In 1958 a schoolboy helping on an archaeological dig on a tiny tidal island in Shetland lifted a stone slab in the floor of an old chapel and found a larch box holding 28 pieces of Pictish silver, brooches, bowls and a sword-chape, buried around AD 800, perhaps hidden from Viking raiders who were then falling on these coasts. It is the finest hoard of Pictish metalwork ever found. The originals are in Edinburgh; the island, reached by a stunning sand tombolo, is worth the walk for itself.
St Ninian’s Isle (Shetland, Scotland)
See it on the map