The Staffordshire Hoard, discovered in July 2009, is the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found. Leslie Webster, former Keeper of Prehistory and Europe at the British Museum describes this discovery:
…this is going to alter our perceptions of Anglo-Saxon England in the seventh and early eighth century as radically, if not moreso, as the 1939 Sutton Hoo discoveries did; it will make historians and literary scholars review what their sources tell us, and archaeologists and art-historians rethink the chronology of metalwork and manuscripts; and it will make us all think again about rising (and failing) kingdoms and the expression of regional identities in this period, the complicated transition from paganism to Christianity, the conduct of battle and the nature of fine metalwork production – to name only a few of the many huge issues it raises.
A selection of quality Staffordshire Hoard images is available on Flickr. To download high resolution images for projection, choose a thumbnail and then click on the “all sizes” button above the image.