Unusually for this website, there is another entirely different point that can be drawn from the Staffordshire Hoard, in addition to comparisons of Britain’s approach to saving artefacts for the nation.

This news story illustrates very well, the benefits of proper, well documented excavations – since the original hoard was discovered, many other finds have been made nearby & archaeologists are analysing whether these are a part of the same hoard or somehow connected to it. Much of the knowledge that we gain from these finds would have been lost though, if archaeologists had not known the full details of the previous finds on the site. When illegal excavations are made, not only do the artefacts normally disappear into a black market away from the public eye, but even if they are eventually recovered, little is known about exactly where they were found, or what other items might have been found in close proximity to them.

From:
BBC News

18 December 2012 Last updated at 16:38
Staffordshire Hoard: ‘Shedding light on the Dark Ages’

“The period is traditionally called the Dark Ages because we don’t know enough about it, but finds like this can definitely shed some light on that period,” says archaeologist Steve Dean.

He works for Staffordshire County Council and was part of a team that uncovered 90 new items of gold and silver believed to be part of the Staffordshire Hoard.
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Further coverage of India’s new attempts to secure the return of numerous artefacts held in institutions outside the country.

From:
Thaindian News

India to join global campaign to retrieve captured heritage treasures
June 1st, 2010 – 1:16 pm ICT by ANI –

London/New Delhi, June 1 (ANI): Indian authorities have announced they will try to recover and retrieve thousands of allegedly looted objects held in Western museums.

The head of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Dr. Gautam Sengupta, told The Independent that the list of his country’s treasures held abroad was “too long to handle” and there was a need for a “diplomatic and legal campaign” for their restitution from institutions including the British Museum, the Royal Collection and the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.
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Since its discovery, many officials have publicly expressed the imperative for the Staffordshire Hoard to be displayed in the area where it was discovered – with the suggestion that displaying artefacts near to where they belong is the sensible approach to take. Now it appears that in this particular case, both the Prime Minister & the Director of the British Museum support the display of the hoard in the area where it was discovered. Whilst these aims are admirable, they are entirely consistent with the British Museum’s stance on many disputed foreign artefacts in its collection, which arguably present a far stronger case, insomuch as that they were once integral parts of a building – they have a true bont to this context, rather than being loose items that could be easily relocated to any part of the country / world.

From:
Birmingham Post

Gordon Brown backs case to keep Anglo Saxon hoard in West Midlands
Nov 11 2009 by Jonathan Walker

There is “a very strong case” for displaying the historic haul of Staffordshire gold in Tamworth, ancient capital of the kingdom of Mercia, Gordon Brown has told MPs.

But whatever happened to the 1,500 items of treasure, the aim was that they should be housed in the West Midlands, he said.
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The Staffordshire Hoard has been on display in the West Midlands & is now going to the British Museum for valuation. Almost everyone who has been asked though sees this as something that should be kept in the area where it was discovered, to allow people to see it in the region where it was discovered – to create something which people can identify with as from their area & be proud of. This principle ought to be applied by the government & museums to many other restitution cases – unfortunately though it rarely is.

From:
BBC News

Page last updated at 17:25 GMT, Tuesday, 20 October 2009 18:25 UK
‘Admirable’ if gold haul remained

It would be “admirable” if the haul of Anglo-Saxon gold, recently unearthed in Staffordshire, could remain in the West Midlands, the government has said.

Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw told the Houses of Parliament he was working with the regional development agency and others to make sure that happened.
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A number of the arguments for the reunification of the surviving Elgin Marbles are based on the fact that it makes more sense to locate the sculptures close to their original context. The reasons include that of seeing the sculptures & their original location (which they were designed for) only a short distance away from one another, that the sculptures hold more significance to the local community than to people elsewhere & that the sculptures form part of a local sense of identity. The institutions that hold the Parthenon Marbles (& many other similarly disputed artefacts) dismiss such claims as nationalistic, rubbishing the idea that artefacts make any sort of local connection.

Often when new artefacts are discovered, attempts are made to keep them on display locally to where they were found, rather than being moved to a bigger museum further away. The reasons given are generally similar to those given for the Parthenon Marbles. Such cases generally receive positive publicity & support by many who agree that the reasons for keeping the artefacts in the area near where they were found make sense. Many of these campaigns are eventually successful & funds are found to raise money for local museums to keep hold of the treasures. The only difference between cases such as these & those such as the Parthenon Marbles, is that the campaigns are started before the artefacts are ever acquired by the big institutions and that the parties involved are typically all contained within he same country. Apart from this though, there is little difference in the reasoning (if anything the Parthenon Sculptures have a far stronger case in this regard, as they were designed to be seen in a specific context.

From:
Birmingham Mail

Museums launch joint appeal to keep The Staffordshire Hoard in the Midlands
Oct 6 2009

MUSEUM bosses and city leaders have launched an appeal to keep the prized Staffordshire Hoard in the Midlands.

More than 36,000 people have queued to see the Anglo-Saxon gold since it went on display at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, which extended its opening hours in the gold rush.
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