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Airdate: Unseen Time Team Specials: Secrets of the Saxon Gold

In July 2009, a metal detectorist found an Anglo-Saxon treasure hoard worth over £3 million in a Staffordshire field.

2014-08-29_1718The History Channel will screen an Australian premiere of an “unseen Time Team specials, “Secrets of the Saxon Gold.”

This was produced in 2012.

In July 2009, amateur metal detectorist Terry Herbert found an Anglo-Saxon treasure hoard worth over £3 million in a Staffordshire field. Now, with the initial phase of the post-excavation process nearing completion, archaeologists are beginning to unlock the secrets of the hoard. After further digging and carefully unpicking the jumble of finds, experts from Birmingham and Stoke-on-Trent Museums have realised there were over 3500 objects buried in this small area with the gold alone weighing 11 pounds. The gold itself was analysed by scientists at the British Museum, where a technique known as ‘X-ray fluorescence’ revealed it to be equivalent to 18 carats. The information the museum experts have extracted is changing our understanding of the so-called ‘Dark Ages’. The evidence points to the existence of a large and wealthy elite warrior class, and reveals the remarkable skills of the Anglo-Saxon craftsmen who made these intricate treasures 13 centuries ago.

Tuesday September 9 at 7.30pm on History.

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