Mysterious Anglo-Saxon object 'made by someone with a real eye for loveliness' is discovered in Norfolk - and experts have no idea what it is

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A mysterious Anglo-Saxon object 'made by someone with a real eye for loveliness' has been uncovered in Norfolk – but experts have no idea what it is. 

The ornate silver item, measuring just 0.7 inch (19.4mm) in diameter, was found by a metal detectorist near Langham, a small village about 30 miles from Norwich. 

It depicts an animal, most likely a horse, looking over its shoulder, accompanied by elaborate lines reminiscent of the famous religious Book Of Kells. 

Experts say the find dates to the late 8th or early 9th century but is 'completely unlike' any other objects discovered by detectorists in the region. 

What exactly it was used for is open to debate, although it's been speculated to be jewellery, a fragment of clothing or even part of a knife.

The ornate object measures just 0.7 inch (19.4mm) in diameter and has an animal depicted at the top, most likely a horse 

The object was uncovered by a metal detectorist near Langham, a small village about 30 miles from Norwich

'It's so tiny and yet it was created just as carefully as something like a Bible or piece of jewellery,' historian Helen Geake told the BBC. 

'It has got a backward-looking animal – possibly a horse – that fills the space nicely and I love its colour. 

'A lot of the time we don't see the colours of the past because clothes don't survive and enamels drop out of settings.' 

The object has a flat, circular top lined with straight sides – similar to a bottle top but much more ornate – and appears crumpled but is in otherwise good condition. 

Whoever made it would have mixed mercury from Spain with powdered gold to highlight the horse at the top, according to the expert. 

It could have been part of a larger object that become detached and has since been lost – or remains to be discovered.

Whatever it is, a great deal of skilled work went into its creation, said Mrs Geake, who has made appearances on TV show Time Team.

The craftsman would have been 'really multi-talented and doing lots of different things', she added.  

Experts say it dates to the late 8th or early 9th century and is 'completely unlike' any of the other similar mystery objects discovered by detectorists in the region. Here are shots of the object from multiple angles 

The object has a flat, circular top lined with straight sides - similar to a bottle top but much more ornate

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'It's a mysterious object and you can't say what kind of thing it's off at all. 

'But it was made by someone with a real eye for loveliness.' 

According to Mrs Geake, the spiral pattern on the sides is similar to markings on the Book of Kells.

One of the world’s most famous medieval manuscripts, the Book of Kells was previously believed to have been created by a single group of monks circa AD 800. 

The spirals are also recognisable from the Lindisfarne Gospel, another illuminated manuscript produced around AD 715–720 and now in London's British Library. 

This suggests that the find has some kind of religious significance and may have been worn, although it doesn't look like what you'd conventionally see around someone's neck. 

Historians know that Anglo-Saxon men and women wore jewellery, but gold and silver necklaces were rare and worn by women of high ranking. 

John Blair, a professor of medieval history and archaeology at the University of Oxford, said 'there are various possibilities' of what it might be. 

'My own best guess is that they are caps from the butt-ends of wooden knife handles, covering the hammered-over end of the blade tang,' he told MailOnline. 

Robert D. Fulk, medievalist at Indiana University Bloomington, said it perhaps 'stood at the centre of a brooch'. 

'What strikes me as most mysterious about the object is how it was attached to whatever material it was attached to,' he told MailOnline.

'The backwards-looking horse is a common figure on metallic brooches of the Anglo-Saxon age.'

The Anglo-Saxons were fierce warriors, and tribes often battled one another for territory. They ruled over Britain from 500 years until 1066 when they were conquered by the Normans in the Battle of Hastings (depicted here)

MailOnline has contacted the British Museum and Norfolk Museum Services for comment. 

Members of the public took to Reddit to discuss what the object might be – some more seriously than others. 

One said it 'looks like a signet ring or stamp for sealing things with wax', even though this practice dates back much later – about the 16th century. 

Another speculated it was a 'tiny metal cup' that got trodden on, while another joked: 'More evidence that human beings have always loved bling.' 

WHAT IS THE BOOK OF KELLS?

The Book of Kells manuscript, which eclipsed all other artistic and cultural achievements of the early Middle Ages, was created in around 800 AD by Irish monks to glorify the life of Christ.

It was made from calfskin leaves decorated with elaborate illustrations and Latin calligraphy.

It contains the Latin text of the four Gospels and all but two of the pages are decorated with intricate designs and symbolic imagery. 

The Book of Kells manuscript, which eclipsed all other artistic and cultural achievements of the early Middle Ages, was created in around 800 AD by Irish monks to glorify the life of Christ

It is thought it would have taken a team of illustrators up to 30 years to finish. 

Three artists seem to have produced the major decorated pages.

A monastery founded around 561 AD by St Colum Cille on Iona, an island off Mull in western Scotland, became the principal house of a large monastic confederation. 

In 806 AD, following Viking raids on the island which left 68 of the community dead, the Columban monks took refuge in a new monastery at Kells, County Meath.

An outbreak of disease, possibly smallpox, that hit the monastery in the early part of the ninth century may also have contributed to the move.

The manuscript remained there for almost 700 years, bar one incident when it was stolen and found weeks later without its golden, jewelled cover and with some pages missing.

It came to Trinity College, Dublin, in 1661 AD, and is still on display there today. 

The Book of Kells was first started at a monastery on the on Iona, an island off western Scotland. In 806 AD, following a Viking raid, the monks moved to Kells in County Meath, Ireland. The manuscript came to Trinity College, Dublin, in 1661 AD, where it remains

The first mention of this work of art is an the entry in the Annals of Ulster under the year 1007 AD, which records that 'the great Gospel book of Columcille, the chief relic of the western world, was stolen during the night from the great stone church of Cenannus (Kells)'.

During the last century, an ever increasing number of scholars wanted access to the manuscript.

In 1986, Trinity College allowed Facsimile Verlag of Luzern, Switzerland, to photograph the complete manuscript and create a limited edition of 1,480 numbered copies.

Most of these are in libraries around the world.