A HI-TECH hospital scanner has been used to unearth the secrets of a ninth-century bronze pot discovered by a metal detector enthusiast.
The sealed vessel - part of the largest Viking hoard found in modern times in Scotland - was covered in mud and verdigris when it was found earlier this year, and considered too delicate to open by hand.
A collaboration between Historic Scotland and Borders General Hospital resulted in the £485,000 X-ray machine, which is used to diagnose patient health problems, being used to scan the contents of the pot.
The monitoring screen revealed the presence of five silver brooches, smaller gold ingots and ivory beads coated with gold, all wrapped in an organic material - possibly leather - inside the pot, which had lain untouched for more than 1,000 years.
Richard Welander, head of collections at Historic Scotland, said: "When I saw the results I was reminded of the words of Sir Howard Carter when Tutankhamun's tomb was opened in 1922 - 'I see wonderful things'.
"We are all so grateful to the Borders General Hospital for allowing us to forensically examine one of the key objects of the hoard.
"As with human patients, we need to investigate in a non-invasive way before moving on to delicate surgery.
"In this case, that will be the careful removal of the contents and the all-important conservation of these items."
Retired businessman Derek McLennan, 47, found the vessel among more than 100 artefacts on Church of Scotland land at an undisclosed location in Dumfries and Galloway earlier this year.
When the find was made public by Scotland's Treasure Trove Unit last month, it was described as "one of the most significant Viking hoards ever discovered in Scotland".
But the small pot with a sealed lid fascinated experts, who believed it contained more objects.
They knew from its ornate exterior that it hailed from the west European Carolingian period between 780 and 900 AD, but had no idea what treasurers lay within.
Mr Welander made a call to Dr John Reid, consultant radiographer at Borders General Hospital, a keen amateur archaeologist and chairman of the Trimontium Trust in Melrose, Roxburghshire.
He had previously used the CT (Computed Tomography) Scanner to supervise the scanning of the remains of a Roman soldier's head discovered at Trimontium, a former Roman camp near Melrose.
After obtaining permission from hospital chiefs, Dr Reid supervised the scanning of the pot. He said: "The conservationists did not want to guddle about and compromise this precious object.
"I would like to assure people that this work takes place outwith normal hours and in no way impedes the important work we do for our human patients. The scanner is both rapid and accurate, with the ability to produce 120 visual slices and is accurate to within half a millimetre."
Mr McLennan, from Ayrshire, only recently took up metal detecting, and the find was his second major discovery. He was part of a group that found more than 300 medieval silver coins just before Christmas last year.
Treasure trove law provides for a reward to be made to the finder of a hoard that is equivalent to the market value of the items.
The Church of Scotland General Trustees, as landowners, have agreed with Mr McLennan on sharing any reward.
A short video of the pot being scanned at the hospital is currently available on YouTube under the title "Scanning Viking Hoard".
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