Saved from Vikings – and bound for home

Published on Monday 30 June 2008 22:19

FIFTY years ago Douglas Coutts was working as a schoolboy volunteer on a dig on Shetland when he unearthed what was hailed as the single most important archaeological discovery in Scotland for more than a century.

As he scraped away the earth inside the foundations of a ruined medieval church on tiny St Ninian's Isle, the 15-year-old stumbled across the finest hoard of Pictish silver ever found in the United Kingdom – a remarkable collection of silver brooches, bowls and other artefacts believed to have been buried more than 1,200 years ago by islanders to prevent them from being seized by Viking raiders.

On Friday, the 50th anniversary of his find, Mr Coutts, 65, a retired librarian from Bressay, will be the guest of honour when the St Ninian's Isle Treasure returns to Shetland for only the second time since it was discovered.

The treasure, which is housed in the National Museum of Scotland, last returned to the islands in 1967 when the hoard was briefly displayed in the former Shetland museum.

But this time, under a new partnership agreement with the Shetland Amenity Trust, the treasure will be displayed at Lerwick's new Museum and Archives until 5 October before heading back to Edinburgh.

Mr Coutts recalled yesterday how he had been working as a volunteer with a team of archaeologists from Aberdeen University when he made his amazing discovery.

He said: "I was allocated a section at the dig to do a little bit of trowelling, which is how they normally start novices off.

"I had only been digging for an hour or so when I came across a flat stone slab. There was a kind of hollow underneath with some bright green material poking through.

"I thought it seemed a bit unusual and the leader of the dig immediately called in his assistants to have a more detailed look and I stepped aside to let the experts do their work."

Mr Coutts continued: "Being a novice I was a bit bemused by the whole thing. But we were all told that we were not to let anybody know about the find and I took that to mean that I had found something very unusual. I remember a flight being arranged for me to go to Glasgow to do media interviews. That was my only reward."

In 1967 he helped mount a round the clock guard on the hoard when it last came to Shetland. A campaign had been launched at the time, demanding the return of the treasure trove to Shetland. It is a campaign that still resonates today.

Said Mr Coutts: "I know it's a difficult one because, if everybody wanted to have their local treasures, there maybe wouldn't be a National Museum in Chambers Street. But I'd like the treasure to stay in Shetland."

Jane Carmichael, the director of collections at the National Museums Scotland, said: "The loan is part of our ongoing partnership with Shetland Amenity Trust and working together we will strive to ensure that as many people as possible across the United Kingdom and beyond have the opportunity to appreciate this and other parts of Shetland's rich heritage."

BACKGROUND

ST NINIAN'S Isle is a tiny island at the southern tip of Shetland, linked to the mainland by a 500m sand spit.

The treasure hoard is believed to have been buried around AD800 by islanders at a time of frequent Viking raids on Shetland.

The hoard consisted of 29 objects – 28 made of silver and a porpoise jawbone. The archaeologists uncovered eight silver bowls, a silver spoon, 12 brooches, three cone-shaped objects, possibly thimbles, two pieces of sword scabbards, a sword hilt and a pronged implement which is believed to have been used for eating shellfish.

The bowls were upside down and the brooches and other objects tangled together, indicating the treasure had been hurriedly buried.