In an exciting international debut, Adelaide is set to welcome the Treasures of the Viking Age: The Galloway Hoard exhibition—marking the first time this remarkable collection has ever left the United Kingdom.
Treasures of the Viking Age will see its first stop of a global tour at the South Australia Museum from February 8th until July 27th. This world exclusive is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to check out some fascinating treasures from around AD 900.
On display is the Galloway Hoard, which includes the most remarkable collection of Viking-age treasures ever unearthed in Britain or Ireland. Like most Viking-age hoards, it contains lots of silver: ingots, hack silver, arm rings and finely crafted jewellery, plus it holds the largest quantity of gold objects ever recovered from this period of British and Irish history.
The hoard contains over a hundred objects, a lot of which were used as currency in the Viking-age. A special finding was the unique, generational heirlooms that were contained in a lidded silver vessel which was slowly and carefully unpacked by conservation scientists over many years.
The Galloway Hoard was discovered by an amateur metal detectorist in 2014. Up until then, it had been buried in a Scottish field for over a thousand years. Organic material rarely survives in archaeological sites of this age but, at the heart of the Hoard, a lidded vessel preserved samples of wool, leather, linen and silk in a stable micro-environment. These are some of the oldest surviving textiles found in Britain. Even more staggering is the vessel itself, which is made of silver mined from Iran, and decorated with tigers, leopards and fire altars related to the culture in the Middle East.
Current research suggests that the Galloway Hoard was buried by a wealthy and well-connected group of people from the upper echelons of society. These people appear to have been acting in the interests of a broader community, probably with ecclesiastical or even royal associations. Elaborate dress items, generational heirlooms, and a charm used in childbirth also imply a strong female involvement in the burial.
In some respects, the real treasure of the Galloway Hoard isn’t the precious metals that it contains, but the snapshot that it provides of Viking-age life in Scotland around 900 CE. This makes it one of the most illuminating British archaeological discoveries of the 21st century. Since its discovery and subsequent acquisition, world-leading research led by National Museums Scotland has been unpacking the wonder of this Galloway time capsule. Along with the objects themselves, the exhibition showcases the fascinating discoveries made as the Hoard was conserved, which are transforming how we see the Viking-age in Britain.
Treasures of the Viking Age: The Galloway Hoard, will be unveiled at the South Australian Museum on February 8th 2025. Following highly acclaimed presentations in Scotland, the Adelaide exhibition will be the first opportunity to view this unique collection of treasures outside Britain.
Treasures of the Viking Age: The Galloway Hoard
Where: South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000
When: February 8th to July 27th
For more information, click here.
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