Reminds me of the Roald Dahl short story, “The Mildenhall Treasure” (IIRC).
Damn.
IIRC, only if it’s of sufficient historic interest. It’s then valued and the discoveree (sic) gets a chunk, as does the landowner.
A much better link (more images) to info regarding this treasure.
Oh, to know the stories behind its commission, aquisition and burial.
It’s funny the thoughts that come to mind; the person who buried it and what they would think of the world 1300 years later, what enormously important treasure must still be out there laying undiscovered . . . even concepts like ‘England’ were still centuries away at that point.
And here am I, sending messages about it to the New World at the speed of light down a cable. Whoa nelly!
Sometimes I get the impression that England is just one huge archaeological site. Maybe they should just vacate the place, and dig it all up. Or maybe I watch too much Time Team.
England’s nothing compared to Italy or Israel. You can’t so much as dig a hole in your backyard in those places without hitting a significant historical find.
“Belongs to the crown” does that mean the dude gets nothing?
From the BBC article I read this morning, the crown will place a monetary value on the find and somehow split the sum between the finder and the landowner as compensation, while the crown takes the actual treasure. Someone from the British Museum estimated that the value would be in the seven-figure range.
Oh man. I’d love to see this stuff for real. The photos are nice, but it isn’t the same.
-Carl (former english medieval history student)
Haven’t real all the links at length. I assume/hope, however, that the finder left the materials relatively undisturbed and allowed professionals to excavate them.
I think he did :-
*Originally discovered by metal detectorist Terry Herbert in July 2009 and subsequently excavated by Birmingham University Archaeology Unit and Staffordshire County Council.
*
Also, according to the Garudian article, a “flying squad” from the British Museum.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I’d definitely watch a TV show about the British Museum Flying Squad – “One false move, and you’re history!”
I’m planning to book a morning off work next week to go see a few of the items at the local museum - love this sort of stuff so seeing it close up will be immense.
Absolutely incredible photos.