An expert hunter has unearthed the largest ever haul of Anglo-Saxon gold in a field in Staffordshire, England.
Huge treasure with more than 6000 gold artifacts discovered by metal detector worth just £ 2.
A collection of gold artefacts from the Anglo-Saxon period have just been discovered. The collection was hailed by researchers as “one of the greatest discoveries of archaeology”.
This treasure has been sold to museums for a total of £3,285 million (nearly 100,000 billion) and the money is divided equally between Terry Herbert and the owner of the field, Fred Johnson .
The artifacts are from what is left of the “divine wars of the dark ages” , in which Pagan leaders fought against opposing Christian kingdoms.
3,900 gold items are believed to have belonged to Mercian King Penda, a Pagan leader who ruled until AD 655.
And scientists now believe that the remaining items belonged to one of the most powerful Anglo-Saxon kings of the time.
About 80% of the treasure was identified as weapons, mostly swords.
There are 50 extremely rare golden swords and many golden helmets. In total, the treasure contains up to 4kg of this rare metal.
“This was a time when gold was suddenly more readily available and converted into beautiful weapons for the warrior world,” said Dr. Fern .
Archaeologists say this gold mine is more meaningful than the discovery of a buried treasure ship in Sutton Hoo 70 years ago.
Terry Herbert, from Burntwood, Staffordshire, stumbled upon the treasure when he searched a field near his home with an old metal detector. (Photo: PA) .
Experts say the gold mine contains 1,500 objects that may have belonged to the Saxon royal family from the 7th century.
The treasure consists of about 5kg of gold and 2.5kg of silver, much larger than previous finds.
Experts are assembling fragments that they believe belong to ornately decorated helmets.
A distorted golden cross, possibly attached to a tombstone.
A piece of gold containing biblical inscriptions in Latin. This sentence means: ” Stand up, and your enemies will be driven out and those who hate you will be out of your sight “.
At least 84 hilts and 71 hilts have been found. The elaborate decorations show that they belong to people from the upper social classes.
A piece of gold engraved with two eagles separated by a fish.
The gold piece has the shape of two arms interlaced.
The gold button has a checkered pattern.
Gold button with red stone.
All excavated items will belong to Mr. Herbert and the owner of the field where the treasure was discovered.
