Recycling in the Saxon period: results from the metals analysis of the Staffordshire Hoard
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Published
Sep 15, 2021
Abstract
The Staffordshire Hoard is the largest single find of Anglo-Saxon material found in England to date. It represents the warrior elite, is dated to the Early Saxon period and consists of gold and silver items, mostly weapon fittings, with a few copper alloy cores. The metals in the Hoard were examined as part of a much larger research project. The composition of the gold was examined using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX); X-ray fluorescence (XRF) was used to examine the silver and copper alloys. The results suggest the gold and silver alloys are either mixed or recycled. The copper alloys appear to be tin bronzes, which seems to contradict other copper alloy studies of this period. The compositions of the three alloys are however fairly consistent, suggesting that even if recycled the alloy composition was potentially being controlled by the metal smith.
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References
Asinelli M G and Martinón-Torres M 2015, ‘Copper-alloy use in a Tyrrhenian medieval town: The case of Leopoli-Cencelle (Italy)’, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 7, 597-608.
Baker J M 2013, The colour and composition of early Anglo-Saxon copper alloy jewellery. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Durham.
Bayley J 1991, ‘Alloy nomenclature’, in G Egan and F Pritchard (eds), Dress accessories c.1150-c.1450. Medieval finds from excavations in London: 3. London, 13-17.
Bayley J and Butcher S 2004, Roman brooches in Britain: a technological and typological study based on the Richborough Collection (London).
Blades N W 1995, Copper alloys from English archaeological sites 400-1600AD: An analytical study using ICP-AES. Unpublished PhD thesis, Royal Holloway University of London.
Blakelock E S 2013, Pilot study of surface enrichment in a selection of gold objects from the Staffordshire Hoard. Science Report PR07444-10, Department of Conservation and Scientific Research, British Museum. Available at http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-2457-1/dissemination/pdf/SHResearchReports/SHRR6_Blakelock.pdf
Blakelock E S 2014, Phase 2 of the analysis of selected gold items from the Staffordshire Hoard and of contemporary Anglo-Saxon objects from the British Museum and Stoke-on-Trent Potteries Museum and Art Gallery: a study of gold compositions and surface enrichment. Science Report PR07444-15, Department of Conservation and Scientific Research, British Museum. Available at http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-2457-1/dissemination/pdf/SHResearchReports/SHRR9_Blakelock.pdf
Blakelock E S 2015a, Pilot XRF study of the silver hilt plates from the Staffordshire Hoard. Report for Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Available at http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-2457-1/dissemination/pdf/SHResearchReports/SHRR18_Blakelock.pdf
Blakelock E S 2015b, XRF study of silver objects from the Staffordshire Hoard. Report for Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Available at http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-2457-1/dissemination/pdf/SHResearchReports/SHRR19_Blakelock_Appendix.pdf
Blakelock E S 2016, ‘Never judge a gold object by its surface analysis: A study of surface phenomena in a selection of gold objects from the Staffordshire Hoard’, Archaeometry 58(6), 912-929.
Blakelock E S, Fern C and La Niece S 2016, ‘Secrets of the Anglo-Saxon goldsmiths: Analysis of gold objects from the Staffordshire Hoard’, Journal of Archaeological Science 72, 44-56.
Brown P D C and Schweizer F 1973, ‘X-ray fluorescent analysis of Anglo-Saxon jewellery’, Archaeometry 15(2), 175-192.
Brownsword R, Ciufifini T and Carey R 1984, ‘Metallurgical analysis of Anglo-Saxon jewellery from the Avon Valley’, West Midlands Archaeology 27, 101-112.
Bruce-Mitford R 1983, The Sutton Hoo ship-burial: Volume 3 (London).
Campanella L, Alessandri O C, Ferretti M and Plattner S H 2009, ‘The effect of tin on dezincification of archaeological copper alloys’, Corrosion Science 51, 2183-2191.
Caple C 1986, An analytical appraisal of copper alloy pin production, 400-1600 AD: The development of the copper alloy pin industry in Britain during the post-Roman period, based on analytical, metallographic and typological examination. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Bradford.
