Curators used an improvised tool made of porcupine quill to gently clean the cross, which features engravings of the four Gospel writers. (National Museums Scotland) Museums Scotland).
In 2014, amateur treasure hunter Derek McLennan was scouring a field in southwestern Scotland when he unearthed what appeared to be a bit of silver decorated with an Anglo-Saxon design.
After a millennium underground, the cross was encrusted with dirt. Wrapped in a coiled silver cord made out of wire bundled around an animal-gut core, it proved difficult to clean. Improvising, conservators turned to a carved porcupine quill—a tool “sharp enough to remove the dirt yet soft enough not to damage the metalwork,” according to a statement….. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/1000-years-grime-removed-during-conservation-rare-anglo-saxon-cross-shines-180976560/
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