The Harpole Treasure refers to a collection of relics that was discovered in Harpole near Northampton in 2022. Among the treasures discovered was a unique gold necklace that archaeologists called “the most ornate of its kind ever found,” according to The Museum of London Archaeology’s (MOLA) July 2022 news release.
The necklace was one of many finds that came out of an ancient burial site. The gorgeous necklace dates back between 630 and 670 A.D., according to MOLA.
The unique piece features many different pendants, which includes beads, glass pendants and Roman coins.
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At the center of the necklace sits a rectangular pendant, decorated with a cross motif. While pendants in female burials aren’t particularly uncommon, according to the press release, the variety of pendants adds to this particular find’s uniqueness.
“Suddenly we had a rubbish pit that turned into a burial beyond burials,” Paul Thompson, MOLA project manager, said, per the BBC in 2023.
“It’s a once in a lifetime experience to be working on something like this,” he went on to say.
Other finds unearthed from the ancient burial site were two decorated pots, as well as a shallow copper dish and a large ornate cross.
The necklace, paired with the other grave goods that were found, label the find as “one of the most spectacular female Early Medieval burials ever discovered in the UK,” per MOLA’s press release.
“It wasn’t just one or two items. That would have been incredible in its own,” Thompson told The Washington Post in 2022. “We have here the only complete example of this type of necklace excavated in modern archaeological standards.… It’s an asymmetrical set-out of the gold coins, and the precious stones mounted in gold, which we haven’t seen before.”
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Though the identity of the woman who was buried with these goods remains an untold story, archaeologists do believe that the person was of high status, possibly an early Christian leader.
“Christianity provided a way for women to gain independence and power in their own right, by enabling them to run monastic houses, so we see an increase in elite women using Christianity as a means of increasing their status,” Emma Brownlee, an archaeologist at the University of Cambridge, told The Washington Post in 2022. “In this burial, we’re seeing a particularly fine example of that process.”
In December 2023, MOLA released a second news release about the incredible find, sharing that the 30 pendants and beads making up the necklace had been cleaned and, at the time of writing, continued to be examined by specialists to learn more about their origins.
There have also been further developments regarding the human remains at the site.
When the grave goods, including the necklace, were found in 2022, it was believed that only a few fragments of the woman’s teeth remained, according to the press release, but further investigation has led to the finding of more fragments, including the upper part of a femur, some vertebrae, part of a hand and wrist, plus part of the pelvic bone, per the press release.