Chris Fern

Among the pieces recovered were pieces of helmets, swords, religious symbols, and some unidentified objects that had been buried away for over a thousand years.

Once uncovered, English archaeologists quickly moved into the site and unearthed more items in what academic project leader Chris Fern described as, without a doubt, one of the greatest finds of British archaeology.

After a decade of study, the treasure, known as the Staffordshire Hoard or Staff Hoard, is believed to be the spoils of battle taken by the Mercian Kingdom sometime in the 600-650 CE period.

In addition to being a significant British archaeological find, the treasure was also described as the most important find in Anglo-Saxon history by the Independent and other news sources, and even contained the world's earliest known surviving hierarchical religious headpiece.