THE booty of long-forgotten wars and the culture of invasion are brought to life at a North-East art gallery this weekend.
Newcastle's Laing Gallery has followed the unprecedented success of the Lindisfarne Gospels with an exhibition that sheds light on the often-misunderstood Dark Ages.
The Kings of the North Sea: AD 250-850 chronicles the rise of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms based around the North Sea rim during the 600 years between the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of the Vikings.
Highlights include huge two-sided swords once wielded by Norse warriors, gold jewellery buried with war heroes and skeletons of Anglo-Saxon people.
Andrew Greg, art gallery curator, said: "Kings of the North Sea tells the story of how Europe developed a common culture, replacing the Romans following the fall of the once mighty empire in the fourth and fifth centuries."
The exhibition arrives at the gallery today, and moves to Denmark in April.
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