The Halton Moor hoard
Viking, buried about AD 1025-30
Halton Moor, Lancashire, England
Viking hoard with coins from the reign of King
Cnut
The decoration on this fine cup, from a hoard found at Halton
Moor in Lancashire, shows four large animals, which include a bull
and a running beast. Between them are sprays of foliage; some of
the tendrils end with the heads of yet more animals. The style of
this decoration is Carolingian and shows that it was made in
western Europe in the late eighth or the ninth century and was an
import to England.
The silver neck-ring is the most characteristically Viking piece
in the hoard and is of a type found throughout the Scandinavian
homelands' of the Vikings. It was made by plaiting silver rods
together to form a rigid ring which was fastened using hooks. Such
rings were worn by men.
As well as these outstanding objects, 860 silver coins and two
gold stamped pendants were found in the hoard. One of these is now
in the Danish National Museum in Copenhagen, the other is shown
here; they were clearly inspired by a coin design. It shows a human
head in profile and, like a coin, was struck from a die.
The burial date of a hoard with coins can often be accurately
established: when minted, a coin usually carries the name of the
current king. All the silver coins found at Halton Moor were minted
under King Cnut, Danish ruler of England from 1016 –
1035. We know that the latest coin was made in the late 1020s and
this gives the earliest possible date for burial of the whole
hoard.
D.M. Wilson, Anglo-Saxon ornamental metalwo (London, The British Museum Press, 1964)