Sutri Treasure

Sutri Treasure
Part of the Sutri Treasure displayed in the British Museum
Material	Gold and precious stones
Created	6th-7th Centuries AD
Period/culture	Lombardic
Present location	British Museum
Identification	1887,0108,3-9

The Sutri Treasure is an important Lombardic hoard found at Sutri, Italy in the late nineteenth century that is currently in the collections of the British Museum in London.

Discovery

The rich grave group was found in 1878 near the town of Sutri in the province of Viterbo in central Italy. Dating to the 6th-7th centuries AD, the treasure was buried at a time of conflict between the Kingdom of the Lombards and the Eastern Roman Empire. Nine years after its discovery, the hoard was purchased by the British Museum, where it resides to this day.

Description

Given the large number of prestigious items in the treasure, it probably belonged to a noble lady of high rank from the Lombardic court. It includes a blue glass drinking horn, two greenish-blue small amphoras, a gilded fan-shaped silver brooch, a gold and garnet encrusted S-shaped brooch, a simple gold cross and a pair of earrings with triple pendants. A number of other items (including a pin, beads, coins, another drinking horn and a third brooch) were not purchased by the museum at the time; their current whereabouts is unknown.

Gallery

• 
  One of the two drinking horns from the treasure
• 
  Two small glass amphora that date from Roman times
• 
  The large Lombardic brooch with the terminal in the shape of an animal's head
• 
  Plain gold cross, which indicates that the person buried was Christian
• 
  Pair of matching earrings with triple pendants
• 
  S-shaped cloisonné brooch with representations of eagles

See also

• Sutton Hoo
• Artres Treasure
• Domagnano Treasure

Further reading

• S. Marzinzik, Masterpieces: Early Medieval Art (London, British Museum Press, 2013)
• T.W. Potter and A.C. King, Excavations at the Mola di Mon (British School at Rome London in association with the British Museum, 1997)