Viking Treasure Hoard Found In England

[Kor37 9]

Viking Treasure Hoard Found in England

By RAPHAEL G. SATTER,AP

Posted: 2007-07-21 12:11:09

LONDON (July 21) - One of the biggest Viking treasures ever found has been discovered on an English farm by a father-son team of treasure hunters, the British Museum announced Thursday.

 

The trove of coins and jewelry was buried more than 1,000 years ago, a collection of items from Ireland, France, Russia and Scandinavia that testified to the raiders' international reach.

 

"It's a fascinating find, it's the largest find of its type of over 150 years," said Gareth Williams, an expert at the British Museum who examined the items.

 

He said it was the largest such find in Britain since the 1840 discovery of the Cuerdale Hoard, a mass of 8,500 silver coins, chains, and amulets.

 

The BBC reported that the treasure could be worth as much as $2 million. "This is a discovery that isn't just once a generation, but once a century," said Jonathan Williams of the British Museum.

 

David Whelan, 60, and his 35-year-old son Andrew were trawling a through a farmer's field near Harrogate, in northern England, on Jan. 6 when their metal detector squealed. The pair began digging, finding a silver bowl more than a foot beneath the soil. Under British law, such finds must be reported to authorities.

 

The pair turned the bowl over to archaeological experts, who discovered it was packed with coins and jewelry. The bowl, a 9th century gilt silver container probably seized by Vikings from a monastery, had been used as an improvised treasure chest before being buried.

 

"We thought it was marvelous," David Whelan told The Associated Press. "But we didn't know for nearly a month what was in it."

 

In all, more than 600 coins and dozens of other objects, including a gold arm band, silver ingots and fragments of silver were found in and around the container.

 

Some of the coins mixed Christian and pagan imagery, shedding light on the beliefs of newly Christianized Vikings, said Gareth Williams, a curator of early medieval coins at the British Museum.

 

The booty was likely accumulated through a combination of commerce and warfare, Williams said. Its quantity indicated that at least some of it was taken by force, perhaps in raids on northern Europe or Scandinavia, he added.

 

The items were manufactured as far afield as Afghanistan, Russia and Scandinavia.

 

The Vikings raids were chronicled as early as the eighth century by Christian monks on the coasts of northern Europe. The raids spread throughout Europe, from modern day Spain to Turkey.

 

In some places, the raids grew into full-fledged invasions, and Viking kingdoms were established in Britain, Ireland, and Normandy, France, among other places.

 

The British Museum said the loot was hidden sometime after the fall of the Viking Kingdom of Northumbria in 927. Vikings often buried their wealth in times of trouble.

 

The museum said it hoped to buy at least some of the hoard from the Whelan family once its value was determined.

 

Whelan, for his part, said he and his son enjoyed their walks through the countryside and would keep hunting together on the weekends.

 

"If we hadn't found it we would've still been going," he said. "We just keep going, we enjoy it."

 

What a great find!.. :biggrin:

[Gummy 0]

I can't wait to see this on TV.

[trekz 7]

This does seem to be an exciting find. A bit west of York which was major Viking town. Will be looking for more details on this find!

[Theunicornhunter 2]

It's a great find -

 

But I'm still trying to figure why the farmer who owned the field where it was found doesn't have an interest in the treasure?

[Kor37 9]

It's a great find -

 

But I'm still trying to figure why the farmer who owned the field where it was found doesn't have an interest in the treasure?

 

Thats a great question. Since it was found on the farmer's land, would it not be his property?

[Odie 0]

It can be called a "National Treasure", and it would not be "his".

[Theunicornhunter 2]

It can be called a "National Treasure", and it would not be "his".

 

Actually the article talked about paying the men that found it - which again begs the question - why them and not the person that owned the property? I don't know much about the laws of England but here the government is supposed to pay you if it takes your property which includes what is on your land.

[Odie 0]

Most likely paying him a finders fee. It would be nice to know the English law on this.

[Wishfire 2]

It can be called a "National Treasure", and it would not be "his".

 

Actually the article talked about paying the men that found it - which again begs the question - why them and not the person that owned the property? I don't know much about the laws of England but here the government is supposed to pay you if it takes your property which includes what is on your land.

 

It's possible that the father and son paid the farmer for permission to search on his land. Usually, such contracts means that anything found would be the discoverers' and not the land-owner's. (Unless, I suppose, it was the land-owner that put whatever is discovered there.)