Metal detectors are making a huge comeback lately, or so it seems. It was just a few months ago that a guy with metal detector uncovered 1,500 pieces of ancient Saxon gold. This week? A 2,000-year-old treasure hoard dating back to the Iron Age, with a value estimated at over 1-million-pounds.
The amateur hunter, who has not been identified, found four gold neckbands dating to the Iron Age.
He informed Scotland’s Treasure Trove Unit which sent a team to excavate the site, the Daily Record newspaper reported. The bands, or “torcs”, made from twisted gold, are thought to date from the 1st and 3rd century BC.
A similar one found in Newark, Nottinghamshire, in 2005 sold for £350,000. The Scottish Archaeological Finds Allocation Panel will now value the latest discovery. A spokesman for the National Museums of Scotland said: “There has been a significant find.”
Under Scots law, the Crown can claim any archaeological objects found in Scotland.
Finders have no ownership rights and must report any objects to the Treasure Trove Unit. But the man may receive a reward equal to the value of the jewellery. Historian Fiona Watson told BBC Radio Scotland: “It belongs to the Crown and the Crown, at Her Majesty’s discretion, can pay money over to the finder to the market value.
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Comments (1)
Amazing story! If I remember right, he found this within something like 20 minutes of his first time out with a metal detector. Caches are found here in the US. but never as historically significant as those in Europe. I envy those guys over there. Mike