A hoard of Viking silver discovered on farmland in the island has been declared treasure trove at a court hearing in Douglas.

The hoard was found at an undisclosed location in the sheading of Garff by a metal detecting enthusiast between June and December last year.

Allison Fox, archaeological curator for Manx National Heritage, said the fragments of so-called hack silver, dating from between 950 and 1075, had originally been part of several arm rings.

Miss Fox told the hearing jewellery of this kind would have been worn as a mark of a person’s status and also served as currency with pieces being ’hacked’ off and used as payment for goods in a period before coins were in common use.

She said such items were generally at least 50 per cent pure silver and, sometimes 75 to 90 per cent in purity.

’It dates to a time when the Vikings had settled in the Isle of Man but there were still power struggles and this small hoard was probably concealed to protect it as it would have been of relatively high value in Viking times. It was probably buried with the intention of reclaiming it later on,’ she said.

Such items were often buried wrapped in a cloth bag or inside a metal box but this would long since have perished. Though the fragments were buried just a few inches below the surface, and scattered over a small area, the likelihood was they had been part of the same hoard but had been disturbed by ploughing over the years.

Coroner John Needham said the purpose of the hearing was to establish ownership of the silver and this hinged on three questions: whether the items were ’treasure’, whether the owner’s identity was unascertainable, and whether it had been hidden for safe keeping rather than simply lost or thrown away.

As the answer to all three questions was ’’yes’’, the items were treasure trove and, as such property of the Lord of Mann. However compensation is paid for the find.

Mr Needham commended the finder, Stuart Watts, who, he said had acted in an exemplary fashion by declaring the find to the Manx Museum and getting permission from the land owner and striking a deal with him in the event of anything being found.

The silver, which Miss Fox said had archaeological and historical value, will be displayed in the Manx Museum in July before being examined in detail.