I went this past Sunday to the Anglo-Saxon Hoard exhibit at National Geographic Museum on 17 & M NW in Washington, DC. This was the nice name they gave the awesome treasure found in 2009 in Staffordshire, England by Terry Herbert using his trusty metal detector. It took him no time on the site before he starting finding pieces. He and the farmer that owned the land the treasure was found on, Fred Johnson, split equally the $1.5 million finder's fee. The 3500 items that have since been valued at $5.3 Million.
It is believed the treasure was buried about 1,300 years ago. No one knows why it was buried -- it could have been buried by thieves. But the treasure consists of mostly military and religous items and consisted primarily of gold, silver and garnet. The pieces at NG's Museum were very tastefully displayed -- not just in glass cases. There were many interactive displays showing how pieces attached to clothing or hardware. There were many adornment pieces used in war -- these included rings and pommel caps on swords. The gold craftsmanship was exquisite and the garnet was applied like accents. The garnet in some pieces looked like the lens from automobile brake lights -- really cool. A large piece of an elaborate helmet was on display as well. The amount of adornment on the war gear points to the belief that it might be a king's or lord's guard. One very large solid gold, bejeweled cross was displayed prominately. Some items they have been unable to identify their purpose.
NG pulled out all the stops. They even had clothes and battle gear from the times. They had a professional singer/reader reading Beowulf in an adjacent viewing room. They also had an interactive display of the way the English language sounded in those times. They also had two metal detectors as a hands-on display. Metal objects were buried under shavings for people to find. Great videos of the archeologist preparing the pieces were scattered all over.
It will take you about the time it takes to watch a movie to go through the display quickly. You could easily spend more than 2 hours there if you studied everything there. But at $8 for adults, $6 for students, and $4 for kids 12 and under, it is a better value than actually going to the movies. My wife enjoyed it and my 14-year-old daughter considered it "interesting." If you have a teenager, you know that this is considered very good. The only bad thing about the exhibit was that no picture taking was allowed. But that's understandable.
The hoard is going to be there through the 4th of March. Also at the museum was a display of ocean photography from Brian Skerry. That exhibit was pretty interesting as well and is free to the public.
I recommend if you are in the Washington, DC area that you go by and see this exhibit. If you can't make it to the visit, perhaps you can purchase the November 2011 copy of the National Geographic magazine. It has much of the exhibit photographed as only NG can do. It's a great article for treasure hunters to read.
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