AN historic hoard of Viking-age treasure, discovered by a metal detectorist in Dumfries and Galloway, is now to tour Scotland.

The hoard, acquired by the National Museums of Scotland last year for £1.98m, is to be shown in four locations after the museums received £150,000 from the Scottish Government.

Dr Gordon Rintoul, director of the NMS, said that the hoard, described as ‘Viking age’, as its not necessarily the former property of a Viking, has already revealed some of its secrets after being studied by experts at the institution.

New research has shown that whoever owned the hoard, and the culture from which it sprang in the 10th century, had close trade and travel connections with Europe and much further afield.

On the new tour, parts of the ‘Galloway Hoard’ will be shown in Kirkcudbright, Dundee, and Aberdeen as well as Edinburgh.

There had been a campaign in Dumfries to have the entire hoard - in excess of 100 gold, silver and other items - homed permanently in the area in which it was discovered.

That was unsuccessful, however, some of the collection will now be loaned to the museum in Kirkcudbright.

The bulk of the find is a hoard of silver jewellery and ingots, however, it also contains a range of precious metal and jewelled items including a rare gold ingot, a gold bird-shaped pin and a decorated silver-gilt cup of Continental or Byzantine origin.

It is not known who buried the hoard, or why: conservation and investigation work is ongoing, and will be for the next 18 months, the director said.

Dr Rintoul said that some of the objects have items hidden inside them: they are undergoing CT scans to ascertain their identity.

“We hope to tour as much as possible, including to Kirkcudbright, but there are some items that we will not be able to show at all because they are so fragile and delicate,” he said.

“It’s clear already that there is even more international links with the hoard than was even anticipated at the time we acquired it.

“We are certainly once further research has taken place to show, even more strongly, that Scotland was part of a much broader, European-wide, network of travel and trade routes, stretching to the Middle East and Byzantine Empire.”

He added: “We have always known there was some silk, it is the earliest example of silk in Scotland: it wasn’t made here, or in western Europe, it really could only have come from the Byzantine area or possibly even further afield.

“We chose our words quite carefully, which is why we say it is a Viking-age hoard - it is not a hoard that was collected or made by Vikings. It is from that period.”

The Galloway Hoard will be displayed at the National Museum of Scotland and will thereafter tour to Kirkcudbright Galleries, The McManus: Dundee’s Art Gallery and Museum and Aberdeen Art Gallery in a series of dates from 2020 to 2022.

“A significant and representative portion of the hoard” will also be displayed, on a long-term basis, at Kirkcudbright Galleries.

The Galloway Hoard was discovered in 2014 at a site on Church of Scotland land in Galloway.

Fiona Hyslop, the culture secretary, said: “The Galloway Hoard is one of the most important collections ever discovered in Scotland and I am pleased that this tour will allow for the hoard to be made available for the people of Scotland and our visitors in the years to come.

“The Galloway Hoard opens a window on a significant period in the history of Scotland and shows the important role that our archaeological heritage plays in Scotland’s culture.”

The hoard has been described as the richest collection of rare and unique Viking-age objects ever found in Britain or Ireland.

The cache was discovered in 2014by detectorist Derek McLennan.

It was then granted to the NMS by the Queen’s and Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer, in exchange for the asking price.

The NMS raised the money with help from 1500 donations as well as £1m from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, and funds from the Scottish Government and Art Fund.

It has already been estbalished that runes found on some of the items are Anglian runes, rather than Scandinavian, which suggests the owners of the hoard had contact with, or were, people from the north of England, Wales or even Ireland.

Last year Dr Martin Goldberg, senior curator at the NMS, said that the way the arm bands have been marked and stored in different ways - as if by different owners - suggested that the cache had been left temporarily, and its owners were expecting to return.

The collection includes five Anglo-Saxon disc brooches, and a cross which depicts four designs representing the Gospels.

Some of the hoard may never be shown to the public, as they are considered too delicate.

Dr Rintoul added: “I am delighted that thanks to generous funding from the Scottish Government we will be able to take the Galloway Hoard beyond our walls to museums across Scotland and ensure the greatest possible number of people have the opportunity to enjoy this remarkable treasure.”