Barbican Research Associates
providing an integrated post-excavation service for the archaeological community
The Staffordshire Hoard attracted world-wide attention when it was found by a metal detectorist in the summer of 2009. It consisted of approximately 6kg of gold and silver fittings mainly from swords which could be dated to the seventh century. Nothing quite like it had ever been found in Anglo-Saxon England before. A national appeal raised the purchase price and it is currently jointly owned by Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Birmingham City Council. It has its own website where details of where it is currently exhibited can be found. It also has a Facebook page for news items.
We project managed the research project from 2011 to 2018 on behalf of the owners and with funding from them and English Heritage (latterly Historic England). The results of the research were published both digitally by the Archaeological Data Service and as a book, also available online, by the Society of Antiquaries of London.
The digital part on the ADS consists of the specialist research reports and surveys, a database of all the items together with their images, conservation records and the results of the various scientific analyses they underwent. The images available there include photographs, drawings and X-radiograph images. The final catalogue is also available in pdf format for download. The ADS files also include the eleven Newsletters we published as the research went forward, and the project designs we wrote and worked to.
The publications are:
Barbican Research Associates (2017, updated 2019): The Staffordshire Hoard: an Anglo-Saxon Treasure https://doi.org/10.5284/1041576
Fern, C., Dickinson, D. and Webster, L. (eds). 2019. The Staffordshire Hoard: an Anglo-Saxon Treasure (Society of Antiquaries of London). See here for details.
The assessment and analysis stages of the project were managed by Hilary Cool between 2011 and 2017. Peter Guest took over the management for the final post referee edit stage in 2017 before handing the finished letterpress manuscript to the Society of Antiquaries in 2018 for eventual publication.
Managing the project was an interesting experience and other project managers may be interested in the account of the progress of the project during the assessment and analysis stages. This includes details of the full team in Appendix 1 and the publications that were produced whilst the research was ongoing in Appendix 3. This is available within the ADS publication and also can be downloaded here.
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