'Extraordinary treasures' from Viking age on display

The exhibition features items from the Ballaquayle hoard, found in 1894

A new display showcases the "extraordinary" Viking and Bronze Age treasures unearthed on the Isle of Man over the past 200 years.

The National Treasures exhibition at the House of Manannan in Peel contains archaeological artefacts from the Manx National Collections as well as older pieces on loan from the British Museum.

The items include Viking Age silver and Bronze Age jewellery, some of which has never been put on display on the island before.

Curator of archaeology at Manx National Heritage, Allison Fox, said it was a "really lovely excuse to put some fantastic sparkly things on display for people to see".

A 4,000-year-old decorated gold disc is on display on the island for the first time

"We had some amazing archaeological artefacts found in the past few years and we really started thinking about how significant these were compared to our geographic neighbours," Ms Fox said.

Although "very small", she said the island's place "right in the middle" of the Irish Sea meant "we've had all these people coming in and going out and that's resulted in the Isle of Man being a very significant place".

She said: "And part of the manifestation of that is some incredibly high-quality silver and gold jewellery, lots and lots of treasure hoards of coins, and also some amazing prehistoric jewellery."

Allison Fox said some of the finds highlighted the island's geographical significance

The Bronze Age jet necklace has been strung for the first time for the exhibition

Ms Fox said while everything on display was "Manx artefacts", some had been discovered before the Manx Museum was established, so had been taken off island to the British Museum at the time.

They included the Ballaquayle hoard, which is the island's largest single collection of Viking silver found in 1894 in Douglas, and an "absolutely beautiful" 4,000-year-old gold foil disc from the Bronze Age.

More recent finds that have also been put on display in their "full glory for the first time" after professional conservation and cleaning include a "massive" Viking Age silver brooch found by a metal detectorist, and a Bronze Age jet necklace and accompanying bracelet.

That piece, which was uncovered during an archaeological dig in the west of the island, has been carefully restrung.

That meant that "for the first time people can see, as far as we can work out, how the necklace would have looked when it was buried with the person in the grave", Ms Fox said.

A large silver broach from the Viking Age is on show for the first time since undergoing conservation work

Coins from various ages unearthed on the island are also on display

As well as the finds themselves, the exhibition explains the processes that follow the finding of artefacts, the process of them being declared treasure, and what the finds can reveal about Manx history.

The National Treasures exhibition is on display at the House of Manannan in Peel until 1 February.