An incredible hoard of precious Anglo-Saxon gold items, the likes of which professional archaeologists dream of finding, was discovered buried in a field by a jobless treasure hunter five years ago.

[A]ll 4,000 pieces of the Staffordshire Hoard have been brought back together for the first time. Now shattered pieces of sword decoration and helmet are being put back together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

The experts also discovered that the vast majority of the hoard would have been owned or used by soldiers, showing that it was not just kings who went into battle with their weaponry and armor decorated with gold and intricate jewelry.

[T]he unique discovery has shed new light on the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf.

The description of a warrior’s adornment in gold was thought to have been exaggerated, but experts are starting to see that it could have been closer to the truth following the study of the Hoard.
“The great poem Beowulf, once believed to be artistic exaggeration, now has a true mirror in archaeology. We thought it was a piece of exaggeration, or poetic spin,” he said.

“We did not think that this much gold was carried by the warrior class but the Staffordshire Hoard has revolutionized our understanding of this period.”

Via Mail Online.