Kevin Leahy – författare

On 5 July 2009 a metal-detectorist started to unearth gold objects in a Staffordshire field. Thus began the discovery of the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure ever found. Consisting of over 1600 items – including fittings from the hilts of swords, fragments from helmets, Christian crosses and magnificent pieces of garnet work – the Staffordshire Hoard has begun to rewrite history. This new and extended edition of the successful title by Kevin Leahy and Roger Bland delves deeper into the story behind the hoard, using the latest research to fill previous gaps in knowledge and turn some of the original ideas about the discovery on their head. Complete with new photography of the cleaned and conserved objects, showing off the stunning and intricate decoration, this book provides a fascinating account of the history and the discovery of this remarkable hoard.

Flint and stone finds hold a unique place in the archaeological record as they represent all that survives from most of the human past. The Stone Age did not end with the introduction of metals and some of the finest lithic objects date from the Bronze Age and the use of flint and stone has continued into recent times. These items can have a strange, gem-like quality – 500,000-year-old flint hand axes, recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme, show a symmetry and grace that we can still admire today. Great skill and effort went into making flint and stone objects and how they were produced is examined here. Humanly worked flints are surprisingly common and, in fact, they are found everywhere. This book provides guidance on what to look for and how to recognise worked flint. It shows what can be commonly found along with superb objects recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme. Flint and stone implements are best seen in context and supporting commentary and images show something of the cultures that produced this material and how we came to discover them.