New research sheds light on largest-ever Anglo-Saxon treasure hoard

A decade after the largest haul of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver was discovered in an English field, archaeologists are shedding new light on the origins of the treasure.

The collection, which was uncovered in 2009 by an amateur metal detectorist in a field in Staffordshire, England, is made up of more than 600 significant objects found in 4,600 fragments -- totaling nearly 4 kilos (8.8 pounds) of gold and 1.7 kilos (3.7 pounds) of silver, according to experts working with the UK agency Historic England and local public and nonprofit entities.

Comprised of mainly war artifacts -- detailed fittings stripped from swords, a gilded silver helmet and an array of battle gear -- the trove was assembled between the mid-sixth and mid-seventh centuries AD and buried between 650 and 675 AD, a team of archeologists and historians found.

Following years of research by conservationists, historians and archeologists, the impressive find is now thought to include artifacts captured from kingdoms in East Anglia and Northumbria -- something researchers say "offers vivid confirmation of the widespread and brutal events" between warring English kingdoms, which have been described in near-contemporary sources from the period.