Charalambous A, Kassianidou V and Papasavvas G 2014, ‘A compositional study of Cypriot bronzes dating to the Early Iron Age using portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (pXRF)’, Journal of Archaeological Science 46, 205-216.
Coleman R F and Wilson A 1972, ‘Activation analysis of Merovingian gold coins’, in E T Hall and D M Metcalf (eds), Methods of chemical and metallurgical investigation of ancient coinage (London), 88-92.
Cool H E M, 2015, Contextualising Metal-detected Discoveries: Staffordshire Anglo-Saxon Hoard. Unpublished Stage 2 Project Design.
Dungworth D 1997, ‘Roman copper alloys: analysis of artefacts from Northern Britain’, Journal of Archaeological Science 24, 901-910.
Fern C forthcoming, ‘Treasure at the Frontier: artefacts from the Staffordshire Hoard in context’, in S Semple and C Orsini (eds), Life on the edge. Social, political and religious frontiers in early medieval Europe. Proceedings of the 63rd Sachsensymposion, Durham. Neue Studien zur Sachsenforschung (Hannover).
Fleming R 2012, ‘Recycling in Britain after the fall of Rome’s metal economy’, Past and Present 217(1), 3-45.
Gowland W 1921, The metallurgy of the non-ferrous metals (London).
Greiff S 2012, ‘Silver grave goods from early Hungarian contexts: Technological implications of debased alloy compositions with zinc, tin and lead’, in E Garvey et al (eds), Die Archäologie der Frühen Ungarn: Chronologie, Technologie und Methodik (Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 2012) (Mörlenbach), 241–260.
Hawkes S C, Merrick J M and Metcalf D M 1966, ‘X-ray fluorescent analysis of some dark age coins and jewellery’, Archaeometry 9(1), 98-138.
Hughes M J, Cowell M R, Oddy W A and Werner A E A 1978, ‘Report on the analysis of the gold of the Sutton Hoo jewellery and some comparative material’, in R Bruce-Mitford (ed), The
Sutton Hoo ship-burial: Volume 2 Arms, armour and regalia (London), 618-625.
Jørgensen L and Vang Petersen P 1998, Gold power and belief - Danish gold treasures from prehistory and the middle ages (Copenhagen).
Kent C 1975, ‘The Coins and the Date of Burial’, in R Bruce-Mitford (ed), The Sutton Hoo ship-burial: Volume 1 (London), 600.
Martin T 2012, ‘Riveting Biographies: The theoretical implications of early Anglo-Saxon brooch repair, customisation and use-adaptation’, in B Jervis and A Kyle (eds), Make do and mend: Archaeologies of compromise, repair and reuse (Oxford), 53-65.
Martinón-Torres M, Xiuzhen J L, Bevan A, Xia Y, Zhao K and Rehren T 2014, ‘Forty thousand arms for a single emperor: From chemical data to the labor organization behind the bronze arrows of the Terracotta Army’, Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 21, 534-562.
McClure J and Collins R 1994, Bede’s The ecclesiastical history of the English people (Oxford).
Meeks N D and Tite M S 1980, ‘The analysis of platinum group element inclusions in gold antiquities’, Journal of Archaeological Science 7, 267-275.
Mortimer C 1986, ‘Early use of brass in silver alloys’, Oxford Journal of Archaeology 5(2), 233-242.
Mortimer C 1988, ‘Anglo-Saxon copper alloys from Lechlade, Gloucestershire’, Oxford Journal of Archaeology 7, 227-233.
Mortimer C 1990, Some aspects of early medieval copper-alloy technology, as illustrated by a study of the Anglian cruciform brooch. Unpublished DPhil thesis, University of Oxford.
Mortimer C, Pollard A M and Scull C 1986, ‘XRF analysis of some Anglo-Saxon copper-alloy finds from Watchfield, Oxfordshire’, Historical Metallurgy 20(1), 36-42.
Nicholas M 2015, Metallurgy in the gloaming, Non-ferrous metalwork from three Early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries at RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk. Unpublished PhD thesis, Cardif University.
Nicholas M and Manti P Y 2014, ‘Testing the applicability of handheld portable XRF to the characterisation of archaeological copper alloys’, in J Brigland (ed), ICOM-CC 17th Triennial Conference Preprints, Melbourne, 15-19 September 2014 (Paris), 1-13.
Nicolay J 2014, The splendour of power: Early medieval kingship and the use of gold and silver in the southern North Sea area (5th to 7th century AD) (Groningen).
Northover P and Anheuser K 2000, ‘Gilding in Britain: Celtic, Roman and Saxon’, in T Drayman-Weisser (ed), Gilded metals: History, technology and conservation (London), 109-122.
Oddy A, Bimson M and La Niece S 1983, ‘The composition of niello decoration on gold, silver and bronze in the antique and mediaeval
periods’, Studies in Conservation 28, 29-35.
Oddy W A and La Niece S 1986, ‘Byzantine gold coins and jewellery: a study of gold contents’, Gold Bulletin 19(1), 19-27.
Ogden J 1977, ‘Platinum group metal inclusions in ancient gold artifacts’, Historical Metallurgy 11(2), 53-72.
Ogden J 1982, Jewellery of the Ancient World (London).
Orfanou V and Rehren T 2015, ‘A (not so) dangerous method: pXRF vs. EPMA-WDS analyses of copper-based artefacts’, Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 7, 387-397.
Parfitt K and Brugmann B 1997, The Anglo-Saxon cemetery on Mill Hill, Deal, Kent (London).
Pollard A M, Bray P, Gosden C, Wilson A and Hamerow H 2015, ‘Characterising copper-based metals in Britain in the first millennium AD: a preliminary quantification of metal flow and recycling’, Antiquity 89, 697-713.
Ponting M 2002, ‘Keeping up with the Romans? Romanisation and copper alloys in First Revolt Palestine’, Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies 22, 3-6.
Raub C J 1995, ‘Metallurgy of gold and silver in prehistoric times’, in G Morteani and J P Northover (eds), Prehistoric gold in Europe: Mines, metallurgy and manufacture (Dordrecht), 243-259.
Smith C S and Gnudi M T 1990, The Pirotechnia of Vannoccio Biringuccio: the classic sixteenth-century treatise on metals and metallurgy (New York).
Whitfield N 1998, ‘The manufacture of ancient beaded wire: experiments and observations’, Jewellery Studies 8, 57-86.
Williams G and Hook D R 2013, ‘Analysis of gold content and its implications for the chronology of the early Anglo-Saxon coinage’, in A Gannon (ed), Early Anglo-Saxon gold and Anglo-Saxon and continental silver coinage of the North Sea area, c600-700 (London), 55-70.
Baker J M 2013, The colour and composition of early Anglo-Saxon copper alloy jewellery. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Durham.
Bayley J 1991, ‘Alloy nomenclature’, in G Egan and F Pritchard (eds), Dress accessories c.1150-c.1450. Medieval finds from excavations in London: 3. London, 13-17.
Bayley J and Butcher S 2004, Roman brooches in Britain: a technological and typological study based on the Richborough Collection (London).
Blades N W 1995, Copper alloys from English archaeological sites 400-1600AD: An analytical study using ICP-AES. Unpublished PhD thesis, Royal Holloway University of London.
Blakelock E S 2013, Pilot study of surface enrichment in a selection of gold objects from the Staffordshire Hoard. Science Report PR07444-10, Department of Conservation and Scientific Research, British Museum. Available at http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-2457-1/dissemination/pdf/SHResearchReports/SHRR6_Blakelock.pdf
Blakelock E S 2014, Phase 2 of the analysis of selected gold items from the Staffordshire Hoard and of contemporary Anglo-Saxon objects from the British Museum and Stoke-on-Trent Potteries Museum and Art Gallery: a study of gold compositions and surface enrichment. Science Report PR07444-15, Department of Conservation and Scientific Research, British Museum. Available at http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-2457-1/dissemination/pdf/SHResearchReports/SHRR9_Blakelock.pdf
Blakelock E S 2015a, Pilot XRF study of the silver hilt plates from the Staffordshire Hoard. Report for Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Available at http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-2457-1/dissemination/pdf/SHResearchReports/SHRR18_Blakelock.pdf
Blakelock E S 2015b, XRF study of silver objects from the Staffordshire Hoard. Report for Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Available at http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-2457-1/dissemination/pdf/SHResearchReports/SHRR19_Blakelock_Appendix.pdf
Blakelock E S 2016, ‘Never judge a gold object by its surface analysis: A study of surface phenomena in a selection of gold objects from the Staffordshire Hoard’, Archaeometry 58(6), 912-929.
