I ran across this story and I thought it was pretty cool, so as a nice break from the Glenn Becks and Blue Dog Democrats and other idiocy in our world, I thought I would share it on this Friday.
Largest Horde of Anglo-Saxon Treasure Found (MSNBC)
LONDON - An amateur treasure hunter prowling English farmland with a metal detector stumbled upon the largest Anglo-Saxon treasure ever found, a massive seventh-century hoard of gold and silver sword decorations, crosses and other items, British archaeologists said Thursday.
One expert said the treasure found by 55-year-old Terry Herbert would revolutionize understanding of the Anglo-Saxons, a Germanic people who ruled England from the fifth century until the Norman conquest in 1066. Another said the find would rank among Britain's best-known historic treasures.
"This is just a fantastic find completely out of the blue," Roger Bland, who managed the cache's excavation, told The Associated Press. "It will make us rethink the Dark Ages."
I HIGHLY recommend watching the video at the link (I can never get MSNBC to embed), because some of the things found are absolutely stunning. To me it seems so remarkable that there is still something like this to be found in England. I don't know why, but my mind seems to think that everything has been scoured to death over there, but apparently I was wrong.
Bland said the hoard was unearthed in what was once Mercia, one of five main Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, and is thought to date to 675-725 AD.
The hoard consists of at least 650 items of gold and 530 silver objects weighing more than 2.2 pounds, along with some copper alloy, garnets and glass.
A total of 1,345 items have been examined by experts and 56 lumps of earth were found to contain metal artifacts detected by an X-ray machine, meaning the total will likely rise to about 1,500.
Most of the objects are ornaments for weapons and other military artifacts, some inlaid with precious stones.
The weight number up there doesn't really make any sense and the video seems to make it higher, so this is very impressive. As for Terry Herbert, the treasure hunter who found it? Well he is currently unemployed and on welfare and was using a used metal detector he paid $6 for (according to the video). He was searching on a friends farm.
The hoard was officially declared treasure by a coroner, which means it will now be valued by a committee of experts and offered up for sale to a museum. Proceeds would be split 50-50 between Herbert and his farmer friend, who has not been identified. The finds exact location is being kept secret to deter looters.
Bland said he could not give a precise figure for the worth of the hoard, but he said the treasure hunter could be in line for a "seven-figure sum."
Well good for him!
UPDATE: I recommend that folks seek out BentLiberals comment for the video ("Video here") and dmhlt 66s comment for a lovely slide show ("Absolutely stellar Diary! Maybe Mae West might... ")