The Galloway Hoard, now in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, is a hoard of more than 100 gold, silver, glass, crystal, stone, and earthenware objects from the Viking Age, discovered in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland, in September 2014. Found on Church of Scotland land, the hoard has been described by experts as "one of the most significant Viking hoards ever found in Scotland". With years of extensive study and research, scholars are still not certain who buried the hoard, why they did so and whether they were Vikings or Anglo-Saxons. During the Viking Age, Galloway found itself squeezed between two Viking kingdoms and essentially cut off from other Anglo-Saxons in Britain – "Galloway is where these different cultures were meeting. It's not just Scandinavians, but people from Britain and Ireland as well."

The Galloway Hoard was discovered by a metal detector enthusiast who reported the find to the authorities. A county archaeologist carried out an excavation which unearthed a rich and unusually varied collection of objects from the Viking Age, though some of the objects considerably pre-date that period. It is thought that the hoard was buried some time in the mid-ninth or tenth century; it is not known why it was buried.

The hoard consists of objects including armbands, a Christian cross, brooches, ingots, glass beads, a gold-encased touchstone and dirt-balls containing flecks of gold and bone, all in a silver vessel. These include the largest and most varied collection of Viking-age gold objects yet found in Britain and Ireland. Research has revealed that the vessel was made in western Asia. The items among the treasure originated across a wide geographic area that includes Anglo-Saxon England, Ireland, and Scandinavia. The hoard has some similarities with other Viking finds, but its mixture of materials including the textiles which were wrapped around the vessel has been described by experts as unique.

Curators at the National Museum of Scotland describe the Galloway Hoard as "pointing to a new understanding of Scotland in the international context of the earliest Viking Age". According to Stuart Campbell of the National Museum of Scotland, "This is a hugely significant find, nothing like this has been found in Scotland before in terms of the range of material this hoard represents." He comments that "due to the quantity and variety of the objects, and the importance of the find overall, it will take some time for experts to assess the hoard as a whole so that we can appreciate its true significance. We look forward to learning more." Ongoing research has utilised new technologies, including 3D modelling, CT scans, and X-ray imaging, to reveal previously unseen details on the hoard's objects, especially relating to the vessel's surface decorations.

The hoard was discovered at an undisclosed location on glebelands owned by the Church of Scotland. It was found by Derek McLennan, a metal detectorist from Ayrshire. He was accompanied by two churchmen, Rev Dr. David Bartholomew and Pastor Mike Smith, who were also metal detector enthusiasts. The trio had permission to search the site, which McLennan had been investigating for more than a year, and he found a silver object, which turned out to be an arm ring, after an hour's searching. According to McLennan, "initially I didn't understand what I had found because I thought it was a silver spoon and then I turned it over and wiped my thumb across it and I saw the saltire-type of design and knew instantly it was Viking." He ran over to Bartholomew, shouting "Viking!" It was not his first discovery; in 2013, McLennan had discovered Scotland's largest hoard of medieval silver coins near Twynholm.

The find was reported to Scotland's Treasure Trove Unit and a county archaeologist, Andrew Nicholson, undertook an excavation with McLennan's assistance. They dug further and found a collection of artefacts at a depth of 60 cm (24 in). When the artefacts had been removed, McLennan carried out a further search with his metal detector and found a second level of the hoard, buried beneath the first. Among the finds was an early Christian silver cross. Bartholomew said, "It was tremendously exciting, especially when we noticed the silver cross lying face-downwards. It was poking out from under the pile of silver ingots and decorated arm-rings, with a finely wound silver chain still attached to it. It was a heart-stopping moment when the local archaeologist turned it over to reveal rich decoration on the other side."

The vessel was one of the older items in the hoard and may have been more than 100 years old by the time it was deposited. It was made of a silver alloy and was found wrapped in the remains of a cloth, with its lid still in place. It contained more objects and was examined using X-rays in November 2014 before being opened and emptied. Later research revealed that the vessel was not Carolingian in origin as had been thought, but Western Asian. Once the fabric was removed, the ornamentation was revealed to include a Zoroastrian fire-altar, and the silver is alloyed with copper, both suggesting an origin in the Sasanid Empire. In addition, isotope analysis of the lead in the alloy and niello indicates it is from the mine at Nakhlak in central Iran.

The contents were found to be a collection of silver Anglo-Saxon disc brooches, an Irish silver brooch, Byzantine silk from the area around Constantinople (now Istanbul), a gold ingot and gold and rock crystal objects wrapped in cloth. The vessel may have been an heirloom owned by the family that buried the hoard. The silver cross may have come from Dublin and is engraved with unusual decorations on each of the four arms, which McLennan has suggested may represent each of the four Gospels.