The Staffordshire Hoard has transformed our understanding of the 6th and 7th centuries. Before Terry Herbert’s metal detector went beep, we had found 13 gold pommels in the British Isles of contemporary date. The hoard has 74.

While the burial at Sutton Hoo had an exceptional sword interred with the body, the norm for warrior burials across Europe was much simpler swords, with their furniture made of base metals. Working with these findings, archaeologists had assumed that swords such as the Sutton Hoo sword were truly swords fit for a king, exceptional blades fitted out exceptionally.

However, the hoard demonstrates conclusively that, at least for the period between 570 and 650, swords fitted with the richest of hilts were the weapons of the warrior aristocracy of Anglo-Saxon Britain and not just their ruling kings.