Viking treasure hoard found in England
From
BBC News:
Viking treasure hoard uncovered
The most important Viking treasure find in Britain for 150 years has been unearthed by a father and son while metal detecting in Yorkshire.
David and Andrew Whelan uncovered the hoard, which dates back to the 10th Century, in Harrogate in January.
The pair kept their find intact and it was transferred to the British Museum to be examined by experts, who said the discovery was "phenomenal".
A bit more:
The pair, from Leeds, said the hoard was worth about £750,000 as a conservative estimate.
They told the BBC News website: "We've been metal detecting for about five years; we do it on Saturdays as a hobby.
"We ended up in this particular field, we got a really strong signal from the detector... Eventually we found this cup containing the coins and told the antiquity authority.
"We were astonished when we finally discovered what it contained."
The ancient objects come from as far afield as Afghanistan in the East and Ireland in the West, as well as Russia, Scandinavia and continental Europe.
The hoard contains 617 silver coins and 65 other objects, including a gold arm-ring and a gilt silver vessel.
Dr Jonathan Williams, keeper of prehistory in Europe at the British Museum, said: "[The cup] is beautifully decorated and was made in France or Germany at around AD900.
"It is fantastically rare - there are only a handful of others known around the world. It will be stunning when it is fully conserved."
It will be wonderful to see photos of this when they get published. Fascinating bit of history.
Posted by DaveH at July 19, 2007 8:46 PM