09-24-2009, 03:54 PM
.....amateur treasure hunter finds largest Anglo-Saxon treasure/booty.....I bet a DISC or Nat GEO or HIS special is coming......
Largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure found in UK
....An amateur treasure hunter prowling English farmland with a metal detector stumbled upon the largest Anglo-Saxon treasure ever discovered, a massive seventh-century hoard of gold and silver sword decorations, crosses and other items, British archaeologists said Thursday.
One expert said the treasure 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."
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.
A total of 1,345 items have been examined by experts and 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.
"I think wealth of this kind must have belonged to a king but we cannot say that for absolute certain," Bland said.
The Anglo-Saxons were a group of Germanic tribes who gradually invaded England by sea starting in the fifth century in the wake of the collapse of the Roman Empire. Originally, they came from what is now the coastal region of northwest Germany.
Their artisans made striking objects out of gold and enamel and they also created poetry that still amazes people today. Their best-known literary work is "Beowulf," an anonymous epic poem about a warrior who does battle with monsters and a dragon.....
truly BOOTYlicious....?
Largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon treasure found in UK
....An amateur treasure hunter prowling English farmland with a metal detector stumbled upon the largest Anglo-Saxon treasure ever discovered, a massive seventh-century hoard of gold and silver sword decorations, crosses and other items, British archaeologists said Thursday.
One expert said the treasure 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."
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.
A total of 1,345 items have been examined by experts and 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.
"I think wealth of this kind must have belonged to a king but we cannot say that for absolute certain," Bland said.
The Anglo-Saxons were a group of Germanic tribes who gradually invaded England by sea starting in the fifth century in the wake of the collapse of the Roman Empire. Originally, they came from what is now the coastal region of northwest Germany.
Their artisans made striking objects out of gold and enamel and they also created poetry that still amazes people today. Their best-known literary work is "Beowulf," an anonymous epic poem about a warrior who does battle with monsters and a dragon.....
truly BOOTYlicious....?
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I reject your reality and substitute my own!
I reject your reality and substitute my own!