Blakelock E S, Fern C and La Niece S 2016, ‘Secrets of the Anglo-Saxon goldsmiths: Analysis of gold objects from the Staffordshire Hoard’, Journal of Archaeological Science 72, 44-56.
Brown P D C and Schweizer F 1973, ‘X-ray fluorescent analysis of Anglo-Saxon jewellery’, Archaeometry 15(2), 175-192.
Brownsword R, Ciufifini T and Carey R 1984, ‘Metallurgical analysis of Anglo-Saxon jewellery from the Avon Valley’, West Midlands Archaeology 27, 101-112.
Bruce-Mitford R 1983, The Sutton Hoo ship-burial: Volume 3 (London).
Campanella L, Alessandri O C, Ferretti M and Plattner S H 2009, ‘The effect of tin on dezincification of archaeological copper alloys’, Corrosion Science 51, 2183-2191.
Caple C 1986, An analytical appraisal of copper alloy pin production, 400-1600 AD: The development of the copper alloy pin industry in Britain during the post-Roman period, based on analytical, metallographic and typological examination. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Bradford.
Charalambous A, Kassianidou V and Papasavvas G 2014, ‘A compositional study of Cypriot bronzes dating to the Early Iron Age using portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (pXRF)’, Journal of Archaeological Science 46, 205-216.
Coleman R F and Wilson A 1972, ‘Activation analysis of Merovingian gold coins’, in E T Hall and D M Metcalf (eds), Methods of chemical and metallurgical investigation of ancient coinage (London), 88-92.
Cool H E M, 2015, Contextualising Metal-detected Discoveries: Staffordshire Anglo-Saxon Hoard. Unpublished Stage 2 Project Design.
Dungworth D 1997, ‘Roman copper alloys: analysis of artefacts from Northern Britain’, Journal of Archaeological Science 24, 901-910.
Fern C forthcoming, ‘Treasure at the Frontier: artefacts from the Staffordshire Hoard in context’, in S Semple and C Orsini (eds), Life on the edge. Social, political and religious frontiers in early medieval Europe. Proceedings of the 63rd Sachsensymposion, Durham. Neue Studien zur Sachsenforschung (Hannover).
Fleming R 2012, ‘Recycling in Britain after the fall of Rome’s metal economy’, Past and Present 217(1), 3-45.
Gowland W 1921, The metallurgy of the non-ferrous metals (London).
Greiff S 2012, ‘Silver grave goods from early Hungarian contexts: Technological implications of debased alloy compositions with zinc, tin and lead’, in E Garvey et al (eds), Die Archäologie der Frühen Ungarn: Chronologie, Technologie und Methodik (Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 2012) (Mörlenbach), 241–260.
Hawkes S C, Merrick J M and Metcalf D M 1966, ‘X-ray fluorescent analysis of some dark age coins and jewellery’, Archaeometry 9(1), 98-138.
Hughes M J, Cowell M R, Oddy W A and Werner A E A 1978, ‘Report on the analysis of the gold of the Sutton Hoo jewellery and some comparative material’, in R Bruce-Mitford (ed), The
Sutton Hoo ship-burial: Volume 2 Arms, armour and regalia (London), 618-625.
Jørgensen L and Vang Petersen P 1998, Gold power and belief - Danish gold treasures from prehistory and the middle ages (Copenhagen).
Kent C 1975, ‘The Coins and the Date of Burial’, in R Bruce-Mitford (ed), The Sutton Hoo ship-burial: Volume 1 (London), 600.
Martin T 2012, ‘Riveting Biographies: The theoretical implications of early Anglo-Saxon brooch repair, customisation and use-adaptation’, in B Jervis and A Kyle (eds), Make do and mend: Archaeologies of compromise, repair and reuse (Oxford), 53-65.
