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Archaeology & History

Man finds Viking treasure with metal detector

By T.K. Randall
May 21, 2017 · Comment icon 19 comments

The treasure dates back over 1,000 years. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 4.0 Wolfmann
Derek McLennan earned almost $2.6 million after unearthing a horde of 10th-century Viking artefacts.
The metal detector enthusiast had been scanning a field in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland back in 2014 when he happened across one of the most significant British archaeological finds in years.

The treasure trove, which consisted of around 100 items, included silver brooches, gold rings and a host of other valuables believed to date back more than 1,000 years to the time of the Vikings.

Now, more than three years on, the Queen's and Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer - which rules on found goods which do not have an owner - has determined that the collection should go to Scotland's National Museum in exchange for paying McLennan £1.98 ($2.58) million.
Not bad for a day spent wandering around a field with a metal detector.

"We are honoured and feel privileged to have saved this internationally significant treasure and we look forward to the many exciting discoveries that will be further revealed," the museum wrote.

"We cannot wait for its eventual display in Scotland's National Museum."

Source: Independent | Comments (19)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #10 Posted by Jyre Cayce 10 years ago
The lucky guy, great job.
Comment icon #11 Posted by TheSpoonyOne 10 years ago
Weird, I just happened to be reading about the Staffordshire horde today... These coincidences seem to happen to me way too often, I'll be wishing an obscure film appear on television and low and behold it will the same day, okay so that's not quite a coincidence as it could be, but the weirdest one so far that I've encountered was me going on Google Maps one day, out of boredom/interest I suppose, and looking for the most remote place I could see on the globe to try and do a street view, I ended up on somewhere unknown to me called Wrangel Island, that afternoon I'm watching a game show or so... [More]
Comment icon #12 Posted by theotherguy 10 years ago
Between the Vikings, the Romans, the Angles, the Saxons, the Celts, and pretty much every other European culture, there has got to be tons--literally tons--of valuables buried around the British Isles. If I was any sort of collector, that's where I would start.
Comment icon #13 Posted by tipotep 10 years ago
Arch Stanton? LOL it was the grave marked unknown next to it " Unk , Unk , Unk ... it has no name on it "
Comment icon #14 Posted by Hammerclaw 10 years ago
That gold pin in the article... By the shape of it's beak it's a flamingo.Where the heck did a Norse craftsman see a flamingo? There are two species native to the old world, one to southern Iberia.
Comment icon #15 Posted by Thorvir Hrothgaard 10 years ago
Arch Stanton? I got that reference. Thanks.
Comment icon #16 Posted by Aisling 10 years ago
And this is exactly why I want to go to the British Isles lol.
Comment icon #17 Posted by seeder 7 years ago
UPDATE:    
Comment icon #18 Posted by Gingitsune 7 years ago
About anywhere around the Mediterranean Sea + Portugal.   I had the same though.     
Comment icon #19 Posted by coolguy 7 years ago
Awesome its like hiting the lotto


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