Staffordshire Hoard Apparently, this find is the equivalent of finding The Book of Kells, and eclipses the Sutton Hoo Hoard.
Personally, I especially like that the discoverer of all this gold and jewels is an unemployed man. He had been living in a subsidized flat, using a metal detector in a friendly farmer. On a hunch, because his friend kept bumping into “stuff” with his plow, he took a metal detector to that field. That location is being kept secret to avoid being over run by treasure hunters. This find was made in July; I guess the British Media can still button that stiff upper lip!
How big is this find:
Kevin Leahy, a medievalist who examines properly disclosed finds made by treasure-hunters, said experts had been in awe: “We were in awe of this material – the responsibility of bringing something like this home was overwhelming.” The haul includes jewelry made in Babylon – far away from Dark Ages Britain – pommel caps, helmets, bracelets with Biblical inscriptions, and swords hilts.
So this enterprising unemployed man, Terry Herbert, will go from welfare to millionaire status due to his own hard work, instincts, and maybe a bit of luck.
The rest of the world will benefit from the emergence of beautiful and mysterious items of gold and silver, the full extent still unknown, more then 1500 items:
Describing the hoard as bigger than Sutton Hoo, Leslie Webster, former keeper at the British Museum’s Department of Prehistory and Europe, said: “It is absolutely the equivalent of finding a new Lindisfarne Gospels, or the Book of Kells.” So far, 1,345 pieces have been examined by experts, although several hundred are known to be held inside 56 clods of earth which were taken from the site and which have only been X-rayed to date.
It is a reminder that elites have always taken wonderful care – of themselves, if no one else AND that none of us knows what news tomorrow will bring.
Director of British Museum describes Staffordshire Hoard with video
