Treasure Hunting paying off? Maybe a new career...

Recently, there was an Anglo-Saxon hoard found in Staffordshire, England. The hoard contained over 1800 pieces of gold, silver and jewelled objects, and was estimated to be worth 3.3 million pounds. The Birmingham museum is now attempting to raise the money to buy the pieces off of Fred Johnson, the Farmer who found the hoard.

There has already been a small book published with the images of the pieces, which I had found surprising seeing as how long it usually takes for publications within the archaeological community. What I find interesting about this hoard though is that the pieces in this hoard are thought to be somewhat of a “missing link” for Anglo-Saxon and medieval historians as the pieces demonstrate that there may have been a stronger Norse influence on Anglo-Saxon art than previously anticipated. Of course, the pieces must be examined to a further extent, but it also means that all the scholarship done on Anglo-Saxon art to this point in time must be reviewed as this discovery changes everything.

This is an excellent example of how things are constantly changing through the study of history, and had this man not come across this hoard (what others may believe is looting or treasure hunting) scholars and professors would still be operating under old ideas instead of moving forward with new and current research. I believe it is important for things like this to occur; had it not been for Fred Johnson academics would be unaware of this hoard – I believe that the UK has a good system wherein the “treasure hunters” do not face penalizations if they come across archaeological artefacts, but are instead rewarded. As I said in class, you hear a lot more about looting in the Mediterranean and other areas than you do in the UK so these laws may be worth examining and implementing in other areas.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/nov/26/staffordshire-anglo-saxon-hoard-millions