At an early Anglo Saxon burial site, a necklace consisting of gold and semiprecious stones dating back 1,300 years was discovered in central England. The official website of the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) describes it as a "once-in-a-lifetime" gold necklace that dates to between 630 and 670 AD. The richest of its kind ever discovered in Britain.
According to the website, "The necklace is made up of a staggering number of pendants. There are gold Roman coins, semiprecious stones set in gold, and decorated glass pendants set in gold. Along with these are several gold bead spacers that spaced out the pendants in the necklace." They further added, "The centrepiece of this necklace is a large rectangular pendant made of red garnets and gold, with a cross motif. We think that it was originally half of a hinge clasp before it was re-used in this necklace."
Along with this necklace, the teat at the site also found a large ornate cross with inset garnets and pectoral crosses at the end of each arm.
MOLA site supervisor Levente-Bence Balázs said, "When the first glints of gold started to emerge from the soil, we knew this was something significant. However, we didn't quite realise how special this was going to be."
{{/usCountry}}MOLA site supervisor Levente-Bence Balázs said, "When the first glints of gold started to emerge from the soil, we knew this was something significant. However, we didn't quite realise how special this was going to be."
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