Martinón-Torres M, Xiuzhen J L, Bevan A, Xia Y, Zhao K and Rehren T 2014, ‘Forty thousand arms for a single emperor: From chemical data to the labor organization behind the bronze arrows of the Terracotta Army’, Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 21, 534-562.
McClure J and Collins R 1994, Bede’s The ecclesiastical history of the English people (Oxford).
Meeks N D and Tite M S 1980, ‘The analysis of platinum group element inclusions in gold antiquities’, Journal of Archaeological Science 7, 267-275.
Mortimer C 1986, ‘Early use of brass in silver alloys’, Oxford Journal of Archaeology 5(2), 233-242.
Mortimer C 1988, ‘Anglo-Saxon copper alloys from Lechlade, Gloucestershire’, Oxford Journal of Archaeology 7, 227-233.
Mortimer C 1990, Some aspects of early medieval copper-alloy technology, as illustrated by a study of the Anglian cruciform brooch. Unpublished DPhil thesis, University of Oxford.
Mortimer C, Pollard A M and Scull C 1986, ‘XRF analysis of some Anglo-Saxon copper-alloy finds from Watchfield, Oxfordshire’, Historical Metallurgy 20(1), 36-42.
Nicholas M 2015, Metallurgy in the gloaming, Non-ferrous metalwork from three Early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries at RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk. Unpublished PhD thesis, Cardif University.
Nicholas M and Manti P Y 2014, ‘Testing the applicability of handheld portable XRF to the characterisation of archaeological copper alloys’, in J Brigland (ed), ICOM-CC 17th Triennial Conference Preprints, Melbourne, 15-19 September 2014 (Paris), 1-13.
Nicolay J 2014, The splendour of power: Early medieval kingship and the use of gold and silver in the southern North Sea area (5th to 7th century AD) (Groningen).
Northover P and Anheuser K 2000, ‘Gilding in Britain: Celtic, Roman and Saxon’, in T Drayman-Weisser (ed), Gilded metals: History, technology and conservation (London), 109-122.
Oddy A, Bimson M and La Niece S 1983, ‘The composition of niello decoration on gold, silver and bronze in the antique and mediaeval
periods’, Studies in Conservation 28, 29-35.
Oddy W A and La Niece S 1986, ‘Byzantine gold coins and jewellery: a study of gold contents’, Gold Bulletin 19(1), 19-27.
Ogden J 1977, ‘Platinum group metal inclusions in ancient gold artifacts’, Historical Metallurgy 11(2), 53-72.
Ogden J 1982, Jewellery of the Ancient World (London).
Orfanou V and Rehren T 2015, ‘A (not so) dangerous method: pXRF vs. EPMA-WDS analyses of copper-based artefacts’, Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 7, 387-397.
Parfitt K and Brugmann B 1997, The Anglo-Saxon cemetery on Mill Hill, Deal, Kent (London).
Pollard A M, Bray P, Gosden C, Wilson A and Hamerow H 2015, ‘Characterising copper-based metals in Britain in the first millennium AD: a preliminary quantification of metal flow and recycling’, Antiquity 89, 697-713.
Ponting M 2002, ‘Keeping up with the Romans? Romanisation and copper alloys in First Revolt Palestine’, Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies 22, 3-6.
Raub C J 1995, ‘Metallurgy of gold and silver in prehistoric times’, in G Morteani and J P Northover (eds), Prehistoric gold in Europe: Mines, metallurgy and manufacture (Dordrecht), 243-259.
Smith C S and Gnudi M T 1990, The Pirotechnia of Vannoccio Biringuccio: the classic sixteenth-century treatise on metals and metallurgy (New York).
Whitfield N 1998, ‘The manufacture of ancient beaded wire: experiments and observations’, Jewellery Studies 8, 57-86.
Williams G and Hook D R 2013, ‘Analysis of gold content and its implications for the chronology of the early Anglo-Saxon coinage’, in A Gannon (ed), Early Anglo-Saxon gold and Anglo-Saxon and continental silver coinage of the North Sea area, c600-700 (London), 55-70.
How to Cite
Recycling in the Saxon period: results from the metals analysis of the Staffordshire Hoard. (2021). Historical Metallurgy, 51(1), 1-12. https://www.hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/45
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