Today, 1 November, more than 70 objects from the Burray Hoard will go on display in the Orkney Museum, Kirkwall. The artefacts are on loan from National Museums Scotland.
Items including complete arm rings and hacksilver fragments will be displayed in the Museum’s recently renovated Groundwater Galleries, which were made possible thanks to a legacy donation from a former Orkney resident.
Dr Siobhan Cooke-Miller, Archaeology Curator at Orkney Museum said:
“We are delighted that part of the Burray Hoard will be displayed in Orkney for the first time in over 35 years.
“We are very grateful to our benefactor whose generous bequest funded the redevelopment. His express wish was that his legacy donation be used to support Viking heritage and history in Orkney Museums – evidence of the importance of our Viking and Norse past for the people from and living in Orkney today.
“This exciting loan is a fitting tribute to him.”
Orkney’s second-largest Viking-age hoard, the Burray Hoard contains nearly 2 kilograms of silver, mostly in the form of arm-rings, whole and hacked, often referred to as ring-money. The hoard was discovered in 1889 by a local man, Mr George Petrie of Little Wart, during peat cutting. Dating to around 1000 AD (coins suggest it was buried between 997-1010), it contains over 140 items of silver.
Items from the Hoard form part of a loan of nearly 100 objects from National Museums Scotland to Orkney Museum. These include a pair of bronze ‘tortoise’ brooches from a grave of a woman buried at the Broch of Gurness and a gold ring from the Stenness Hoard – Orkney’s only gold hoard.
The loans are part of a National Strategy supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, which sees objects from the National Collection displayed in museums across Scotland.
Dr Martin Goldberg, Principal Curator of Medieval Archaeology and History at National Museums Scotland said:
“We’re delighted to be loaning part of the Burray Hoard to Orkney Museum, giving visitors the chance to see these remarkable objects near the place where they were discovered.
“Silver hoards like this one bring us face to face with moments in the past where people’s lives and wealth were in jeopardy.
“We’re grateful for the support of players of People’s Postcode Lottery, which allows us to share the National Collection with audiences across the country.”
This loan is part of National Museums Scotland’s National Strategy, which sees collections and expertise shared through loans, participation in national projects, community engagement, funding for acquisitions and free knowledge and skills development opportunities for museums across Scotland.
Over 2500 objects are currently on loan to Scottish organisations, bringing the National Collection to audiences across the country.
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