Swords from Kingdom of Kent: Conservation & Micro-Stories

Hi, my name is Dana Goodburn-Brown and I am part of a team of archaeologists and conservators working on a now 'world-famous' Anglo-Saxon sword from a 6th-7th century archaeological site in Kent. Our archaeological project started off Episode 1 of Series 12 of BBC's Digging for Britain, January 2025 - now available on BBC iPlayer.

Here I am with Alice and Duncan Sayer on the day we filmed in the Digging For Britain Tent back in September.

And here is a link to a newspaper piece about this particular sword and research project. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/dec/26/really-incredible-sixth-century-sword-found-in-kent

As seen on the BBC’s Digging for Britain, presented by Professor Alice Roberts, careful initial conservation of the sword revealed a silver-and-gilt hilt and possible antler handle. This painstaking work has also uncovered traces of the sword’s scabbard, made from leather and wood lined with beaver fur.

There has been so much public interest in this sword, and the stories that the conservation work can help to tell - that we decided to launch a funding campaign so that we can share more of our results and do more micro-investigations than post excavation budgets usually allow.

If we raise more funds than are needed for the ring sword in our main photo, we'd like to work on 4 other high status swords awaiting treatment in my lab, from 2 other 6th-7th century Anglo-Saxon cemetery sites... One of these sites was on Digging For Britain 2022.

Jan 2022: Talking to Alice about some of the Anglo-Saxon finds excavated in Deal.

We think it would be great to conserve them all, in detail, and blog about our 'micro-discoveries'.

Ango-Saxon swords awaiting treatment since 2022.

All 5 of these swords will eventually be displayed/cared for in museums (Folkestone and Dover), and some reported on by the Portable Antiquity Scheme, as National Treasures.

So often, conservation and analysis happen behind closed doors and we'd love to open virtual doors and windows on our detailed work - with your support. We will present our findings from the conservation laboratory in a dedicated blog, sharing our views down the microscope.

Many thanks if you can help us !!