Northumbria, originally in base silver and subsequently in a copper alloy. Production began in the 790s and continued until the 850s, though the coin remained in circulation until the ...

s, four pennies of

Burgred of Mercia Burgred (also Burhred or Burghred) was an Anglo-Saxon king of Mercia from 852 to 874. Family Burgred became king of Mercia in 852, and may have been related to his predecessor Beorhtwulf. After Easter in 853, Burgred married Æthelswith, daught ...

, one fragment of a Carolingian denier and two fragments of Islamic

dirham The dirham, dirhem or dirhm ( ar, درهم) is a silver unit of currency historically and currently used by several Arab and Arab influenced states. The term has also been used as a related unit of mass. Unit of mass The dirham was a un ...

Acquisition and display

The hoard is in the collection of

National Museums Scotland National Museums Scotland (NMS; gd, Taighean-tasgaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. It runs the national museums of Scotland. NMS is one of the country's National Collections, ...

. In 2021 it was displayed as part of an exhibition on the Galloway Hoard.

Interpretation

Whilst the identity of the hoard's depositor/s is unknown,

James Graham-Campbell James Graham-Campbell (born 1947)"James Graham-Campbell"
Viking Great Army since objects in the assemblage have similarities to the assemblages of sites like the Viking winter camp at

Torksey __NOTOC__ Torksey is a small village in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 875. It is situated on the A156 road, south of Gainsborough and north-west of the city o ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershir ...

. It has even been suggested that the hoard could be connected to Viking leaders, such as

Halfdan Ragnarsson Halfdan Ragnarsson ( non, Hálfdan; oe, Halfdene or ''Healfdene''; sga, Albann; died 877) was a Viking leader and a commander of the Great Heathen Army The Great Heathen Army,; da, Store Hedenske Hær also known as the Viking Great A ...

Ivar the Boneless Ivar the Boneless ( non, Ívarr hinn Beinlausi ; died c. 873), also known as Ivar Ragnarsson, was a Viking leader who invaded England and Ireland. According to the '' Tale of Ragnar Lodbrok'', he was the son of Ragnar Loðbrok and his wife As ...

. Halfdan made incursions into Strathclyde and Pictish areas c.874/5. Ivar, and his kinsman Olaf, captured Dumbarton Rock and campaigned in Strathclyde c.870/1. It has also been cited as "the earliest coin-dated hoard evidence for bullion-use in Scotland". The hoard's date of concealment has been estimated based on the coins in the assemblage. The proposed dates vary from c.875 to c.900. The decorative motifs on the pins have been interpreted as part of a "distinctly Northumbrian development of the

Trewhiddle style Trewhiddle style is a distinctive style in Anglo-Saxon art that takes its name from the Trewhiddle Hoard, discovered in Trewhiddle, Cornwall in 1770. Trewhiddle ornamentation includes the use of silver, niello inlay, and zoomorphic, plant and geo ...

".Blackwell, Alice
''A reassessment of the Anglo-Saxon artefacts from Scotland: material interactions and identities in early medieval northern Britain''.
Diss. University of Glasgow, 2018.

Gallery

File:Strap end, Talnotrie Hoard.png, Illustration of niello strap-end from the hoard (1913) File:Pin head, Talnotrie hoard.png, Illustration of pin heads (1913) File:Lead weight, Talnotrie hoard.png, Illustration of inlaid lead weight (1913) File:Silver pin, Talnotrie hoard.png, Illustration of one of the pair of pins (1913)

References

External links

*{{Commons category-inline, Talnotrie hoard Hoards of jewellery Dumfries and Galloway National Museums of Scotland Anglo-Saxon archaeology Archaeology of Scotland Northumbria 9th-century artifacts 1912 archaeological discoveries