The Staffordshire (Ogley Hay) hoard
Problems of Interpretation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4747925 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Leslie Webster (British Museum), Christopher Sparey-Green, Patrick Périn, Catherine Hills (0000-0003-1165-9620, University of Cambridge) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 85 |
| Issue | 327 |
| Pages | 221-229 |
| Publication date | 2011-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Antiquity (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-598X • E-ISSN: 1745-1744 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0003598x00067557 |
| OpenAlex | W1809732912 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 2 |
The hoard presents us with a startling number of unfamiliar images from the Anglo-Saxon past, not least in the new icon of treasure that it presents. As the descriptions of treasure and gift-giving in Beowulf so vividly remind us, the gaining of treasure, and its corollary, gift-giving, were major preoccupations for Anglo-Saxons and their northern European contemporaries, whether Clovis, showering the crowds in Tours with gold solidi when he was created consul in 508, Oswiu attempting to buy off Penda before the Battle of Winwæd with what Bede (HE III.24; Colgrave & Mynors 1969: 288-91) described as an incalculable and incredible store of royal treasures or the huge Danegelds extorted by Vikings in the tenth and early eleventh century. But until July 2009, the picture presented by the archaeological evidence for Anglo-Saxon treasure could hardly have been more different: the material remains of treasure with which we are familiar come overwhelmingly from high-status burials, or as individual gold finds without context, most of them the result of relatively recent metal-detecting activity. Only one seventh-century Anglo-Saxon gold hoard exists, from Crondall in Hampshire, dated to c. 640; but that is essentially a coin hoard, the only non-numismatic items two small clasps which must have fastened the purse or satchel containing the coins
Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Battle · Context (archaeology) · Hoard · Treasure · Eurasian Exchange Networks · Historical and Archaeological Studies · History · Medieval Literature and History
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,2 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2020 (5) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |