The Staffordshire Hoard is the largest find of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork in Britain. It was discovered in a field near the village of Hammerwich, Lichfield, in Staffordshire on 5 July 2009. It consists of over 3,500 items.
The objects are nearly all martial (military) in character, and there are no objects which are specifically female. The artefacts are dated as 7th or 8th centuries, at the time of the Kingdom of Mercia.
The hoard has been described by Leslie Webster, former keeper of the department of prehistory at the British Museum, as "absolutely the metalwork equivalent of finding a new Lindisfarne Gospels or Book of Kells", and "this is going to alter our perceptions of Anglo-Saxon England as radically, if not more so, as the Sutton Hoo discoveries".
Dr Roger Bland, Head of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, said: "It is a fantastically important discovery. It is assumed that the items were buried by their owners at a time of danger with the intention of later coming back and recovering them".
The average quality of the workmanship is extremely high. The hoard was valued at £3.285 million, and has now been purchased by the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery.