From the United Kingdom to Australia (by way of some international pillaging and plundering), the 'Galloway Hoard' – one of the world’s rarest and most significant collections of Viking Age artefacts – is preparing for its most epic journey yet. This treasure trove of ancient objects will leave the United Kingdom for the very first time in 2025, debuting its world tour in Adelaide with an exhibition titled Treasures of the Viking Age: The Galloway Hoard.
Buried around AD 900 and only discovered 1,100 years later in Scotland, the Hoard contains more than 100 fragile jewelled treasures and rarely-surviving textiles made in Britain and Ireland. Australians will soon have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see these exceptional objects up close, including jewellery, brooches, wool, linen and Scotland’s earliest examples of silk.
“The Galloway Hoard is a rich collection in every sense, from rare and unique examples of gold and silverwork that shows the artistry of the period, to items of hacked bullion that show the intensity of trade and exchange,” says Dr David Gaimster, CEO of the South Australian Museum. “Taken together, this hoard challenges popular understandings of this period in world history. Indeed, the Hoard reveals the extensive networks of trade and exchange that stretched from Scandinavia and the Atlantic across to Central Asia and the Silk Routes.”
Treasures of the Viking Age: The Galloway Hoard will be on display at the South Australian Museum in Adelaide from February 8 to July 27, 2025. This landmark exhibition unravels the mystery of the Hoard’s burial in four distinct layers, each one inviting visitors to journey deeper into the Viking Age. While some of the artefacts are too delicate to travel all the way from the National Museums Scotland to Australia, their stories will be brought to life via audiovisual and 3D reconstructions.
To coincide with this landmark exhibition, the South Australian Museum will also unveil two never-before-seen Viking Age brooches from its own private collection. Tickets to Treasures of the Viking Age: The Galloway Hoard will go on sale in December, with the museum also set to host a huge program of events, including regular Friday night sessions and a two-day 'Vikingfest' in late June. You can find out more about the exhibition program here.
Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Australia newsletter for more news, travel inspo and activity ideas, straight to your inbox.